Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1919-12-17
What win They Do With Il?

WHdt W ~uO Will tuC I,OOO,OOO
gallons of whisky in Louisville
and the 100000 gallons more
that are stored in Kentucky is the
problem that is puzzling the
whisky men Of Louisville and the
state, says the Louisville Post. =
The whisky men were taken
completely by surprise by the de-
cision of the Supreme Court up
holding war time prohibition. For
some reason most of the dealers
had made up their minds that the
decision would be favorable. They
had found plans TO selling their
stocks in the United States be-
tween now and January 10th.
With the lid on in the United
States tighter than ever, there is
only one way open for the dispos-
al of the enormous stocks of
whiskey that are in danger of be-
coming valueless and even less
than valueless, as it is still subject
to government tax. As one dis
tiller put it, the whisky becomes a
liability rather than an asset.
That way is to- export it. There
is no tax on exports aside from
stamp of 10 cents package, and
this package may be anything
from one bottle to many barrels.
However, exporting is not such
a simple matter as it sounds. Dis
tillers who were asked about it
this morning said: "We have not
made our plans for exporting and
the whisky can't be exported
without preparation. We can't
ship it to Europe or Cuba and just
permit it to lie on the wharves.
We have to arrange for some one
to receive and store it. This can't
be done in a moment and there
are just thirty-one days between
now and January 10th, 1920. after
which we can't export. The
whisky must be outside the three
mile limit by that time"
The Courier-Journal said this To-
day Of the situation:
Another disappointment, almost
as bitter as the decision of the Uni
ted States Supreme Court upholding
the wartime prohibition law, fell up-
on Kentucky wholesale liquor deal
ers yesterday. Just when they be-
gan to believe they had found way
to dispose of large part of the
35,0O0,000 gallons of whisky stored
in Kentucky warehouses, by export
ing it to Cuba and storing 1t for sale
there and in other foreign countries,
apparently reliable information reach
ed them that there is no warehouse
or storage place available in Havana
or anywhere in Cuba.
Owsley Brown, spokesman for the
independent whisky interests of the
State, said last night he had received
cables from Havana yesterday con-
fir1ming reports as to inadequate stor-
age facilities. t&
MIR. Brown was not the only pessi-
mistic whisky man in Louisville yes
without exception seemed stunned By
the court decision and declared they
see no way to escape heavy financial
loss. h.
Lack of transportation, facilities,
Federal regulations and difficulty of
obtaining revenue stamps quickly
and in sufficient quantity conspired
to deepen the gloom.
Suggestion to dispose Of the hugeI
surplus stock of whisky in Kentucky
to the extent Of getting il outside Of
Unittd State jurisdiction, at least
was made by business men of Charles
ton, $. C. who offered 1,S0O,000 feet
Of storage space in Charleston and
sufficient ship tonnage to convey to
Cuba every gallon Of whiskey the rail
roads can deliver before January 18.
Chinese esteem the vension Of
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