The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1893-01-27
W. G. q. u. Column.

the way of trusts and combines is tina
of the whiskey distillers. They pro-
pose to legislate to themselves $780,.
100000 by pushing through congress
a bill to advance the government tax or
whiskey from ninety cents to one dolIar
and fifty cents per gallon. The bill al
now offered provides for tax of one
dollar and twenty five cents, but if this
does not arouse too much antagonism
their purpose is amended by raising it tc
one dollar and Fifty cents. The boldness
of the trust is the more striking because
of its assumption of the success of it,
nefarious scheme from the beginning
Capital is usually timid and recounoitres
carefully.
The whiskey trust has already pur
chased large proportion of the present
stock of manufactured spirits aggregat
ing $50, 100000 gallons. Every distil
lery in the trust is running at its full
capacity which will make the total pro
duct on or before March l, 1898 al
least 200,O00,O0O gallons. This doe:
not include stocks in the hands OF re
taiers which are said to be unusually
heavy. In making this enormous in
vestment the trust relies for correspond
ingly enormous returns upon its power
in Congress. It expects to get both
houses to pass and the President of the
United States to sign the bill advancing
the tax to one dollar and fifty cents per
gallon. Do the distillers hold balance
of power in the predominant parties?
Why are they so confident of their
ability to control national legislation
that they invest millions Of dollars on
this presumption? Does not the recent
election show very forcibly what is the
will of the people regarding monopolies?
No member of Congress from either
party can fail to forecast the future Of
trusts and OF all who foster them by
protective laws. The people will no
longer countenance the building up of
giant monopolies which shall dictate
Legislation. federal, state or municipal,
and we think we see 10 this more of the
liquor fraternity the beginning of the
end. We await with interest further
developments.
Representative Owen Scott Of the
fourteenth district of Illinois has for
mulated this bill of increasing the tax
on whiskey from ninety cents to one
dollar and twenty-five cents per gallon.
1t is conceded that more revenue is
needed that deficit is inevitable unless
some new source of income is provided.
Mr.. Scott is from a district which pays
moro money to the government than
any other and he ought to known, and
doubtless does know the wishes of the
Illinois distil|ers. He knows, too, that
there are two articles in use in this
country on which almost any taxes, no
matter how outrageous. can be success
fully COLLECTED, viz. alcoholic drinks
and tobacco. There are SO many slaves
to these narcotics that it Is entirely
safe to place tag Oh them far beyond
what could be collected on anything
else. These ''luxuries' as they are
euphemistically termed cannot be used
in these days without conscious degreda
ton. Those who use them have to
fight if they oppose the tag not only
the government which imposes it, but
their own manhood. Those who drink
no whiskey care little how high the
price may be. They say 'let the fools
who drink psy tor il" or if more philan'
thropically inclined they say raise the
price to the prohibitory point. Then
fewer persons will drink. These
opinions and some others are not the
out growth of either craftsmanship OIL
christianity; they are expressions
thrown off from the surface of things
If the 'ffools" who drink were the only
sufferers the remark might seem more
appropriate but all who have really
studied the drunkenness of this or any
country know that for every druukard
who reduces himself to poverty there is
at least one and often more WIG is drag
ged down with the offender and who
suffers all the miseries Of degraded
poverty while yet innocent Of any fault
1t is cruel to the point OF hsartlessness
to shut our eyes to the wretchedness OF
women and children and only ask cou-
corning the revenue and the state Of
the treasury. 1t is remarkable that
this proposition should originate just
whore it did, namely 10 that locality
which contains a very large percentage