The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1865-12-20
vas 49, 500, 1853 pounds, which, at psessut
rates, would hare produced SIS, 7sa, ,fso 50.
-, - ttsss YERNryrrD I1oIropS

rates, would have, produced SIS, 7S6, ,fS5 90.
- n af.. FERxExrED Louoss.
$ls558,O3S
.....~.-...... 2,223,719
1901 3,657.091
"a From September /, 1852, 70 March 3. 1859,
the tax was one doliatper barrel. of not more
iAAa anrty,one gallons; from. that, date. 70
.ApFil4y 1884, sixty cents, and since thai time
one dollar If8f 1871 81 : .CI
! sfThe number of barrels upon which tax was
received, as nearly as can be ascertained, was
l,I66,S27 in 1888, S,459, 1i9 in 1854, and
s,657 ,lS1 in 1855.
DIsTILLED. SPIRITS.
Iset $1229, 800
'...'.. 1o,Aal,7g7
1000 15,v95, ,633
During the fiscal year 1868, the tar was uni.
formly twenty cents per gallon. For the fs-
cal year 1854, the tax vas twenty cents until
March I, after which it was sixty cents.
From July /, 1864, until January l, 1865, it
was 81 90 per gallon, and Afterwards 50.
Of the amount reported in the year 1866,
however, S3,862, 752, Or nearly one fourth the
whole amount, was at twenty or sixty cents
per gallon. This resulted mainly from the
fact that large quantities of spirits were sold
by the distiller within the las1 ten DAYS Of
June, 1854, thus escaping the increased duty,
while the taxes thereon did not fall due unsil
the following month of July, being the first
Of the next fiscal year. Considerable quaint
ties were removed fran the distilleries, too.
under transportation bonds, or under bills of
lading, prior 10 the lst day Of July, .under
conditions which produced similar result.
Even with this explanation, it may occasion
no little surprise that the increase of duty was
followed by decrease Of receipts But re-
gard the receipts Of the past year from dis
titled spirits as no criterion, IT, indeed even an
indication, of what would have been received
had the tax fallen upon the ordinary natural
consumption the country. This was checked
in some measure, undoubtedly, by the tax;
but the Installations in the winter and spring
of lSG3-'G4 were everywhere III advance OF
consumption, anticipating the increased duty,
Cutting the market, and thoroughly deranging
the customary laws of demand and supply
For long time the consumption has not been
Of spirits which have paid the duty current Mt
the date. but always of those taxed, il liable
at all, at previous and lower rate
The increase has never been OF advantage
to the Government, but has swelled the income
of manufacturers and spectators. For seve-
raj months of the past year, when holders
were disposng of their adventures, the mar
ket price of distilled spirits. even in the At
lantic cities, remote from the place of produc-
ton, was but little. if any, IN ad vance Of the
tax. II is no wonder then, many distillerles
were idle and the revenue small.
The receipts from distilled spirits in
1853 (ten months were from......-ls.Ii9 s54 gsl.
1891 were from, 50 .2sa.s9l gals.
1865 were from ,9s6,77s gals
Average taxable productions per
year from Sept. I. 1862, to June
80 lsb5..- o.3si 81 gals
From the fact that several of the elements
involved are so uncertain and fnctuatiug. II
Is very difficult, of course, to determine with
confidence, how much the consumption is re-
duced by the present tax, and what will GER
tainly be realized from this source Of revenue :.
The Revenue Commission has given much at
tenton to this subject. and its report, have
no doubt, will be fall and exhaustive. 1t
may not be amss for me to state. however,
that apprehend there is prevalent over es
innate of this reduction. and in this belief
am strengthened by the recent .'Report Of
the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Inland
Revenue, from which it appears that the
consumption of distilled spirits in the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland dur
ing the year ending March 81. 1852, exclu-
sire of the amount used in the arts and man
uIsctures, was q, SGD, 260 gallons, while the
increase Of the excise duty in 1sso 10 the
unifogn rate Of los, pr $50 PER gallon,
Throughout the kiue1an sat Which rate it
still remainsl. only reduced the consumption
during the last year 10 26.5le b3I gallons.
This amount was in addition TO S.6i9 gal
Ions more employed in manufai fures and the
arts, methylated and exempt from duty.
In 1862 the tax in England was Is lod in
Scotland, 3s Sd. iand in Ireland. q 81.
The population of the United Kingdom in
1852 was % 800, 600, and in 1861. %. 6.,1 600
For some years prior to 1860 the rate Of
duty was uniform throughout the nited
kingdom at IS or IS Id per gallon. and in
that year was raised to los. From the report
of the Commissioners for the following year
it appears that the domestic production fell
of heayily-some nineteen per cent--imme-
diately after the change In the rate, from "a,
$50. l92 gallons in 1860 to 20. l. .S24 gallons
in 1861 while it will be noticed tha, the ad
vance in the duty was out slight. when com
pared with that which was imposed under our
laws at the commencement of the last fiscal
year. The Commissioners in the report of
1861 say:
These figures Immediately suggest the
question whether the whole of this large de
crease is attributable to diminished consump-
tion produced by the addition to the rate of
duty. We think that this Is not the case.
Considerable diminution, indeed, was expect
ed, and has doubtless occurred: but various
other causes have contributed to unexpected
deficiencies above recorded
In the first place We know that unusually
large stocks of spirits had been accumulated
in February, 1860, in anticipation Of an addi-
ton TO the duty; and. on the other hand,
that since the duty was raised to los the
stocks have been uniformly kept AS low as
possible, and the operations Of all persons
concerned in the spirit trade restricted to the
absolute wants of the moment Rectifiers,
for instance, take ten puncheons at time,
instead Of twenty or thirty, as they formerly
did, and many of the large retailers who used
to replensh their stores with one hundred gall
Ions at time, are now careful to limit their
purchases to ten or twenty gallons. This is
the consequence Of the increased cost of the
spirits, and may be expected permanently TO
alter the habits of the trade; operating in
combination with the excessive stocks of the
years l859-60, it has had considerable effect
on the relative quantities charged with duty
on that and the succeeding year.
Yet, after making allowance for all this,
there still remains a large deficiency, rhich
can only be accounted for by diminished CONF
sumption; not, however, wholly produced by
the increase in price of spirits, ana therefore
not necessarily cause Of permanent falling
off in revenue. .e 'FN
. We feel justified in assigning to the bad
harvest Of last year large share in restricts