Washington sentinel., 1900-12-01

fore their meeting on Saturday.
Congressman will also receive
copies:
New YORK, Norember %, 1900.
To THE HONORABLE COMMITTEE ON
WAYS AND MEANS OF THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES,, Washing
ton, ID. G.
GsRHsmeu:-At the kind invitation
of your Chairman we have had the
honor. on the 2jth day of April, 1900,
TO appear before your honorable body
for the purpose of submitting TO your
kind consideration several statements
showing the deplOrable condition of
the brewery industry, caused by the
war-tax of one dollar per barrel super
imposed upon the old war-tax of an
equal amount; and praying for the
immediate repeal Of that part of the
War-Revenue Act.
The statements then submitted by
our representative form part Of the
records of your honorable Committee,
and we, therefore, refrain from a de-
tailed recital Of the facts therein set
forth We desire, however, TO state
that since then the destructive effects
of the double war-taX have been aug
mented and aggravated to such an
extent that q very large proportion of
the smaller establishments have been
forced into bankruptcy and out of
business, or compelled to seek escape
from utter ruin by combining with
other breweries, equal hampered and
harrassed by a tax representing FORTY
per cent Of the market price Of their
prOauct, and entailing losses which,
for reasons explained in our previous
statements, they cannot recOup in the
ordinary way in which any tax upon
consumption is usually recovered.
Since April, 1900, no less than fifteen
combinations Of from three to twelve
once prosperous establishments have
been formed under the distressing z
pressure of the double war-tax, and
this baneful tendency towards the
destruction or the absorption of the
smaller manufactures and the com
binatiOn of large mum bers of establish
ments, whose profits have been either
wiped out or reduced TO an intinitesi-
MAJ minimum, is not confined to the
smaller cities, but embraces such
large brewing centres as Boston. Bal
timore, Pittsburgh, and others. But
even these combinations offer no ap-
preciable relief; they are mere make
shifts of a transitOry character. The
DCeL IIOOA vi NlAS lies III TIE ldtN IIldb
the companies whose stocks are
quoted in the trade papers, scarcely
twenty per cent can pay any interest
even on their preferred stock.
If you would kindly consider what
an immense cash capital it requires
to place the finished product into the
market, exclusive of the vast sums Of
money expended in the purchase of
material, the payment Of workmen,
and the storage and distribution Of
malt liquOrs-nOt to speak of the in
terest on the capital permanently
| lnVested-yOu will readily perceive
| why the smaller brewer, whose estab-
| lishment represents the savings Of a
! lifetime and who has no accumulated
available capital to draw upon, must
| necessarily succumb in an industrial
| struggle which the imposition of a
double war-taX has rendered almost
hopeless even to those manufacturers
who possess a considerable reserve Of
cash capital
This is only one side of the Ques-
ton but it is the one which shows
the pernicious effects Of a most un.
just tax in the most glaring light, and
appeals TO other sentiments besides
that Of justice in the abstract. In our
opinion IL should not, however, re-
quire such appeals in order to bring
| about the immediate repeal of the
entire extra war-taX, superimposed
upon the old war-taX. There was no
equitable justification for it at the
time Of its imposition, because the
brewing industry had up to that time
uninterruptedly paid the old war-ta1
| of $1.OO per barrel, while all other
manufacturers products, professions,
and occupations. embraced in the
original Teyenue-system as organized
between the years lS62-lS64, have
not paid a single dollar into the Fed.
eral Treasury since the termination
of the Civil War, and do not even
now contribute one penny towards
the Federal revenue. Is it unfair or
unpatriotic to ask why one American
industry, consuming almost eXclus-
lively those highly protected Ameri-
can products which are a source Of
wealth TO the American farmer, should
pay q double war-taX amounting to
forty per cent Of the market value Of
its product, while all other American
industries remain untaXed? II will
not be deemed to be presumptuOus.
we trust, If We ask what justifica-
tiOn there was for imposing, or
what good reason there is for
continuing a tax Of tlCO d0Hars upon a
barrel of beer costing fUs dollars, in
the face Of the fact that at time
lthirty-hve years ago. when the mar
ket price Of beer was tUelre dollars. a
Republican \ Administration and Re-
publican Congress asserted and main
tained that a tax Of one dollar " toQs
fully mp to the reUeUue standard ant
should not De iHcredsed.' lSee Reporto Of
the Special Revenue Commission for
1866, page 81
We maintain, gentlemen, that COM
mon justice imperatively demands the
immediate repeal Of the additional
war tax upon malt liquors. In the
entire War Revenue Act of 1898 there
is not a single tax item, excepting our
own, that is unjust or inequitable in
itself; none, excepting the beer tax,
that has caused or is likely TO cause
widespread industrial ruin none.
again with the same exception, that
must be borne by a comparative small
number Of citizens for the exclusive
benefit Of all those numerous and inn
meHsely wealthy industries which.
while protected by wise tariff laws.
contribute not a single dollar TO the
internal revenue and, finally, none
that must ultimately affect such large
masses Of the poorer people.
Even II the market price OF beer
were higher today than 10 was thirty
five years ago, instead of being not
even half as high, we would still main
tain that 80 long as all other manu-
facturers. professions and occupations
remained untaxed, the imposition Of a
war-taX Of one dollar in addition to
the old war.taX Of an equal amount
cannot be justified, though il may be
excused, perhaps, on the ground of |
the sudden and pressing emergencies |
of an unlOOked-f for complication |