The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-10-21
MAKING ALCOHOL IN GERMANY. How the Government Supervfses the
 Small DistilIer1es

How the Government Supervises the
 Small DistilIeries.
 Representative F.. J. Hill of Cinnec- ticut, who went abroad with Internal Revenue Collector Yerkes to see how the denaturized alcohol laws of Europe are applied. has many interesting things to tell about how the stills are run in Germany.
 Mfr Hill was asked about the many small farm distil1eries to be found in Germany, some of which. according to Government reports. do not make more than a dozen or fifteen gallons of al- cohol in a year.
 Isn't 1t exceedingly expensive for the German Government to keep track of 10000 farm distilleries. many of them being so small that 1t cannot pay to send an inspector to them?" he was asked.
 Not at all." said MT. Hill. 'The German Government has that matter down to a fine point and has no more trouble collecting the revenue from these small plants than our Govern . ment has in collecting 1t from the big distilleries of Kentucky. You sec, the stills have to be made in a certain way, which includes q tank that can be locked with a Government lock and sealed with Government seal. The small farm distilleGies do not oper- ate all the year round. The distilling is kept for the winter months, when there Is nothing else to do. just as the American farmer chops his wood or crops are all in and he has the leisure to do something other than straight farm work.
 When the German farmer has sorted out his refuse stuff. such as the small and decayed potators or rejected fruits, he drops a line to the Government that on a certain day. thirty days hence, he wants to begin operating his still. They have to give thirty days notice, according to the German law, in orde. that the Government officials may have all the time needed to do their part. Some time during the thirty days an inspector comes along and looks the still over to see that 1t Is clean and in good running order. and especially that the tank Is empty. Then he locks and seals the tank. after which the still is ready for the farmer. He is at liberty to go ahead and distill until the tank is full.
 When the farmer has finally com pleted his distillation and wants to get his money for his alcohol he notifies the person who Is to buy 1t from him. and as soon as he knows the date 1t Is to be removed he notifies the Gov
 
 removes the seal and measures the contents of the tank. and collects the revenue. If the farmer wants to de- naturize 1t on the spot he can do so in the presence of an inspector, when the amount of the tax will be returned to him. But generally the farmers sell through the great central selling agency of Germany, which denatur- izes at a central point and in largo nhat the Government in considerable sums. Thus you will observe. the Govern ment agents do not spend any appre- ciable time at any one farm as one inspector can cover a large territory Meanwhile the central selling agency pays the farmer on the basis of bev- craze alcohol and rebates to him for all which is denaturized. It is a perfect acting system and is not exorbtantly expensive for the Government.
 There are of course, many farm CTS who do not feel that they nave enough of an alcohol crop to pay them to maintain still. These join with others in a cooperative distillery. and that I imagine will be what many farmers in this country will do. It will work much as does the old cider mill In the country here now. The farmers will haul their alcohol-producing crops To the Stlll, ana Will get tHelr return on what is produced. either In alcohol. or money IS may seem best to meet their desires and necessities.
 But of one thing am more and more convinced the more l look into it. and that is that with the waste which has been going on on the Amer ican farm. and with the abundance of our farm resources. we can make alco- hol cheaper than any German farmer can. In fact, l am willing 10 predict that within q few years we will he leading the world in this industry, not only in the production of alcohol. but