New-York tribune., 1875-02-25
WASHINGTON.
GREAT TRIUMPH OF THE WHISKY RING.

GREAT TRIUMPH OF THE WHISKY RING
ASSEMBLING OF rHB WHISKY LOBBY AT THE CAPI-
YAI-rHB COURSE oF MR. DAWES FoREroLD-
HOLDERS OF WHISKY, INSTEAD OF THE TREASURY
GAIN AT LEAST $5,0oO,0oo BY THE PRESENT BILL
fBY TELEGRAPH 10 THE TRrBUsEl
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24-In the House yesterday
the whisky lobby won great victory, and its mem
bers are correspondingy jubilant- When increased
taxation first began to be talked about early In the
present session. whisky was at once msnaoned as
one of the articles upon which large proportion OF
the additional revenue must be raised. and all the
large distiners and wholesale whisky merchants In
the West as well as some IN the East, began to m
crease their daily production Of spirits or to lay by
stock in order to escape the increased tax and at the
rame time secure the advanced price So immense
was this speculative scheme that by the
time the Ways and Means Committee be-
gan to construct its bill the amount
Of whisky on hand in bonded warehouses
was variously estimated sufficient to supply the
demand for from six months to o year. The Com
mittee desired to ralse immediate revenue, and
therefore after mature deberaton concluded that to
kx the spirits hand while it would work no hard
ship to the dstillers and dealers-since the price
would advance in the market sufficiently to cover
the full amount Of the tax-would at the same time
bring large immediate revenue to the Govern
fair one except by the representatives of the dis
tllers and dealers in spirits. who were opposed to
any increase in the tax on general grounds, though
they did not wish to lose the advantage OF the in
crease, if any was to be made
The whisky lobby was not visible IN Washington
until within few days, but when 1t did come 1T
was very demonstrative and went about its work
with determination that presaged success On
Monday evening ITS members were very hopeful, and
publicly asserted in the corridors Of of the prn-
cpal hotels that they had captured the Chairman OF
the Committee of Ways and Means, and that he
would move on Tuesday to amend his bill by fixing
the tax spirits at 90 cents, and by striking out
the clause taxing whisky already made. There is,
of course evidence to lead to the suppostion that
Mr Dawes was improperly influenced since he un-
doubtedly changed his bill to save 1t from defeat
but the coincidence is strange one that, while
there was every appearance that the bill would pass
substantially as reported from the Committee on
the last day of its consideration, the whisky lobby
was able to know the night before just the nature
Of the concession Mr.. Dawes would make to them.
The effect of leaving out the tax on whisky on
hand can hardly be appreciated by those who are
unfamiliar with the subject 1t puts into the pock-
sts of the of spirits clear profit of 20 cents
90 every gallon, or So on every barrel of whisky
now made. The profits TO some single Gstillers in
the West will be 100000 each and the lowest esti-
mate of the aggregate profit is $50OOo0o to $700e.
pOo The bill as originally reported would have
brought this money into the Treasury; as passed by
the House yesterday it puts it into the pockets of
spectators.