New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-05-03
PURE LIQUORS ABROAD.
Many Countries Enacting Stringent
Protective La1Cs.


OF the buyer AS the United States exports great
quantities OF whskey and much OF this export
goods Will come under the operation Of the ruling
Of Attorney General Bonaparte. it longer
be labelled whiskey unless II is the genuine dis
TILED whiskey. A great proportion OF that whskey
sent abroad is Of the neutral spirit variety, and
hereafter will have TO be labelled compound
or an limitation" This feature OF the ruling will
have effect beyond that OF merely designating
the true character of the alleged whisky, Gus
toms duties make Determinations between the gen.
uine and the artificial
The late John Hay, while Secretary Of State.
took UP the question OF whskoy adulteration with
the government of Japan. In the exchange OF
diplomatic correspondence he wrote a veritable
classic what is whiskey?' Japan has law
levying tariff tax of 80 per cent ad valorem
genuine whiskey and Of 24O per cent ad valorem
on the artiflcially prepared wiliskey. Five thou
sand barrels OF the sure-enough American wlIskey
lay on the wharves OF Yokohama Strangely
enough, II had been shipped from California. AL
though the school question then undreamed
OF. japanese officers locked horns with the Cali
fornia trader the tariff Japan demanded the
$40 per cent. The trader declined to pay so
per cent claiming his whiskey vas the pure arr
ticle. Secretary Hay and Minister Griscom under
took 10 explain to the Mikado's customs COM
mission the justice of the Californians claim, set
ting forth in minute detail how the japanese ana
iyst could tell the difference between the genuine
whskey OF the Western world, to be taxed at 50
Per cent and the synthetic stimulation thereof TO be
TAXED at 241 per cent MT. Hay answered the
question What is whiskey?' by explaining how
real whiskey was made and that a mixture OF al
cohol- havoI1ng and caramel coloring was not
whiskey at ell. Japan convinced that the
whiskey in question real whiskey and the
Californian his point. But the AIikado's gov
eminent has enacted a law providing that liquors
Of Continental origin will be received from
England, but come directly 10 Japan from
their original source. Thus does Japan protect
itself aginst authorizations.
Horace Greeley and Alexander II. Stephens were
once co-editors of encyclopedia. After describ-
ing the characteristics OF straight whiskey, as the
pure article IS termed by Mr. Bonaparte. this
Encyclopedia explains that "a very large proper
ton Of the whiskey consumed in this country is
artihcially prepared" II then gives recipe for
making 'cognac brandy which calls for forty
gallons Of proof spirits, gallon OF peach flavor
pint Of wine vinegar, pound OF glycerine
and little oil of cognac and gallon of brandy,
with enough caramel color TO suit. This ency-
clopeda IS known Johnson's. Not that OF Rare
Ben" who spelled It "Jonson." that Of DR..
Samuel, the great photographer, but of a plain
United States Johnson.
But, II raBoswellian tradition be believed the
great DR.. Johnson condemned not the flowing
bowl, the pewter mug the clinking glass.
Look to-day into the dusty windows Of his one
time favorite Cheshire Cheese at the little brown
Jugs OF Irish poteen. There is a fable that the
old song about the little brown jug was born at a
moment when a poet looked IN at these windows,
with a thick blanket of London fog hanging heavy
on his good resolutions. Notwithstanding the air
Of and the halo Of historic interest, it
mains fact that 1t is exceedingly difficult TO get
q drink OF genuine whiskey in the pubs" OF
London.
The Scotch and Irish whiskeys sold there are
seldom pure and most often mixtures and
compounds OF neutral spirits. There floating in
the markets OF London to-day. we'll as through
out the United Kingdom. all Europe, America
and the Orient, bottles of socaled Scotch whiskey
consecrated and dedicated to his majesty. Edward
VII. bearing embems Of the Highlands, with kits
and heather bloom and all the stage settings OF
the land Of Bob5ie Burns and Walter Scott; and
yet in many cases there is hardly drop in a
bottle that bears any geogra phical relation what
10 the land Of Scotland. 1t is often nothing
than ethyl alcohol. favored and colored TO
emulate the smoky taste of the genuine
ticle. However. II knows. it is possible 10
get genuine Scotch whskey, Just as II s possible
to get pure American whiskey. despite the multi
plication OF limitations.
The fight against fraudulent labels IN England IS
being waged with warmth and earnestness. In a
decided by Magistrate Fordham, of London,
still under appeal. the court said: "Aduteraton
by the addition OF patent still spirit (ethyl alco-
hob has been gradually increasing for years, I'M
I'll the so-called blenders have dared TO concoct
and place upon the market, and sell retailers.
patent still spirit with dash OF Scotch
Irish. II is time this fraud upon the public in
the matter Of the sale Of whiskey was stopped
One may sit in front of tho Cafe de la PaIx in
the heart OF Paris-that spot which Booth TarB-
tngton dubbed the centre of the unverse-and point
at half a dozen places where American whiskey"
IL supposed be, vended TO the nostalgia OF
rAmericaine. who, yielding TO the of the
wandering foot, finds himself IN the great French
capital without interpreter. Yet one might
walk the streets OF Paris for days without finding
q bottle OF American whiskey bearing the green
stamp over the cork in proof OF its purity and
age. That American whiskey for sale there was
not made IN France. It came from the United
States. all right, but the trouble was before Il
left the American shores. OF course, there
good brands of American whiskey 20 be
found In Paris. but much Of 4. Of the kind that
from now will have to be labelled "a compound"
or IAN imitation"
Yet France has taken a great lead in Europe IN
protecting her domestic liquors from adutera-
ton and imitation. The adulteration OF brandy
grew enormous proportions before the year 1902
Then France enacted law by which the famous
brandies Of Cognac and others In the department
OF the Clarente and the province Of the Gironde.
may be bottled In bond in their integrity at the
dstillery, after they have been duly aged in gov
bonded warehouse. A certificate OF purity
"a white labe-then goes with the product as a
guarantee
When Kingston visited by the recent earth
quake there in process Of Organization in !
London a syndicate composed Of English capt
tasts and jamaican planters, having for its OBJ |
3ect the restoration OF genuine Jamaica rum TO |
the markets OF the world. Forty-two distil- |
years. and in the period the output of alleged
leries Jamaica of business five |
years and IN the period the output Of alleged
Jamaica in the markets of the world was |
enormously increased This rum was sold every
where the product of the little island, but II |
bore as much relation Jamaica as the German |
potato, the French grain and the American maize |
from which the ethyl alcohol distilled, bears
the sugar OF the West Indies
The traders found that the rum could be made |