The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1866-02-17
DISTILIERzES IN EEEKNCES.

The Chicng, Republican of Feb lO;h has
an elaborate article on the distiileries of
Illinois, showing their present condition. aud
how the business has been affected by the
excise tax. The article shows ;h<t under
the pressure of high ta,aiion. the manu!,c-
tuts hxs not only greatly declined, but since
she 81 imposition, most of ;le sulls hav.
been idle.
During the dr=t year of taxation, when
the tax WAS 20 cts. a gallon. The revenue de-
rived from spirits was s3,229, 99o.79; during
1864, when the tax was 81 per gallon, the
resenue amounted to SIS, ,f3l, ,.g1 All. dur
ing 1865, with tax OF 81 per gallon, the
revenue dropped II $l6.OJ0,050 II no
ebsRge is made by the present congress. the
revenue for the current ;eac will probably
run down TO six OF eight millions, ultima ely
~ nothing.
Soms of the effects of this uureas onabie
excise are thus detailed:
The evils arising from this stat, oc things
very seriously felt in The Nest. These
distilleres, seated thrJd.n the country.
sfirded ready aH,i Convenient markets !or
much OF our surplus grain. HE. farm rr. in
their vicinity, instead Of being compelled To
ship cora to III. other si.ie OF the Continent.
And across the Atlantic. found consumer, for
1t Al their own ID rs BI,, uu Ter II. unera.
tioa at this pr 'hib,arv tax. th- ct,. IS
grave't altered. Coming a it dos IL n Al
er. ot hi.h frrichts AMI dear r-ce,oAri,.s nf
life. the home ani iurA - markets. ar. vir
tusliv c!osei TO t'e ncdIrj- AZ culg4ri,'s.
Last year the corn crop "as al UIuS usliy
heavy one. while live st,rk of al kinds.
own, n .he dean inIs of the WAT has ne
come so scare that farmers have literally
very few animals to I'll. IhIs corn i, I
drug upon their hands. So ch-. - has il
become that it harli, PAYS for the hauling.
When disiiliing Is brisk. corn bring, ia
Peoria Chicago prices. Thus, Isl ~ les
from this city. Is a most Important home
market f grain, which. under The uper .ri
or Iuordiaz;e take, las beer virtually cn- d
10 the farmers of Central Illinois High
wines was wor h. before the war. at that
point. l3 or IA cents in gold. Nos it rugs
but Ia to Is cents in currency over and
above the tax, while labor is higher. fuel
dsarer, and barrels much more costly -
Hence dis,iisrs are now Masking no rroit,
snd consequently must either cur,si' opera
tions or suspend business, throwing hun de
and thodsaHds of mechanics and borers
out of employment. What they need Is nm,
thorough uniform rate of taxzIiou. 50 that
they NAV inte!ligently shape their business.
Nov they don't krow what 10 do. There Is
slop enough was-ei now in Peoria alone to
fatten $1,000 hogs. Once it was worth 4 10
cents per bushei Nov. in consequence of
the uneertsintv Of the supp'y, It i absolutely
worthless to the 1isiilier,.
The Temperance argument that. although
shs government, by too hi2h taxation, may
have defeated it. object ss - r-ven1a, yet !;
has Done eooi by enormously increasing the
price. aud thus diminishing the consumption
Of whi,iy,-is exploded by f5cts Ike The fol.
is-ing:
Another great de,rmen; to the honest dis.
&:llsr, who manufactures aud ~. EI= Tax ii
good faith, is the en1rItIIs iHiucrrI-ilt
WHICH the high taxes hold Gut To- Illicit djsIil-
iAtiou. The c0pprrs.nIihS Of CIIciI"ati AID
g. Louis are making hun!rsis OF tJic stills
for Tennessee. kru'uaky, aas! n;h"r southern
sts;es. With common kstci,eu stove aud -
IRA kettle, tn or copper wfrf', I little core,
or few barrels Of i,-,.r. a..- mi la g.,i.y
make 4 barrel vt ,usTits G;.r with ! r;'c :!
Of detection. i ii ti1 At tnrfc arc L1alr=i,.
if 10. thousands pt .r<i still, la operation
IN Tue Ctt3t- ti tltt~- Az 'EaS - ~ u illf'
sha.,i.s OF the hack WOOL. and scattered all
through the SauthCci country. ;trr. IS no
doubt whatever Wholesale dealers Ha.m
;ds, about the quantity qu rel t5r the retail
trade of New ". city; but ;iiey all agree
sha: they do not supply II. nor cin they til
vhe-e 1t comes from. They unite ~ the
opinion that q large proportion of Il Is the
product Of Illicit disrilittipu. What i trLc
of New York is doubtless more or les - u!
other large oen,rrs at pppu'aiipn- ! vast
quantity Of spirits IS al" s-1dggIcd over oar
extended frontier from the Brirs provinces,
of course to the imj iry Of the Is itinaie dis
tiier.
II would be hard to give a reason Why thi-
Illicit manufacture should be confined to tile
"Sorthern States" Why should it not Prove
.ar,lly profitable III Illinois. or anywhere il
the West?
What the dis;iiers want, to revive theil
business. is not mach reduction o: IL,
tax 10 low rates. (thohgh the present rate l.
much too high,) As to have 1t fixed AMI Ger
tain. Hsre is the way they have been treat
ed by the Government:
The disiiller. doat know where they AR
nor what they may expect. For Instance.
WAS provided that the 81 30 tax should u
increased TO g per gallon on The lot % Feb
fuary. lSGj. Under this provision disiilier
contracted for tho parr!!a'e of gram Aui 1,
feed stock until thai date pu,hin;. Their bu,
iness 10 is full cAp.ci'y. Wien they ht
got nicely xts,rted, consress -mAie the al
vance take effect the lst Of January
Most of the di,iicr; al once shut up III,
stiIls that date, although equipped ir
another months business, aud broke ihrl
contracts with the farmers whose stock the
were ist,ening on the s!ops. pssIng DAMAGE,
of course for the upii-iulililnent OF thei
contracts anu the MAJORITY of them have nc
reopened Ia this day. One firm IN Pruli
had SO. 900 bushels of grain on hand cor
which! they had bought At 50 cents. and ~
At 4l.lJ. This cora was sold some month
ago. after = loss OF one-tulrd by shriakag'
st IS cents. By lnis freak of Congress. III
revenue was robbed Of the large IucOn
which would hays accrued from The niin
fac.ure. in the month Of January, lSJj.
4l.5O per gallon, and neEe- has received
dollar of benefit from tb;.t breach of iall
since On The contrary, little or nothing WI
made III that month, and tie shock which
impaired to the confidence CT the trade ".
so gseat thn. i, has not c; reeoseGed from
Ffors ihe best jnformatiou Ee can galhe
The dis.iltsYs woi4d recari a Tax Of 81 p
gallon. If Hssn-ed that ii sao.ld continue f.
. time sufficient 10 test its pF.cticabiiity as
means of raisiDg ssfieient proportion