, 1864-01-26

From our Regular Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Jan. 2t, 1864.
TIE SPIRIT DUTIES
In Committee of the Whole, yesterday. at.
ter 1 had mailed my letter, Fernaudo Woods
amendment to the Revenue Bill was adoptcd
by IS ayes to so nays.
The amendment Is Us follows:
Fsorided further. That all spirits on hand for
eale, whether distilled prior to The date Of this set
ded by this act o@ and seF t6e III Il % dsy PAN
uary, 1864, except that spirits which hare been al
ready s taxed under The law approved July /. 1864
creased tax provided for by this act.
An amendment was also adopted, pIncing
ap additional taI of twenty cents per gallon
on adulterated spirits, sold as whisky, BRAN
dy, wines, &c This vote is great blow to.
speculators who have purchased large qunnti-;
ties OF spirits on which the dnty was paid:
and on all those who hold large quantities Of
duty:paid. The total value Of all kinds Of
distilled liquors manufactured in the United
States in 1860, was over twenty -four millions
Of dol1nrs, and in 1868, it is expected the rev
erue alone, at co cents per gallon, will reach
g, COZ, Geo., So that It will be seen, great
and absorbing interest is taken In this ques-
ton. ...1ndividunls are now here, some of
them representing capital invested In spirits
to TIC amount Of nearly million Of dollars.
The Peoria distillers have delegation here,
and as that county manufactures probably
more than nil the remainder of the State,
these gentlemen represent large amount Of
capital In distilling. The product and value
Of spirits In 1B60, as per census report, were
=. = Gallons. 49,, valae.
NfX N;Sa]s E1XE'saa X's,sa s
Sszs.s Ssssss s9s S:5ioiaia :;
Illinois, In 1880, was the second State in the
manufacture twill probably now be the
first, viz: :. =
Ksw f York, psr annum asa sa e.
d5si'Re's os'o ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .....:.:.::1s 1s5,1se 3se
Kentucky, where so much 'sBourbon'' is
supposed to come from, makes but !, ,000, 600
gallons Of spirits per annuu, altogether.
There is good deal Of excitement among
the holders Of spirit to-day, and they soy that
the Revenue Bill as amended, will never pass
holding ont for price, DC, &c They may
be right, for It is impossible, now -a-days, to
predict what legislative body will do TWEEN
ty-four hours ahead. It Eeems to me, howev-
cr, that the odds are heavily against them,
Judging from the heavy majority in favor OF
MEMORIAL FROM CHICAGO D1sT11LERs.
During the debate on the spirit duty, on
motion Of Mr.. Arnold, the following state
ment from dlslllcrs Of Chicago was read from
the Clerks desk:
The undersigned, distil1ers OF the city Of Chica-
60, wou]d respectfully present TO the Committee
on Revenue the following facts in relation to the
II tic city oi Chicago there four distilleFles,
which, in tile aggregate consume daily seven thou:
eanG swo nofSa f; a1a a. my pnsnes na o. GIaa o.
the1effom about thirty thonRand gallons Of high
w1nca. In the sheds Of said distllcs7es there arc
a, present ecyen thousand head Of cattle In half
fat1cned condition. The question presentedto the
Committee is simply, how to derive the greatest
amount Of revenue from the highwines with the
opresent some data to enable the Committee to
arrive At proper solution Of the question.
we think that revenue, to be productive, should
amount can te Ia.ecd ppon given articles, and tie
nanufat tnrer still be able 10 continue their prodne-
tion. So soon as The Smonnt q The excise leyied
uiacturc exceeds Its price In the mtrket then the
manriaetures nrst stop producing: This eonelu:
sion L 1H y hs
patriotic puupoac Of paying revenue to the Govern
TO Illustrate the argument: let us take distil-
making forr thousand gallons OF h!shwines per
day; such one low Pays i1 the Goye1nment
u.
heavily did 1t press upon manufacturer Of high
wiscs that eomc werc compelled to run their dis
tieFies for alcohol for period OF EIx months for
foreign expectation, before the trade OF the coun-
Try became asetml1ated to eren the comparative
low excise Of twenty cents -upon the gallon, and
enabled them to manufacture highwinea for home
consumption. Judging. from this fact, We arc ot
the opinion that II The high excise Of between sixty
cents and one dollar be laid upon hfghwincs It will
result in shutting Up every dtstley In our city, 60
eoon as, by the manufacture Of alcohol, they can
get their ha1ftattcned beeves ont Of their barns
Of forty cents be laid By the Government, It will
enable the 1nnnufacturerto continue his business,
and not close his distillerJ.
We ask tho committee whether they will recon-
| mind high excise. thus closing our distil1eries
and cutting OF the Eeyenue to the Government q
us to continue our business and pay large reve-
nue. to the Government
We are willing to pay all our manufacture will
stand, and 10 do our best in common with our fel
low-citizens, to bear tho burdens of the Govern
ment; but We strongly protest against taxatf29 9
VIC add the following figures to show how mnch
revenue .s now paid By or disttllcrs in Chicago.
and what is proposed for them to pay,
There are daily manufactured tn the city thirty
thousand gallons, which, at twenty cents per gal
| Ion, produces TeYeuuc OF 5000. equal To the
Iearly tum OF 81 10000
| Now a tax Of forty cents per gallon be laid, It
Government viii derive from our cltY alone the
enormous sum Of $s,60o, coo. Are the committee
going into the Treasury Of the Gove1nmentS
J. II. W1cKEH & Co.
SAMUEL n. NICKER:oN 4 Co.
n, II. CROSBY,
TuE CHICAGO D1s71t11Sa CoxrAsT,
L C. ELLSWORTH. TreAHuFHf.