Arizona republican., 1906-05-24
PHOENIX, ARIZONA. MAY "A. 1906.
LIGHTING AND HEATING REVO'
 LUTON.

The favorable report by the senate committee on finance yesterday Of the denatured alcohol bill Is encouraging though it may appear later that the committee amendments largely in tended to prevent the reduction of in- ternal revenues" shall appear to have been really intended to defeat the pur- nose of the bill-to provide cheap light, heat and fuel.
 The bill itself guards the treasury against any loss of revenue other than that which would be lost by the with drawal from bond. tax free, of alcoho' for the purposes mentioned. It fur ther throws the strongest possible bar in the way of the use of alcohol for medicinal uses or beverage. While It is true that denature alcohol might be recovered" by distillation, the penalty is so severe-S5,O 900 fine and five years imprisonment-that recovery would not likely be attempted on a very wide scale.
 Moreover, the bill provides for an ad- ditional force of inspectors, deputy col lectors. clerks, laborers and other as sistants, for which an appropriation of $25O,0O0 Is made. What amendments are necessary to further protect the revenues We cannot understand
 The passage of the bill would have doubly beneficial effect in this locality. As we have heretofore shown, alcohol can be manufactured and sold even with the present facilities for about one-third as much as coal oil and gaso- line are sold for in this market. It has also been shown that for lighting and heating purposes 1t is more lasting than Kerosene or gasoline. With Welsbach burner 1t furnishes a much better light that coal oil to say nothing of its cleanliness and the greater convenience in handling 1t.
 Coal oil is sold here now at more than 30 cents a gallon; in some parts of the country at 10 cents. The price is fixed by the Standard oil company in various localities to meet compe tition.
 The competition with denatured al- cohol would be so widespread, since 1t can be made anywhere and out of al- most everything, that there would be no preferred localities.
 There would be a fertile field here for its manufacture and the material would be abundant. It could be made a by product into which many materials whose refuse is thrown aside could be converted. The sugar beet is a favorite material for the manufacture of alcohol
 Some idea of the extent of the prac- tically unlimited possibilities of It's manufacture may be gathered from a statement by Secretary Wilson before the house committee in connection with this bill.
 He said that the northern states could depend upon the white potato as a source of light and heat, the south ern states upon the sweet potato; other localities upon the sugar beet. He made the further assertion that the average amount of sugar and starch which goes to waste in the stalks of Indian corn would make 100 gallons of alcohol per acre. The secretary added that there were on an average about 10O,OO0,O0e acres of corn planted annually. It is easy. therefore. to see that If the tax were withdrawn from denatured al- cohol we could get along without kero- sene and with much less coal and wood
 The revenues would suffer compara- lively slightly, for the use to which al- cohol would be put would be for the most part a newly created use.