Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1875-10-27

which ia invested in the
ad,ct;on of alcohol in the brltisn
Isles ia not less than t111,UW,uV. Dus
.5.e tsa enormous addition which womb
taua SnS n, he made to this vast sum II the
na,ne we're given of the capital en-
nsaved in the production OF wine IN !he
vide stretch of the grape yieidlne
Countries. il is quite impossible 20 con-
ce;ve In the financial year ending ~
1874 the duties paid within the DrI.isI
Isles for the various forms OF fermen.eo
drink were: For foreign spirits, I9
329 $50; foreign wine, / ,?c9,soo; hom55
make spirits, f14, ,Gy,o ,o62, ana ior u,a,' ~, !.
to be converted into beer, ih'o9,9l.i;
the fnrtberamount which represents the
brewers' license, taking the place OF
the hon duty, and the duty on sugar
Consumed in brewing. it at once appears
that at the present time the puollc
revenue derives yearly clear t3u,UU,-
600 sterling from direct taxes levied on
alcoholic drink; and it will be further
observed that of this great sum very
nearly two-thirds relate to the con.
centrated form in which the powerful
agent il procured by the employment
of the still-that is, by the application
of science and art to strengthen the
spirit beyond the point TO which IL can
pOssibly be raised by natural fermenta-
ton; and very nearly one-half refers
to the cheaper form of this concentrated
product which is prepared IN the nome
manufacture, and which therefore, lt Is
to be presumed, expresses approx
mately the consumption of the less
wealthy portion of the community. The
exact number of the millions of pounds
sterling that are swallowed in the form
of strong drink in our own islands
alone can scarcely be ascertalned on
account of the diversity of form In
which the product is presented tor con-
sumption, and on account OF the COM
plex relations which connect duty ana
quantity In the different forms. The
amount can only be guessed ut under
the guidance of such figures as have
been named. If, however, one penny
i'm the pound upon taxable incomes be
taken to represent, as it is stated 1t Will
shortly do, a sum of f2.OOO,OOO, then
the f30,OOO,0O0 paid yearly to the
revenue by alcohol is tantamOunt to an
income tax of fifteen pence in the pound
upon such incomes, and TO an assessi-
ment of f31 year upon an individual
income of $500 per annum. The fact
which is involved in the figures of these
several SldttuCutS NO0iu acoatSofJ ~
a very surprising one, even If the large
sum of money were expended in an
article of unprodIIctive but harmless
luxury. As DIR. Richardson suggested
in his lectures, a very strong impression
would be made upon the public mind
if, after some long period in which the
boilers of steam engines had been fed
with a mixture of spirit and water, il
was suddenly discovered that the
engines would work quite as well with
the water, without the spirit, and that
the millions of pounds that had been
devoted to the production OF the spirit
had all been so much unnecessary
waste. But the argument goes very
much beyond this in the case of "the
millions of engines called men," if il
can be shown that there is hurtful as
well as wasteful expenditure, and that
in very large proportion of instances
the engines would have worked even
better without the costly addition OF
the spirit. In these days of the scientific
applications of the doctrines of economy
it certainly must remain a matter OF
some surprise to thoughtful men that
in a land of advanced cultivation and
intelligence SO many millions of good
money are continuously applied to the
production of a commodity which, in
the existing habits of society, may
reasonably be held to be pernicious
alike to the pockets, to the health, and
to the morals of the community. II
unfortunately happens that the ques-
tion of the influence of alcohol is a
difficult one to deal with on account OF
the subtle effects and the complicated
instrumentalitics which have to be en-
countered and unraveled at every turn
but it is for that very reason a question
that imperatively demands a more
searching inquiry and more cOnceD-
trated attention than it has yet received
at the hands of the general community.
l-Edinburgh Rerie,r.