Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1880-05-13
THE TAX ON SPIRITS.
Congressman Updegraff Opposes
a Reduction.

| DullllS TIE ulSCuSSlOH VI Tie 1nleTIldl
Revenue bill, which passed the House
of Representatives last week, Congress
man Updegraff of this District made the
| following remarks:
Mr.. Chairman, to all the provisions of
this bill, designed avOwedly to make
cheaper and freer alcoholic liquors, | am
opposed. To the rebate of S1,75O, 900 and
the unjust release of $4,000 of the per
cent. interest now due by the liquor
manufacturers of the country, am in
| tieXibly opposed. 1t is a bonus of
S2,0O0,000 to that trade.
Among all the burdens from which
the people ask relief, among all the
! struggling industries which may justly
demand favor in view of the public
good, but which it is constantly sought
here to hinder and cripple, is the only
answer of this Congress to the people
to be: You shall have freer and cheap
er whisky. We will take S2,0O0,OO0 off
of that traffic, and collect it from less ia
vored industries, and from the comforts
and necesSarieS of life"
But there is strange confusion of
views among tine advocates of these
measures. Even among distillers there
a
them favor and some oppose this meas
ure us unequal and unjust.
The gentleman from North Carolina
Mr.. Vance wants every family to have
the right to distill eighty gallons of liq-
uOr untaXed for .fdnaiIy use tn the inter
est of temperance! He is for free apple
jack and reform! Laughter.l l wish
my friend much success in his temper
ance work in the good old North
State, if he can get two barrels of un-
taxed peach brandy and apple-jack in
every household for family use.
The gentleman from Kentucky, Mr..
Willis, with great franknesS, and surely
with business directness, declares he is
in favor of this bonus to the liquor man.
ufacturing interest. in order, as he says,
that capital may be invited into that
business and its products greatly en-
larged 1t may be that the majority of
the people of this country do not believe
the public good requires the stimulation
or encouragement of that traffic. Every
buShel of grain converted into liquor
makes that much less for the food mar
ketS of the country.
When the gentleman from Tennessee
Mr.. Young in humorous terms dwelt
ON the superior whisky of his beloved
Memphis it was indeed CHASTITY jest.
Various causes have been assigned for
the peculiar misfOrtuneS of that plague
stricken city. The gentleman has sug-
gested another-it may be the true one
for he says "many of his most reputa-
BILE and respectable constituents there
have invested large capital in this bus
mess" Laughterl
But the distinguished gentleman from
Missouri Mr.. Buckner goes 50 far as
to declare that this revenue tax Inter
fereS with the interests of the country
for the sake of appeasing this miserable
clamor about moral sentiment Mr..
Chairman, hundreds of thousands of the
best citizens of this country have fire.
quently and respectfully appealed to
Congress to do what legislation may
Justly do to diminish the fearful cost
and crime that comes from intemper-
ance. No free government can justly
or safely disregard the moral Senti-
ments" of any large class of its best
citizens. The present great premier of
England, just now SO Overwhelmingly
returned to power, never uttered a tru-
er or grander sentiment than when he
declared, in speaking of this very queS-
tion: at is the duty of government to
make it as hard as possible for a man
to go wrong, and as easy as possible for
him to go right" This is the highest
and ripest wisdom of free polity aud
the best safeguard of institutional gov
ernment. 1 trust it may be applied to
the practical solution Of this question.