The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-01-28
BREWERS MAKE PLEA
WANT WAR TAX ON BEER
 WIPED OUT.
They Declare That Failures Will Re- Suit Unless Their Industry is Given Relief in Congress
 Tea Man Heard.

Washington, Jan 21.-The Ways and Means Committee today temporarily laid and entered upon the question of reduc- ing the war revenue taxes. During the morning these interests were heard upon the proposition to take of a 10 cent tax a. pound on tea imposed by the Spanish war revenue act. The afternoon was set aside for the beer interests.
 Albert F. Sloan of New York, President of the National Tea Duty Repeal Asso- citation. summed up the appeal for reduc-
 ."First-The duty is an excessive hard ship upon consumer, retailer, wholesale grocer and tea importer.
 second-The duty injures the quality
 'Third-The poorer classes pay the tax In full. and the better classes are grad ually being deprived of the best tea.
 "Fourth-As the tea duty Is a war tax 1t should now be removed.
 fFifth-As the country should not be doubly taxed upon an article which de- mands no protection"
 At the afternoon session the beer peo- pie were represented by officials of their organization including N. w. Kendall of New Haven. Conn.,, President of the Uni ted States Brewers Association, George J. Obberman. Baltimore, Chairman of the Committee on Federal Relations of that Association; Rudolph Brand, Chicago, former President and Robert Grain, Bal timore, of the Board of Trustees. Pres- ident Kendall said assurances had been given when the war taxes were imposed that they were for war purposes and would terminate with the war He com pared the rate placed on beer with that imposed by Great Britain as an incident to the Boer war. showing the American rate to be much higher.
 He referred to three men engaged in the gon Industry. reaping an annual profit of $6o0O0.00o from their business. j | The breweries had paid to the govern ment in 1900 $73,550.754 and their profits either had been wiped out entirely or re- Kendall said:
 | The trustees of the United States
 Brewers Association express the sent iments of the entire American brewing | industry when they state that the war tax upon our products. being thc high | est and most destructive war tax ever imposed. here or elsewhere upon an ar ticle of domestic production and domes- tic consumption. should have been the first to be wholly repealed and that now | Tn it's distressing condition, the Ameri- | can brewing trade has no hope of relief except that which rests upon your sense | deem pledge and promise repeatedly committee.
 Chairman Frye, in reference to Mir kendalfs appeal that Congress keep the promises of repeal heretofore made, said that Congress and the committee has kept anead or tnelr promises. The trou- be has been that the requirements of the Government has largely increased. The reductions in war taxes last year. Mir Payne said. had gone as far as the Government conditions seemed to justify Now the committee would recommend further additional reductions were justi- fled. MT. Oberman spoke of the numer- ous failures in the brewing world.
 MT. Brand of Chicago. referred to the enormous surplus glutting the Treasury, and said that this should inpel an im- mediate performance of the promises heretofore made that the war tax should be repealed.
 Mir. Grain of Baltimore. said the pres ent tax was particularly onerous on the small brewers and that its continu- ance would bring about a large number of failures. A local delegation. represent citation urged the repeal, of the beer tax from the standpoint of the retailers. This closed the hearings on the beer tax.