Republican farmer., 1920-01-23
ROPER SUGGESTS PLAN TO GET RID OF LIQUOR Plan Is That Government Pay Carrying Charges to
 Warehouses. OWNERS WOULDN'T BE COMPENSATED Commissioner Supplies De- tailed Information on
 Present Status to For den Committee.

Washington, Jan. 22.---Commissioner of Internal Revenue Roper in effect has approved a plan, under discussion i by the Ways and Means Committee, l for the Government to form a mon opoly to control the distribution of 1 whisky in bonded warehouses in the | country and issue Treasury certifi 1 cates in payment.
 The plan contemplates the issue of 1 Treasury certificates to the owners of l the whisky now held in Government i warehouses, so that they can redeem | their obligations at the banks. These | obligations, it is estimated, amount to | $20 000, 900, and unless some such way ] is found to aid the banks great finan- | cial losses will be suffered, especially | in Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Chairman Fordney wrote Comrnis- sioner Roper a letter asking for sug- gestios as to what the Government proposed to do with the bonded whisky after prohibition became eff fective. In reply Commissioner Roper said there were 69, 262, ,391 gallons of whisky in bonded warehouses and 1 4,7OO,oo0 gallons of rum, gin, and brandy, which cannot be withdrawn except for medicinal purposes. Ken lucky leads the States in the amount stored in her warehouses with 3S, 134,- 85S gallons; Pennsylvania is second
 with 12,297,O75 Maryland third with 1 6,oO1, ,726; Illinois ranks fourth with | 1, ,467, ,22O, while in the warehouses in
 New York there are 1,5s7. .661 gallons. i After answering all the financial and pertinent questions bearing upon
 the whisky problem in the prohibition period MT. Roper proposes that Treas ury certificates be issued, or the Gov
 ernment will be compelled to main
 tain an army of 2,500 men at an ex-
 pense of $4,00000O annually to guard
 the bonded warehouses in different parts of the country. There are 5O0- l odd Government and private ware- | houses.
 Referring to the purposes for which
 bonded liquors may be withdrawn, he l says:
 | Bonded liquors may be withdrawn
 under existing laws for practically no purposes except m edicinal. As to this purpose it may be said that while some physicians take the position that it is 3, valuable stim1fant and tonic in certain cases ot illness, or debility, the majority opinion of the medical profession seems to be that it may be
 entirely dispensed with as a remedy.
 While the wartime prohibition act
 remained in force these spirits could
 be withdrawn for export, but since
 Jan. Is, 1920 withdrawals for export cannot be permitted for beverage pur-
 poses"
 The rate of tax on spirits when
 withdrawn for non-beverage purposes
 is $2.20 per gallon.
 Replying to a question as to the
 amount of money owing to the banks on liquor certificates Commissioner
 Roper said:
 ''The statement enclosed has been l furnished by the comptroller of the
 currency and indicate that national banks on Sept. 12, 1919, held paper l amounting to $1,654,272.S7 on bills 5 of lading and warehouse receipts cov- : ering liquor, and that on that date
 the outstanding loans of national ; banks to firms or corporations man. , ufacturing or dealing in distilled spir-
 its amounted to $7,634 815.36. These 7 loans do not of course include the l credits extended by state or private r banks, and it is reasonable to pre- sume that even larger obligations ) directly or indirectly, are outstanding from such state and private banks land other individual creditors Probably $2o,oOO,0O0 would not be ar
 excessive estimate of all such loans ii 3 all the banks of the country" In answering a question as to how i the government should attempt to re- 9 lieve the owners or holders of ware l house receipts, he says: ''It is the . l conclusion of the Bureau that the c owners or holders of warehouse re- ceipts have no relief under existins 3 law, and that any relief to be extend
 ed to them must be based on legisla- ! l ton. Two alternative suggestion: a might receive the consideration o1 , 1 Congress.
 V "(a) The government might take | physical possession of the spirits f concentrating them at certain points f in strong warehouses where they V could be economically guarded, ant Il establish for itself a monopoly on tht ;, distribution of such spirits for 1egi |, innate purposes. Government certif1 k cates of indebtedness might then .,e a | issued to the present owners based or !, the fair market price of spirits as on = say,~April 1, 1919. before the price o1 [. spirits became so greatly inflated Il The government might then retire Q these certificates as the spirits are . sold, a period of time being giver d for the complete retirement. "(b) The Treasury >Departmen
 might be granted a large additiona
 1 appropriation for safeguarding the spirits in the present warehouses, ant s as it would be desired to afford tht holders of certificates relief from tht carrying charges, these charges could be assumed in whole or in part b1 II the government through appropriate . legislation.
 II "As to the first alternative, there IS is involved, in the bureaus opinion, : It considerable loss, since the demand Il for medical and scientific purpose Il will be very small and the amour e remaining in warehouses is so larg' e that it is improbable that the tota s. amount could be distributed befor' e a large quantity had been lost through d natural causes.
 e "As to the second alternative, it f d estimated that the force of storekeep S. CTS should be increased from tn e- present number of 450 to about 2,50 y. men. Experience has demonstrates
 that active and resourceful youn' s. men cannot be employed at 8 salar, le of from less than $4 to <$6 day st depending upon the part of the coun
 try in which employment is offer
 of