The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-07-28
COMBINE OF THE WHISKY MEN.
The House Committee Begins it's In
Yestigation of the Trust

vestigation of the Trust.
WASHINGTON, July 27.-The house COM
mittee on manufactures to-day began an
| investigation of the so-calied whisky trust.
J. NJ. Atherton of Louisville, president Of
the j. NJ. Atherton company, was the first
witness. The company was not engaged in
dlstilllng whisky but lii handling the
whisky Of a number of firms who do dis
tllmg business in their own names. The
witness said that most of the large
! distillers of fine Kentucky whisky en-
tered into an agreement by which they
bound themselves to produce no whisky in
the fiscal year of 1883. Some few large
| firms refused to sign the agreement and
there were about $50 small distilleIs who
were not asked to sign.
CAUSE OF THE AGREEMENT.
The agreement grew out of the fact that
there had been large over production which
could not be consumed in this county, and
was exported to Europe to find a market,
but no buyers having been found much of
! that whiskey was coming back. In lSS3-S4
| there was about 1000 900 gallons produced
each year in 1885 about 10, 900 900, in 1886
about 5000 600 and in 1887 about the
same quantity. In order to protect
the owners of this whisky from the effects
of overproductiOn an agreement to suspend
operations from July l, 1887, to July /,
1855, was entered into. This agreement was
not i'll the nature of a trust. There was DO
consolidation Of property or merging of
interests.
THE KENTUCKY ASSOCIATION.
The only other organization the witness
knew of having ever existed in the Ken
lucky whisky trade was the Kentucky dis
tiller's association, formed about 1879 The
object of this association was consideration
Of the proposed changes in the internal rev
enue laws aud technical trade affairs 1t
had nothing whatever to do with produc-
| ton and the only time the association took
any interest in politics was when, after
there had been a large accumulation of
whisky, it attempted to get the bonded
period extended.
That effort failing, the association soon
afterward disbanded. The witness said
that on May "a Of this year a resolution
was passed at a meeting of the Kentucky
distillers to limit the production for the
! fiscal year 1899 to 100000 gallons, and a
committee was appointed to arrange for its
distribution among the parties to the agree
ment, but the matter had never been con-
summated and the probabilities were that
it would never be.
WOULD LIKE A LOWER TAX.
Though the distillers of very fine whiskies
differed very much politically, they all, the
witness said, as a trade question, would
be glad to have the tax reduced to
so cents per gallon. The witness was
then examined in regard to the production
of alcohol and spirits, as distinguished from
the beverage whisky, and by Mr., Breckin-
ridge of Arkansas, and asked if there was
trust in this trade. The witness replied
that he believed nearly all the distillers
north of the Ohio river were members of
the trust, each distiller having common
interest with all the others. The head
quarters was at Peoria, and the president
was H. B. Greenhut of that place The
trust included a few distillers of alcohol
and cheap whisky located in Kentucky,
near Covington.
NATIONAL PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION.
The witness said that as some reference
might be made to the National protective
association, of which he was president, he
desired TO saw before he left the stand that
! that association had nothing to do with the
| manufacture or sale of whisky, but was
organized solely and entirely for the pur-
| pose of opposing the enactment Of prohibi-
| tory legislation. The association sent out
! literature bat had never sent a dollar into
an election district nor to a state capital.
w. II. Thomas of Louisville a wholesale
whisky dealer with a trade of 10000 barrels
! a wear, testified that he know of no agree
ment among the distllers of fine Kentucky
! whisky other than that mentioned by Mr.
AthertOn. The witness was not in favor of
q repeal of the tax on liquor, because every
| farmer with a stream near his farm would
| 90 into the business and ruin the dstillers
| by over-prOductiOu. With no tax on
whisky, the witness believed there would be
| ten times as much of it drank.