The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-03-29
TO CUT THE WHISKY TAX
PROPOSITION IS BEFORE THE
HOUSE COMMITTEE
1t Is Claimed the Present Rate of
$1.1O Per Gallon ENCOURAGES
MoOnshfners and Fails to Yield
the Government the Revenue
That n 7O-Cent Rate would
MOOnshtninS on the Increase.


Special to The st. Paul Globe.
WASHINGTON, March 2S - The
ways and means committee is consid-
ering radical change in the internal
revenue laws as they relate to distilled
spirits, and several bills to accomplish
the purposes desired are now under
discussion. The present tax on dis
titled spirits of $1.10 a gallon amounts
to between 1900 and 1900 per cent,
varying according to local conditions
OF the value Of the article taxed. This
holds out such temptation to Illicit
sitting that the business is believed to
be on very marked increase, and that
in spite of the most strenuous effort of
the internal revenue officers. In some
quarters spirits seized at Illicit distil-
lerleS and sold at auction do not bring
the amount of the tax, showing that
the market price in such localities is
controlled by whisky which escapes the
federal officers. The time has evident
~ arrived when one Of two things
must be done-either the temptation to
Illicit distilling must be materially d.
unfinished or very drastic laws must be
enacted for the punishment Of the Of
tense, and a much larger force of men
and outlay of money employed in it's
direction.
The present tax, all things consie-
cred, is much the highest that the
| country has ever known. The tax of
| 81 gallon during the war did not rep
| resent any such percentage on the
value of the article. Grain was then
! very much higher, the currency infia-
ted. and so Of less purchasing power;
| and, what is perhaps more important:
| the processes of distilling have been so
improved that four or five gallons of
| distilled spirits can now be extracted
| from fifty-siX-pound bushel of grain
where but three gallons were yielded
In 1873. The present rate of $110 was
Instituted with the Wilson act, and
that time Illicit distilling has more
than doubled, as shown by the reports
| of the internal revenue bureau. Evil
| dence Of this is afforded not only by
the number of stills destroyed, but by
the arrests made and property seized,
and by the small margin in many
places between the market value of the
spirits and the tax itself. showing that
they could not be profitably produced
and the tax honestly paid. Frauds on
| the revenue are no longer confined to
a few Southern states, but illicit stills
are found In the large cities of the
North, and whiting the last year to a
considerable extent in the extreme
| West. Stills have been seized 200 miles
southwest Of Salt Lake City, and in
general the business has spread to
| pldSSS W llSlS IL WAS never KNOWN De-
! fore.
Tax of 20 Cents.
To correct this growing evil it is pro-
posed to reduce the rate of taxation to
not less than 70 cents, or more than 80
cents, a gallon, and to levy a special
tax on the industry ranging from $3.50
to $4,000 per annum, according to the
surveyed capacity Of the distillery.
This latter tax will be effective in driv-
| ing out Of the business the small distil-
Ter whose operations 1t is particularly
| difficult to supervise so as to prevent
| fraud. He now pays a tax on a small
| part of his product, and this gives him
an excuse for existence, by which he is
able to cheat the government with con-
siderable ease as to the amount Of his
business. More than half Of the 1000
registered grain distilleries are of a
surveyed capacity of three or four
bushels per day. Located in remote
and out of the way places the officer
put in charge received by law only 81
a day for his services, and has to board
and live in the wilderness, and suffer
the privations connected with Such a
habitation. The result is that the men
who are willing to accept these posi-
tons as gaugers and storekeepers are
not well qualified to protect the inter-
ests of the government, and in many
| instances they either openly connive
with the Illicit distillers or fail to de-
tect the frauds practiced before them.
There was such a special tax as that
now proposed Immediately after the
war; which was repealed on the ground
that it was part of an oppressive sys-
tenn of special taxation; but a return
to it Is not believed to be necessary.
The 70-cent rate, which seems to be
the favorite one with the committee,
was that which yielded the highest rev.
enue per capita of any in the history
of our legislation on this subject. 1t is
believed that with the two changes
proposed frauds on the revenue will be
materially diminished and the revenue
should not suffer thereby Taxes on
distilled spirits now yield the govern
ment about $SO,0O0,0OO a year, and are
therefore a matter of much moment.
| The present cost Of collection averages
between 2.60 and ESQ per cent 1t runs
as high in some districts as 25 per
cent, and in others, more thickly set
tied and more law abiding as low as
| three quarters of 1 per cent
Representative Evans, of Kentucky.
formerly commissioner Of internal rev.
enue, is preparing a comprehensive bill
for the revision Of our present laws.
and there are several other proposals
| before the committee