The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1906-11-30
REPLY TO THE COMPLAINTS.
There Are No Restrictions as to Size
of the Plants, Says the Revenue
Department.
From Tuesdays daily.

the law permitting the manufacture ol
denatured alcohol, entertained great eX-
pectations of being able, under it, to
utilize much of the waste products OF
the farm, and indeed raise crops at
profit for its manufacture, ana others
have been discouraged by an erroneous
conception of the regulations which, so
far as formulated, will be enforced re
garding it.
The department has been deluged with
inquiries upon the subject ana to one
of these the commissioner of internal
revenue, in a bulletin just received by
Surveyor of Customs r. Calvert, replied
substantially as follows:
The inquirer in his letter remarked;
"At present regular distrilleries only
can engage in the manufacture, enabling
the whisky trust already to secure prac-
tically~a monopoly. Is it proposed to
ask congress to let the farmer las in
Germany and others in on the manu-
faeture of the product? L regret to
attack the law, but must if the preset
law is to stand, favoring special inter
ests. Is it proposed to further simplify
the law, reducing the manufacture to
the easy basis of cheese making, and
cut out the ridiculous red tape of the
regulations and instructions: [ regret
that | must attack this feature also
and show how our people are to be pre-
vented from making simple and cheap
Z fuel by red-tape restrictions, unless as
sured that change may be hoped forf'
The commissioner in reply said:
ssYou are advised that this department
n does not make. the law, but endeavors.
to administer it as it is 'passeds'by con-
gress. As to what congress proposes to
pass / am not advised.
"This office knows of no process by
which alcohol can be manufactured ex-
+, cept by distillation, and as regular dis
tilleries are the only kind recognized
by the law, alcohol manufactured under
the supervision of this department must
be manufactured at regular distille..ies.
For your information, however, l will
state that there is nothing mysterious
or complicated about a regular distil-
lery, and that the manufacture of dis
titled spirits at regular distillery is
probably simpler than the manufacture
of cheese
1.-The internal revenue laws under
which all government distilleries are
constructed and operated are necessar-
lily full of detail, but at the same time
these laws are so elastic ana comprehen-
engaging in the business of manufaatur
ing distilled spirits. There are abso-
lutely no limitations as to the size of
a distillery that can be operated under
the law. There are over thousand dis
tilleries in operation now at each of
which the daily producing capacity is
less than thirty gallons. Many of these
were set up on an outlay of less than
$780, So far as the internal revenue
laws are concerned, either in theory or
practice. the smallest and crudest dis
tillery can produce alcohol if, as bust
ness proposition, it is deemed advisable
so to do.
eff farmer or other person desires
to 90 into ,..e business of manfacur-
ing denatured alcohol, at a plant how
ever small, he will be required to con-
struct mis- plant in the manner prescrib-
: ed by the general Jaws, and regulations.
All of this will be done under govern
= mental supervision, but the government
r .pays for this supervision. The manu-
.itfaeturer of alcohol does not bear one
7-cent of it. There is no objection toIa
farmer manufacturing his alcohol in
'his back yard provided he wants to es-
j tablish distillery there.
':,~''If you will take the trouble to in
'"Nestigate you will find, in my, opinion,
that the laws and Notwithstanding
t. the manufacture of alcohol in Ger
many do not differ to any great extent
from the laws and regulations in this
country, and that so far as the manu-
facture of denatured alcohol by the
American farmer is concerned, it is sim
ply business proposition, and he win
not be greatly deferred from entering
into the business by what you are
pleased to term ridiculous red tape of
the regulations and Instructions, The
very fact that there are small -independ-
!. ent distilleries established and operat-
ing all over the country in the. manu-
factJfe sof distilled spirits for beverage
purposes Ought to be sufficient answer
to any claiins that. the 4present internal
revenue laws and regulations favor spe-
cial interests"