National Republican., 1883-01-22
WHISKY and THE BANKS.
A Member of the "Third House" Tells Where
tho Shoe Pinches,
And Presents Startling Array Of Facts
and Figures,
Showing Where the Spirits in Bond are Held and by
Whom.
The whisky RELIEF Bill Lobby Fearful of
Defeat In the House,

iuC pISSSuIe upon COuBIesb W phah llb
whisky relief bill is hourly intensifyng, and,
from the interest taken in it by business men
generally, 1t is evident that others besides the
distillers and dealers are on the anxious seat.
Nearly every board of trade in the country
has passed resolutions asking congress to pass
the pending bill, and tho banks in all the
large centcrs of trade are bringing their in
fluenCe TO bear to the same end The whisky
lobby is receiving valuable aid and comfort
from business men but for all that its
moving spirits are far from being satisfied
with the outlook The drift is against
them, and they are beginning, for the
first time to realize the force and the weight
of popular disapprobation. The public can
not divert its mind of the belief that the bill
in question is n measure designed almost cX-
clusively to assist the distillers and dealers in
whiskies, and the public is coldly indifferent
TO the condition of the whisky trade. "It's
Enthusiastically true" said one of tho members
of the lobby to a reporter, that the people, as
people, would rejoice to sec everybody en-
gagged in the whisky business go to smash.
The people are unquestionably
AGAINST THE WHISKY INTEREST,
and they take it for granted that the legisla-
tion asked is for the men engaged in 1t. This
is u misrepresentation of the true condition of
affairs, as those who take the trouble to in
form themselves of the facts very soon learn.
Nevertheless the popular prejudice against
the very word whisky is so strong that i fear
the house will not pass the bill which
came from the senate. Many of its
friends claim that they have q clear
majority in the house, and they produce
tally sheets TO prove it, but / must con
fess l am skeptical. If they have majority,
that majority could take up the bill any time
and pass it. This inability to take from the
speakers table is evidence to my mind that
they have been deceiving themselves, and
that they are very much weaker than they
are willing to admit. When my opinion has
been asked, / have unhestatingly said that
the bill is in the greatest possible danger of
defeat. l think it in extreme jeopardy and
that unless extraordinary efforts on the part of
those who are directly concerned are made to
give congress the fullest inside information
on the subject, the relief sought will be
denied, and the result to the business in
terests of the country will be disastrous.
The trouble is the banks have been caught,
and they are afraid to tell the world Just how
badly they are situated for fear of impairing
their credit and precipitating q panic.
A year ago the banks openly and camorously
favored the passage of relief measures, They
wore in seape then to stand the consequences,
and would have told very nearly how much
whisky paper they were carrying. 1t is diff
fcrcnt now, and they are keeping in the back
weakness
THEY ARE sICK, VERY SICK.
and they don't want the people to know it.
They are employing secret and indirect means
to let theiT needs be known to the select and
that is not going to save them. Their re-
luctancc TO come forward and make q plain
statement is the strongest possible evidence
that they are in deep water A shaky bank
is the last bank in the world to confess its
| nd 10 hn ncfrn ha div l,nfnr
it breaks, to take the word of the managers
for it. l.
:" will give you some facts which you may
use or not, rs you see fit. The spirits in bond
at this time amount in round numbers to
S3000,00O gallous. The warehouse receipts
for this whisky are as much negotiable bank
paper as warehouse receipts for wheat or corn.
During the boom in whisky which has pre-
vailed until recently, for two or three years.
banks advanced from ffty-hvc to seventy-fve
cents per gallon on these receipts freely.
There was a lively speculative demand for
whisky and everybody had confidence in that
class of property. The distillers have in u
very large degree sold their whisky and re-
ceived their pay. Ninety per cent. specu-
lators who bought the stuff have been frozen
out, and tho
BANKS ARE THE ACTUAL OWNERS
of very large part of the spirits in bond.
| They have advanced between $50.000,000 and
! S60,000,O00 on what is now the most unstable
commodity in the market. There is abso-
lutely no sale for the property to-day, nor is
there any likelihood of there being market
for it for long time The tax on the spirits
in bond will fall due from month to month,
as shown in the following exhibit:
Must be withdrawn by term of bond prior to
| Feb. 9, 1888, S57067 gallons March g. 1853,
1,009,3S5 April 9, 1888, 13736,79; May 9,
1888, 1,6i3,6i0; June 6, 1888, 1,731,0O0; July
8, 1883, 1,407,025; Aug, 8, 1888, 93l, ,256 Sept.
9, 1883, ,724; Oct. g. 1888, sol ,209; Nov. g.,
1883, 1,4Sl ,062; Dec. 6, 1883, 1885, $50; Jan.
g. 1854, 3,273,9s0; Feb. @, 1884, 3,3l2, ,62O;
March G, 1884, 363l ,0l0: Apr. G, 1884, 1860, ,03l
| May q, 1884, 4,S20,S90; June o, 1884, 4,S79,-
500; July 0, 1884, 4,0574s6 Aug. o, 1854,
1,779, 1888; Sept. 9, 1884, 776,72l; Oct. 8, 1884,
! 1,73i,900 Nov. o. 1884, 3,090,S35; Dec. g.,
1884, 4.1O3,s9l; Jan. 8, 1885, 4,s54,2G5i Feb.
g. 1886, 4,6i1,41 III March o, 1885, 4,246,271 /;
April o, 1885, 4,593569 May g. 1885, 3,s77,-
s67; Juno 8, 1885, 3,2ls,79S; July 6, 1855,
1,592, ,626; Aug. g, 1885, 592s73 Sept. 6, 1885,
3S7 1874 Oct. q, 1885, 536, 426; Nov. 6, 1855,
1,272, 600; total s3,3S,G56.
ITO save themselves from the loss of this
$50,OOO00O or $6OOOO,OOO, the banks will
have to pay the tax us it falls due. This will
take $75,000,000, in addition to the amount
already advanced. 1t is needless for mo to
say they cannot do it. The strain will be
more than thoy can bear, and there will be
the devil to pay. The eXaction by the gov
ernment of its pound Of flesh will
INEVITABLY RUIN MANY BANKS,
and incidentally cripple every branch Of in
dustry and every line of trade. The owner
ership of the whisky in bond is distributed
through about thirty states Ohio, Illinois,
New York, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mis-
souri,, Pennsylvania, and Maryland are more
largely interested than all the other states
combined. About 20per cent. of the $4,000, 600
gallon Of spirits in bond is what is known
as rye. This Is held almost exclusively in the
east. The banks of Philadelphia, Pittsburg,
New York, Boston, and Baltimore have adj
yauced Sl0,00O,OO0 or $l5,000,000 on this prop
crty. New York, Philadelphia, and Boston
| banks are interested TO about the same extent
in bourbons, and collecting through
western correspondents much more. Cincin-
natl banks are stuck S6,000,000 or ST.
O00,00O Chicago banks $5,000,000 or
S60OO,0 600 St. Louis banks 81 900 900 or S., ,000,-
600, and Louisville banks $i,000,00 or 50, ,000,-
600, an amount which represents almost hall
the banking capital of Kentucky Cincin-
natl and New York win be hurt worse than
any other cities. A refusal to give relief will
amount to virtual confiscation by the gov
ernment of $4,000, ,0O0or S5000O,0O0 of bank,
ing capital.
"These facts can be verified. The figures
in dollars and cents l have given you are esti
mates, but they are not far out Of the way
These are the facts which have to be pounded
into congress or the relief bill will be stranded
and the banks may rs Welcome right up and
tell how they are situated. There are Other
phases to this question, and other objections
to moot and combat but there is food enough