The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1874-06-17
Important to Wine Dealers and Con-
SumerS.

The Wine and Spirit Traders Society of
New YORK, actnated by desire to simplify
the methods Of collecting duties Oh i'm
ported wines, and to introduce better grades
OF wine into general use. without loss to
the customs revenue, made a proposition to
the Ways and Means Committee of the
present Congress to do away with the old
ad valorem and graded duties by Il gen
eral specific duty of 81 cents per gallon on
all still wines
Under the existing tariff none but the
lowest grades Of claret, hook, and Sauternc
are placed within the reach of ordinary in
comes. A wine costing 30 cents Il gallon or
less is taxed - cents a gallon, while grades
ranging from 40 cents gallon upward are
taxed 60 cents per gallon, with an addi-
tional IS per cent adj valorem for all'worth
more lhan dollar. The effect of this tariff
is seen in the relative importations of the
different grades. In 1873, S,s23, 273 gallons
of still wines worth less than 40 cents "A gal
Ion We're imported, against 7H ,4os worth
over 40 cents and under 81, and l97, 1872
worth over ST. In other words, 30 per cent
more duty made the ratio of importation Of
indifferent wines to good wines as 9 to |.
The tariff proposed by the society of a gen
eral duty of 30 cents per gallon, or 81 %
per case, taking the impOrtatiOns of 1873 as
basis, would give an increase of the an
nnal revenue of nearly $500. 900. as may be
seen by the following tables:
Under 40 cents. .s323,273 % cents. $4,000 s1l
Over sl.......... 1918. o s Sl Pc 2s6 $50
9257,s63 81 $40 s73
Under the proposed tariff of :,5 cents per
gallon the result wolld be as follows:
Tariff o 1857 1863 gallons at IS GEMS 49, 24o 2a2
Amount received under sting tariff 80. 2S9 s73
Increase under specific rate............. S426 379
Thus the increase is seen to be about four
and half cents per gallon above the exist
ing rate while at the same time it does
away with the temptations and vexations
that arise under the appraIsements necessi-
tated by an adj valorem duty.
An effect of the proposed change in the
tariff would be 10 bring within reach of the
consumer the light, wholesome and cheap
wines grown at a distance from the Euro
pean seaborl. Such wines have heretofore
been practically excluded by the additional
charges of transportation, which, added to
the orr ginal cost, subjected the wines to the
higher duty of sixty cents per gallon.
The proposed rate was submitted to the
Was and Means Committee by the Coun-
cii " tft VIE anu opliit lIddeIS cocle'l
but the committee seem to suppose that if
the wine importers are able to offer 30 cents
a gallon duty they can be forced to pay 80
cents At all events, the new BILL which
has passed the House, and is now in the
hand, of the Senate Finance Committee,
fixes the duty on still wines uniformly ut 80
cents per gallon. The direct effect of snch
a tariff will he to increase the price of the
cheapest wines nearly 40 per cent, and
prominent dealers believe that it will have
the further result of diminishing the aggre-
gate importations of wine, and conse-
qurntly the revenue derived thertfrom in
the same ratio, besides driving wine drink
ers of limited means to seek the more con
stimulus Of spirituous liquors.
New York Sun, 18th u>t.