The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-11-25
ALCOHOL IN THE INDUSTRIES.

congress klOWn as Lne bDuleIl6 AtSS alcohol bill, which should command un- iyersaI support, once its purpose and scope are understood. The bill pro- ides that alcohol for use in manufac- turing and the industrial arts shall be free of tax, when suitably denaturized or made undrinkable by mixture with noxious substances. The United States is the only leading commercial nation in the world that fails to make a dis tinction in the matter of taxation be- tween distilled spirits intended for ln- dustriaI purposes. All European na- ! tions permit the use of alcohol free or tax, when it has been denaturized in accordance with officially prescribed processes, and this for the reason that ! it is established as sound principle of government that industrial alcohol should be made as cheap as possible. In Germany the laws upon this subject are particularly effective. As the mat ter now stands with us, industrial alco- \ hoI and alcohol for beverages are treat ed alike, being both classed as distilled spirits and subjected to tax of Sl.lO on the proof gallon of fifty per cent. alcohol, which is the normal strength of alcoholic beverages. The strength of commercial alcohol is ninety-four per cent. and as this is 1.SS times the strength of the proof gallon, the tax on it is nearly SPOT a gallon. <a
 Now alcohol as subject of manufae- ture may be bought cheaply and with ease The department oSaagrieulture reports that ninety-four per cent. aleo- hoI, if it were not taxed, could be sold profitably for about fifteen cents gal lon. and other authorities have assert ed that. under the large demand that would result were the tax removed and under favorable conditions of manu- facture, it could be sold at profit for ten cents gallon. As matters now stand, however, manufacturers have been driven to adopt substitutes usual ly more expensive than untaxed alco- hol, and frequently dangerous. Among such substitutes may be mentioned wood alcohol, naphtha, acetic acid, car hon bisulphide, gasoline and many oth- CTS All of these substitutes are free from tax and they are resorted to, not because they are better than grain al l cohol, but because under the exlstlns conditions they are cheape:.- ass
 The general public has but little idea how widely extended is the us of alco- hel in all countries where 1t is not taxed It is better fuel for internal combustion engines and, therefore, for the automobile, than gasoline. It is preferable for domestic cooking and heating; and as an illuminant when used with an incandeseent mantle, it is superior to kerosene and rivals the electric light. Alcohol is necessary in the manufacture of a thousand differ ent articles, and 1t is a serious item of expense in making varnishes, laequers, gliding and bronzing. It is used as a solvent in the manufacture of hats, straw goods and fine shoes. One and a quarter pounds of alcohol are con- sumed i'll making one pound of the best smokeIess powder and it is claimed that the present tax more than doubles the cost of this important commodity to the government. It enters also largely into the manufacture of cellu- Ibid with Its many dependent indus
 
 the photographer. It is one of the most important of the costly raw ma terials in the manufacture of various colors for silk, cotton and woolen goods, wall paper and printers inks, and in dyeing 1t is a yaulable agent in fixing the colors. Indeed, the majority . of the manufacturers in this country
 make use of alcohol or some deriyative therefrom, to a greater or less extent in the production of their goods There are some industries that haveS been driven out of the country altogether by the present tax, case inpointbeing illuminate of mercury, the explosive material of percussion caps, which is now imported from Canada at a cost from one dollar to one dollar and half pound cheaper than it can be made here. -~
 1 The benefits resulting from the repeal of the alcohol tax would be felt imme- diately by both the maker and user of practically the only motor fuel ayaila- ble and there is no doubt the develop ment of the automobile is handicapped somewhat by the present price of this fuel, to say nothing of the apprehen- sion that it will steadily increase in Iprice with the development of the au- tomobile industry. Alcohol has been ; tested very extensively abroad, and it is considered in France to be in every way superior fuel to gasoline, being free from all obnoxious qualities, and far less dangerous to the user.
 |. It is claimed by the spons9rs@&s' this bill, and we think with every show of probability, that the removal of the tax |. and the eheapening of this easiiy-made and extremely useful commodity lwould, in addition to it's indirect bene- lifts to the many industries affected, Sc stimulate it's manufacture as to result in the development of an entirely new industry that would afford a promising field for the investment of capital and for the employment on a large and in creasing scale of labor. It is also claimed, and we think on good eeonom- | ie grounds, that the reduction of gov ernment revenues due to the repeal of the tax would be more than compensa- /. ted by the increased demand for other articles that are the subjects of taxa s tion, whose cost would be considerably 1, reduced were grain alcohol exempted