Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-05-19


turers of whisky, is a startling one. This
statement. nevertheless, is made and Illus
trated BY figures in a speech recently deliV-
cred IN Congress bv Mr.. John D. White, OF
Kentucky. The subject under discussion
was the House bin to provide for the ap-
pointment of 8 commission to examine the
tariff and internal revenue laws. Mr.. White,
in the course OF his remarks, employed the
following language:
The manufacture of whisky costs q cents
on the gallon. Il sells in Cincinnati in the
bonded warehouse for that price. The gov
eminent has In that whisky 80 cents on the
gallon. You put It in the bonded warehouse,
where II IS allowed to remain eight years.
How much 1oes the manufacturer lose OF
the 1919 gallons which is allowed to ocZe out
of the bsrrelg While he loses only one
third of q cents, the government loses one
third of 90 cents In addition to that, the
government loses the interest on the mil
lions Of money that will be locked up there
in bond for eight years. In addition to
that the, man who owns the
whisky doubles his money every
two wears the government holds it In bond.
VIII you do SO? VIII you put it under lock
and kew for him TO profit in that manner
At what cost? The government has the
storekeepers and gaugers employed to pro-
tect It for him without cost. 1t has the IN
spectors and collectors nf the internal reve-
nue. and many other officers and clerks all
EMPLOYED at government expense. The
manufacturers, in short, and the owners OF
the SO coo, 900 gallons now locked up in
Kentucky, Maryland and Pennsylvania, II
they can hold It in bond for eight years. will
have robbie the government of $50, 100000
In three States alone. It Is simply CUES
ton whether they can hold It or not.
The basis Of this argument is, Of course,
the fact that the longer whisky is kept the
~4~ga
rapidly advancing with age. Hence the q
cents per gallon which 1t costs the manu-
facturer at first grows to a selling value of
81 or IS at the end of eight years, less the
cost of the barrel, eoopersge, storage and
insurance. But the government gets only its
tax Of 80 cents gallon In any case. Indeed 1t
actually loses by the arrangement, for it re-
ceives the 80 cents per gallon only on what
remains in the barrel; and there is allowed
for leakage 1919 gallons in each barrel. This
allowance causes a loss TO the government
of millions of dollars. In order to Illus
trate this point Mr.. White presented the
following case Of barrel containing forty
gallons:
The Cincinnati price of high wines is
81 II per gallon, including government tax
of 80 cents a gallon. Thus the forty gallons
are worth, when first put in bonded ware
house, SO so; add to this eight years in
sursnce and storage, SO 90, and the interest
at per cent. for eight years on both
amounts, 50 90. and we have the total Of
500 60; add price of barrel and cooperage
and interest on same, 50 20, Masking a total
Of S33 80. Expense of one barrel Of forty
gallons of high wines or whisky TO the OWL
ers for eight years equal to S33 30.
OF the 40 gallons aforesaid there will have
"oozed out' under this bill 1919 gallons,
leaving 2715 gallons. Now, very low es-
innate for this, including government tax,
is IS per gallon; and thus under the protec-
tive care Of the government 1t Is worth
$l37 80 to the owner. Now, deduct from
this amount the government tax on 2714
gallons, equal to $24 IS; also, the original
cost OF the 40 gallons, with storage, insur-
snce and in crest, equal to $39 30.
After paying his respects to parsonage
whom he calls "his retired EXcellency R. B.
HAYES, the late imbecile from Ohio" and
to Colonel Gabe Wharton, OF whom he says
that his salary was only $50 year and the
fees, but through the latter che has man
aged to draw a salary for the year ending
June 80, 1881, amounting to S6,5l6 10 "
Mr.. White returns to his previous statement
In regard to the loss which the government
will suffer from the whisky bill passed
By the House a few weeks since at the sug-
gestion of Commissioner Raum. Assuming
thst there will be at least SO POO, 900 gal
Ions remaining In bond during the next
this amount In the three States Of Kentucky,
MARYLAND aud Pennsylvania alone, he con
structs the following table:
Sixty-nine million two hundred thou
sand gallons at 90 cents tax per
gallon. .-....... 81, 2oO,UUU
per cent. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. 20 1884 400
Amount ......................... sg2, ia, 400
Tax on a., SIS. 900 gallons, the amount
rarnaininO after allowing 12lk gal
Ions for outage in eight years S42 81, 800
years 'Ys ~ :o'c. - s 300
Tax on IS. 225, 900 gallons. the amount
remaining after allowing ~ gal
Ions for outage in three years $50, 602, 500
Interest on same for five years at 6
per cent. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. 15,1sO.75O
Amount -, g, ...........,... S65, 1881
end Of eight years ,............e... 4a,s17 SEQ
Total loss to government in last
five years So. 1867
On the supposition that the cattle and
hogs fed at the distilleries will at least pay
for the barrels and the cooperage, Mr.
White claims that he has proved his state
ment.
Mr. White furnishes another remarkable
set Of tables. The cost of the SO, POO, 900
gallons az LWe0GY-SeVeQ cents. exclusive OF
the tax, is 1854, Goo To this he adds in
terest for eight years at per cent; the in
surance for that period at 80 cents per bar
rel, and the interest on the insurance; the
storage at 65 cents per barrel, and the inter
est on the storsge-the whole increasing the
original cost to about three-fold, or to $751;
2O8 900. The government allowance for
outage, at 1919 gallons per barrel, is p ,625,-
900 gallons. This, subtrscted from the
original amount, leaves 1875, 900 gallons |
Accepting this as the actual amount, and
reckoning its value at 81 10 gallon, or s.
including the 20 cents tax, Mr.. White |
reaches this result:
The value of Al, SIS, 600 gallons at IS
per gallon s....-................$23 7, 675, 600
Deduct tax on AZ SIS gal
Ions at 80 cents per gal
Ion. S4@,oI1 0OU
Deduct cost price. ....... 5l,2O5 OOO
Deduct for barrels, coop
erage, and interest on
same, eight years. ..... 100000
101, rs, 800
Profits on 69,200,000 gallons in
bonded warehouse eight years. $ls6, 749, $50
No wonder, If MIR. White is correct in his
facts and differences, that whisky legislation
becomes vastly important, and that whisky
rings and Hobbies flourish.