The Springdale news., 1888-11-30
INTERNAL REVENUE.

JreaSury-A Big batcn or Il1tcIt Stftts De-
 stroyed-The Oleomargarine Industry.
 WASHINGTON Nov. 2G-The annual re- port ot Joseph s. Miller, Commissioner of Internal Revenue, was given to the press last night. The report covers not only the operations of the bureau duying the fiscal year ended June 8, 1888, but includes some very interesting compal a. tive tables relating to production in past years, as well as additional information relating to the work of the office during the first quarter of the current fiscal year. Mir. Miller's report shows that in. ternal revenue receipts from all sources during the fiscal year were S124, 326, i7j. or nearly four and half millions more than his estimates. His estimates of receipts for the current year is S1250 ,000 pro . viding that no changes are made in exist ing rates of taxation. The cost of collec- ton during the past year aggregated S3,9lS, 2S3; being less than three and two- tenths per cent Of the amount collected against three and four teuths per cent in 1887. The estimated expenses of the service for the next fiscal year are put down at $4. 135 2S0
 During the past year tobacco and it's manufactures yielded $3), ,66l i31 revenue, against S33. l0S 067 during the previous year; spirits S69, 336 116. against S65, S29 . 321 in 1887, and fermented liquors S23. 324, :. 21S last year, against S21, 922, 1S7 the year before.
 The revenue from oleomargarine dur : ing the past year amounted to S9. S5i l29, and for the eight months in 1sS6 S1, when the tax was first placed on it, it aggre- gated $723 BIS.
 During the past year 51S illicit stills were seized and removed or destroyed, and on9 officer, Deputy United States Marshal Trammell, of Arkansas, was killed. The year previous there were 456 seizures. The production of tobacco, snuff, cigars and cigarettes during the year, compared with ihe previous year, is stated as follows: Tobacco, pounds, 201, : 925, ,613; snuff, pounds, 7,436 9s9. Total tobacco and snuff. 209 362, ,6)2 Increase over the last fiscal year, 2.s s63, 0S1. To- bacco and snuff exported, 13 5J4, 227 To- tai production for the fiscal year 1888, 222, ,S66, 929: increase over the fiscal year 1sS7, 2,63S, 3T5 Cigars number 3 Si4. 726. = $50: cigarettes ,S52, 721 100; total taxed, ,, TOT 452, 150; increase over the last fiscal year. 334, ,642, TOT. Cigars exported, 143 : 525; cigarettes exported, lS0, 769 s00 total product for the fiscal year 1887, , 514, 6iD 9J3
 On the subject of methylated spirits, the Commissioner says: "Inquiry hav- ing been made at this office by Members or Congress as to the practica bility of withdrawing spirits from distillery ware houses free of tax for use in the me- chanical arts and protecting the revenue against fraud by mAthylating the spirits in bonded warehouses established for the purpose, the microscopIst of this office was requested to make experiments in he chemical laboratory for the purpose of ascertaining whether such spirits could be demethylated. It appears from his report that he has succeeded by the use Of a small still in separating the methyl or wood alcohol from the ethyl or ,axa- ble alcohol, and in deodorizing portion Of the alcohol through the use of bone- black and other chemical substances. It may be urged that if the demethylation can not be accomplished without the use of still, the operator is readily liable to detection because of the special surveil- lance required by the internal revenue laws in the matter of stills and distilling, but I do not take this view of the case. The internal revenue laws do not prohibit the Use ot stills by persons other than dis hllers of spirits, and, as a matter of fact, many druggists and others use stills on their premises. It is true that these laws prohibit the making of a mash fit for the distiilation of spirits, except on the prem ises of a distiller. brewer or vinegar manufacturer. It is also true that ths process of mashing is readily discovered by the peculiar smell which pervades the h1c ;s ducted, but the process of demethylation does not involve any process of mashing or fermenting, the use of the large still which even the smallest distillers who produce spirits from mash are com- peled to use. The still used in this office was among the smallest of the stills which druggists and others, not dis stillers, are permitted to use.
 The Commissioner deyotes consider able space to oleomargariue, it's produce tion, manufacture and taxations; 3i, 557, 52I pounds were produced at manufac. tories during the year, and 21 69i 627 be- tween November 1, 1886, the day on which the Oleomargarine law took effect, and June 3O, 1887. There appears, he says, 10 have been small increase in production during the year, and the demand for con- sumption at home and abroad, Is in. creased. A considerable decrease in the number of manufacturers, as we'll as wholesale and retail dealers, is reported.
 Commenting on this, Commissioner Miller says that the decrease in the num- Der ot special taxpayers has become subject of great sOlcitude to this office, as it may be partly dne to fraud, and adds: ''The statement (appended to the report as to the production and use of oleo oils shows that more that ?. 0o0, 900 pounds out of a product during the year of 69 000, 900 pounds of this substance, in- vented for the sole purpose of being used in the manufacture of butter subs titute, was neither eXported nor nsad. as shown