The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-07-13
LOOK OUT FOR SQUALLS.
An Article of Great Interest to Whis-
XIV Dealers.--A Claim That All
the Whisky is MOrtgaged
to the Banks.

There is going to be trouble about the
recent decision regarding the expectation
of whisky. 3,There are predictions that it
will cause quite futter in the money
market, A Washington special to the
Inter ecedn is authority for the statement
that 'there-will be lois of trouble yet
about this export of whisky. The banks
have begun to feel uneasy about it, be
cause it is all mortgagcd to them. They
have advanced about SEQ barrel upon
it, and don't want it to be removed, now
that it is evident the government is OPP
posed to the operation, and will obstruct
its return, and, perhaps, seize it What
security have they that they will ever see
their money again after they have allowed
the liquor to go to BermudaG 1t passes
outside the jurisdiction of any court.
Then there is another trouble brewing.
Under the present system distiller can
mortgage his whisky two or three times
for all the bank knows, A bank, say in
Cincinnati, may lend certain amount of
money on warehouse receipts, and in a
month Louisville bank may also take a
mortgage on the same goods without
knowing anything about the previous
transaction. The storekeeper simply
makes certificate to the fact that SO
many barrels of whisky are in certain
warehouse, In sixty days he is relieved
and another stcrekeeper is put in his
place The distiller in the meantime may
want more money, and he gets another
certifc ate or receipt showing that so much
whisky is in the warehouse, The distllleT
can then, go to another bank and secure
another loan. This has been done often,
the borrower trusting to luck to get out OF
the scrape before it is discovered, If he
succeeds before he is found out no one is
the wiser, and nothing is heard of it.
The distillers now are so cramped that the
temptation to this sort of business is very
great, and you need not be surprised at
an explosion any day. Within few
days time whisky has been offered in
bond, forty cents gallon on year old
that year ago was selling for lao
The end of the matter will be that all the
banks will foreclose on the bonded goods
in concert, bid it in when it is put up by
the marshal and pay the tax. They ART
very much dissatisfied. The advances
they made, on the stuff have been oui
now three times as long as they ex-
pected and. they might have renewed
their papers two or three times had they
taken ordinary collateral. Capital nat
urally grows suspicious when it gets It's
hands tied, and will sacrifice everything
else TO secure release. If the distillers
were not so anxious about the matter
they could get twice as easy aceomoda-
tons, but they are in box. The banks
may refuse to allow any more whisky to
leave the country. which will force the
goods out of bond. The government viii
then have to put it up at auction, and the
bankers will bid it in to the amount OF
the tax which all the treasury is interest
ed in. At any rate the lenders are get,
ting panicky because the government
keeps no record of the mortgage on The
spirits in bond, having refused to recog
nize any one but the distillers for the
amount of the tax The bankers tried to
have the law amended to require the col
lectors to make record of the ware
house receipts, but congress refused tC
provide for keeping a set of books fol
their benefit, so they have no security
against duplication Look out fol
| squalls