The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-04-19
FRANCES ALCOHOLIC PERIL
Tax Proposal Which Will Make Worse the Present Deadly Char
 acter of Distilled Drinks.


 Paris Correspondence London Blooe.
 One of MT. Rouvie-'s measures for mak- ing up the budgctlry deficit with which he VI as faced wcs. it will be remembered. a proposal to suppress the privilege ac- COT ded to private distillers. who in pro vinciaI France still provide good deal of the alcohol which, under various names. the rural population consumes in large quantities. NJ. Rouvier's proposals will. in all probability. become law. and the private distillers will be suppressed. But the Temps points out that. though the French treasury may expect it's rev enue to increase hy such measure since the private distiilcry had no duty to pay. vet there are other reasons which mili- tate against the adoption of this propo- sal. and which The Temps unites under the head of the alcoholic peril" It says that the French countryman will cer- tainly not modify his drinking habits any more than he can alter his invariable parsimonious character. Under the old regime he. at all events, drank good spir- it's; whereas, under the new regime, though the spirit may have come from the licensed distiller, 1t Is of such char acter that it's effect upon the health of the inhabitants is most disastrous.
 In Normandy. says The Temps, every one who Is not absolutely a beggar at noon takes cup of coffee freely diluted with cider br'pdy. This cider brandy costs the private distiller from a franc and a half to two francs per liter; and yet in towns spirit, which has paid duty both to the government and to the local authorities. can be purchased for a franc liter. The Temps admits that this con coction may be marvel of chemical science. but it's. moral and physical ef- feet upon the consumers Is disastrous. Taking the town of Caenr in Normandy as an instance. this journal says that be- fore the law making the drink trade free was passed there were POO vabarcts, or about for every 250 inhabitants, whereas today there arc nearly So0 such establish ments or for every 70 inhabitants. The trade, however. is prosperous. for. where as in 1889 the town dues paid on alcohol amounted to 1l3.OOOf they have now in- creased to 1s7.0OOf. or 6s per cent per an- mum. The population of the country, however. is on the decrease. Last year. in the Calvados Department, there was 1.223 more deaths than births. Crime and themts are on the increase. az in 1S9o the correctional tribunals registered 3,55S con- victions. whereas last year they noted 4.149. The drink question. this journal thinks. Is not only a fiscal one, but one of national interest. and instead of endeav- bring to realize the greatest possible financial profit from it, The Temps thinks that the production and consumption of natural and hygienic drinks should be favored, while the manufacture of splr- its. the basis of which is badly rectified alcohol. should be watched over and him dered in order to combat that which con- stitutes a social and national danger.
 The drink beloved of the modern Frenchman has had the misfortune to at tract attention to itself, and the eye of the political economist has fallen upon 1t unfavorably. The French budget has need for several millions of francs if 1t Is to approximate to a balance. and the amateur tax collections who. presumably do not drink absinthe, have suggested to the Finance Minister that he cannot do better than put a tax upon the liquid It is pointed out that absinthe pays no special duty. and is only taxed on the Emo unt of alcohol in 1t. The strongest absinthe is five times as deleterious as ordinary brandy; the weakest. that which Is sold in the drinking shops, is twice or two and a half times as poisonous as the brandy sold Tn the same places. The argument, therefore is that. taking three times as the average, the duty on ab- sinthe ought to be three times as hign as 1t is and so the hectol!tre ought to pay a duty of 65of. instead of only 220f. The advocates of this increased tax point out that absinthe is only very rarely of use incidentally. but that its daily con sumption destroys the nervous system. and brings on epilepsy. paralysis and madness. Every year more of the stuff Is drunk in France, and it is stated that to it's use is due the great mortality from consumption in the French army. It is agreed that abslnthe is poisonous, and that the finances of France want a new and productive tax. but it Is doubtful whether any minister will have the cour- age to propose such far-reaching inno- Yation.