Morning journal and courier., 1882-08-22
Tuesday Morning, August 22, 1882.
THE WHISKY TRADE

THE WHISKY TRADE.
 The people of the United States use about 70,OOO,OOO gallons of whisky year, of which about 10000, 900 is straight" ''Straight' whisky is the pure article unnixed with any other ingredient, and is not drunk to any ex- tent in the East. To supply this immense demand for whisky there were, when last counted, 947 distillers, 1,4O2 reotifers and 3, ,8OG wholesale liquor dealers.
 Mir. F. o. Boyd, chairman of the New York Produce Exchanges Committee on Distilled Spirits has just given Q very clear and inter- esting account of the condition of the whisky trade. He regards whisky as the great Amer ican drink and thinks it is steadily increasing in quality and popularity. There are three classes of whisky-highw bourbon and rye. The first is manufactured principally in Illinois and the Northwest Tho bourbon whisky is made mostly in Kentucky, and the rye ln that State, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Highwine is the first and lowest product of the corn. It is not used as bev- craze, but in preserves and in the arts and to make alcohol About ten or eleven years ago the dlstlllers were not allowed to complete the manufacture of alcohol in the distilleries They were obliged to send the highwine out and elsewhere it might be turned into alco- hol. This law repealed and now the manufacture of highwine is carried on to a higher stage of development and alcohol Is now made in these distilleries Very little hlghwlne, as such, is now marketed Tho sales in Nov York do not average over 300 barrels month. What is known as stFrench spirit Is now largely manufactured It Is much further developed and purer tha high wine. It is used in cologne and for other purposes, and in the manufacture of whisky, of which, in fact, it forms the basis.
 It is rather surprising to learn, as we do rom Mir Boyd, that the main pr oft in dis t1lling is made in the sale of the refuse to feed cattle. Contractg are made by distillers to feed certain number of cattle for cer tain period. The cattle are bought in the fall lean and lenk, and are housed through the winter in stables at the distilIsries, until they are sold in the spring fat and heavy There Is large profit in the transaction. Be. levlng that there would be an active cattle trade this spring, the western distillers last September took large cattle contracts and in- creased thelr production very greatly. About November they discovered that there would be large over production of alcohol, and in order to market it the distillers to the num- Der of about forty-t five formed an association and agreed to pay bonus to every distiller who exported alcohol. At this time the anti cle was very cheap in Europe. Potatoes from which alcohol is made in Germany were so cheap that they were actually export ed to this country as ballast In France al- cohol Is made from beet-root, and in Italy, as In this country, from corn. The bonus paid was the difference in the price here and the lower price in Europe, and at times the bonus was as large as twenty cents per gallon In order to pay the bonus assessments were made, and as much as $7OO, ,OOO was paid to dlstlllers. This bonus scheme worked we'll and enabled the distillers to make money in supplying the home demand and on the cattle contracts. It expired by limitation on May 1.
 but though the plan of paying a bonus to exporters worked well last year, it cannot be tried again, for it has been discovered that the alcohol could be exported, the bonus re- ceived, and then be sent back again and sold In the American market at a profit. Fully 10000 barrels have been thus returned, and more Is on the way. The western dstillers therefore find themselves in a peculiar posi- tion. Corn is high, making the cost of whlskey correspondingly high. To protect themselves they have agreed to reduce pro duction to 40 per cent. and allow the small distlllerles that will suspend altogether cents per bushel (of corn) up to their 40 per cent capacity. This will enable the large distiIlers to work full capacity and at profit. Mir. Boyd thinks that this arrangement insures prosperous winter for the northwestern dis. tlilers; but for 1t he would not have given SlO for the whole business He thinks the southern distillers would do we'll to follow this example, for they have allowed vast over-production.