The Washington herald., 1914-12-20


made sour wine of wild grapes,
wrote Edward Eggleston, in "Co-
lonial Times" The production of al
coholic beverage was one of this
countTy's earliest and most extensive
industries. If the question, What is
wine? seriously agitatcd the colonists
there is no record of it. But three
centuries later, What is whiskey and
why" became burning issue.
What is whiskey? A part OF the
"coin of the realm" in the beginning
of the republic and its largest source
of revenue now. There are other def
initions, complimentary and uncom-
plimentary, as to the relations of
whiskcy to man, but the above is a
brief historical and economical epit-
ome of its relations to the govern
ment of the United States.
Whiskey, usquebaugh, poteen, aqua
vita, water of life, strong drink-call
it what you willis as old as the
world and has been the subject OF
more discussion, more eulogy, more
dcnunciation, than any other product
OF man or nature. Prophets and
poets, preachers and physicians have
praised and prescribed or warned
against and condemned the use of
whiskey, and it remains the one arti-
Gle of commerce of greatest American
antiquity, and continues to grow in
volume and use.
Abraham Lincoln said that the use
OF Intoxicating liquors was as old as
the world and was recognized by ev-
crybody, used by everybody, con-
dcmned by nobody. at commonly
entered into the first draught of the
-, A. l. I-,,,-I& 1E L.. H.,
ing man"
Solomon and the Turks.
In that expression, Lincoln but
raraphrascd the provcrb of Solomon:
Give strong drink unto him that is
ready TO perish and wine unto those
that be of heavy hearts" The use
and abuse of whiskey is not new. nor
is the discussion of it. Only the Turk
has prohibited the use OF meat and
strong drink, and the Turk has grad
ually given way Defore the march of
Christian civilization and is now
about to be expelled from Europe
Whiskcy is not an invention of
America. Whatever the name and
method of manufacture of strong
drink in Biblical times, the distilla-
tion OF whiSkey and the name belong
10 llGlduu anu DSOlldlu, lllC Ol
virile men who first began the contest
for the rights of men in government,
long before Columbus set out on his
voyage OF discovery. The Irish name,
usquebaugh, pronounced "whiskey-
baugh," signifies water of life. 1t has
been the drink Of the Irish, Scotch
and English for 600 years and is still
favored by them over every other
beverage. But whiskey has had
long and intimate association with
the United States, which began with
the Pilgrims, whose chief regret on
landing on the point OF Cape Cod
hook, in a stress of weather, was that
their stock of Scotch whiskey and
English ale was too low to warm the
bodies and cheer the hearts of the
men who, after their long voyage, had
TO battle with the elements in getting
10 the land. The first manufacture
OF New England was New England
rum and it became the first article OF
commerce with the colonists, both in
New England and Virginia. When
corn and rye became successful
crops, the colonists made whiskey as
we'll as rum.
First Article of Commerce.
That beginning was the precedent
ior the extending wave of commerce
and civilization over the American
continent, and whiskey, venison and
buffalo meat went with the old long
rifles and the hardy emigrants, as the
Indians were driven back and the viz
gin soil of America was put TO the
plow and compelled to yield the fruits
and grains of civilization. The sur
plus corn and rye were converted into
whiskey, as the most compact product
that could be manufactured and sent
to market. Whiskey became the first
article OF commerce sent back from
the new country, just as it was one
of the advance agents in opening the
new country. With only blazed trails
through the forests and over the
mountains, as the highways of COM
merce, and the back of horse the
only freight transportation, there was
the necessity for reducing the grain
grown on the frontier to its most
compact form for commerce, and
whiskey became the first subject of
national commerce even before there
were States.
As whiskcy was the first article of
manufacture and commerce among -
the pioneers it laid the foundation
lOl many Cdlly lOl liulSS anu SdNS
reputation to many estates and plan
tations. 1t was foundation, too, on
which there was no stain, for it was
considered honorable to make and
sell whiskcy and wine or wine bran
dy. The Virginia colony gave colo
NAL encouragement and aid to those
who grew vineyards to produce wine.
Edward Eggleston, in his history,
Tho Colonial Times" says:
Won Wager in His Vineyard.
Before they had bread to satisfy
hunger. the James River settlers had
made sour wine of wild grapes. In
1892 the growing of five vines was
made obligatory on every planter, and
in 1858 10000 pounds of tobacco were
promised to him who should first
produce two tuns of Virginia wine.
The tolerable fitness of the Virginia ,
climate and soil for grape growing
was proved over and over again by
the vine dressers brought over from
France in the first years, by the
Huguenots, who producedSwine on a
small scale for long time; by the
Palatines on the Rappahannock, and
by many others. Beverley, the his
torian, won a wager of a thousand
u