The Whiskey Ring flourished by not collecting the tax on every gallon of distilled spirits; instead it issued revenue stamps in exchange for bribes. When whiskey was supposed to be taxed at $2 a gallon and sold for $1.25 a gallon, it did not take advanced math to guess something was amiss. The agents didn’t keep all of the money; they kicked back 40 percent of the profits to higher government officials, including Babcock.
