Evening star., 1933-09-10
TAXES ON LIQUOR .
. TO Be INCREASED
RepeaI Also Would Bring
Larger Wine and Beer
LeVieS.
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN.

Federal taxes on hQuOr, Wlue hho
beer will have to be increased, once tne
eighteenth amendment has been re-
pealed, in order to give the Government
the revenue it now expects to derive
from this source of taxation, accorolng
to Senator William H. King OF utah'
chairman of a special committee OF the
Finance Committee appointed to look
into new taxes
The Government should derive
$500 600 900 to S7OO,0oo,Ooo revenue
from, taxes on alcoholic beverages, said
Senator King yesterday, "a1ter tne
eiphteenth amendment has been re-
nealed To do so the old taxes winch
will again become effective immediate
lv after repeal must be revised upward.
I expect that the Congress VII! tahe
the matter up Immediately upon It's re-
turn to Washington next January. IN
til such legislation is enacted the TAX
on whisky, for example, OF Sl.lo sa1-
Ion will prevail" :.
senator King said that probably II
would be necessary to raise this TAX 10
So or SO gallon.
Consumption Determining Factor.
Much will depend, however on no"
widely the use of wine ana peer Is eA
tended through the country, ne con-
tinued IF many of the States when
formerly were dry permit the use OF
wine and beer after national pronlpl-
tion has been repealed then the con-
sumption of hard liquor will not pe 50
great: more revenue will come from
wine and beer than was expected anu
less from the hard liquor. Some OF the
States may wish merely to continue tlie
manufacture and sale OF 81 per cent
beer and wine now legalized. Inc nrSI ,I
vear after the repeal of prohibition WILL
be a period of experimentation IN TAXA
tion on alcoholic beverages.
Another question to whoch the Con-
eress will give early attention, Sehaloi
King said. is the tariff duties on
whisky, wine, etc, imported from lol
eign countries The old duties Wiien M
prevailed before national pronloitlo,l
will be levied as soon as repeal necollieo .
sffective On whisky the duty is IS a
gallon. This duty is IN adoltlon W ''ie
Sl1O domestic tax
II predict" said the Utah Senator,
there will be drive to increase tarli
duties On nearly all KINDS OF gooua
which are produced in the United STATES,
including hard liquors and wines. Tue
American wine growers WILL oeI1iailu
greater protection than they are gwen
under the old law, particularly as tnele
will be a rush to import foreign wines,
They are likely to get this increased
protection, too"
Senator King said that he would 60
into the matter of taxation on liquors
of all kinds with the officials OF the
Treasury Department.
Plenty of Liquor Expected.
When the props are kicked out from
Under national prohibition in Decem-
Ter as it is now believed generally they
will be. prediction was made yesterday
there would be plenty of domestic liquor
for all at prices not prohlbltlve, since
the old Federal tax Of $1.1O gallon Is
not excessive. 1t is estimated tnat To-
0OC 900 gallons of American whisky
will have been manufactured py tne
time repeal is effective.
Reports that America would be de-
pendent upon imported goods, because
the stocks of real old domestic liquors
have been depleted since Congress re-
moved restrictions as to the amount OF
whisky doctors may prescribe are
groundless, it is said. Indeed, all the
old established distillerieS are now au-
thorized to operate to maximum ca
paclty. The distillers from all parts OF
the country have agreed to a code un-
der the N r. A., which provides for
35 per cent increase in employment,
higher wage levels and the use OF Amer
ican grains exclusively for the manu-
facture Of the liquor.
DR.. James M. Doran, former prohl-
bition commissioner and now commits
of i,,Ly io1 oil that
prohibition will be repealed by Decem-
ber S. In this expectation the manu-
facture of whisky has been increased
five fold over the amount which was
authorized in recent years to meet the
demand for medicinal liquor. Tech
nically, all this increased production Is
now being manufactured and aged for
medicinal purposes today. But as soon
as the restrictions against its sale for
beverage purposes are removed, it will
be sold for other than medicinal use.
Production Increased.
In recent years the production Of
whisky by the diStillers in this country
has been limited to 100000 gallons
annually. DR.. Doran said that for the
period beginning last Fall ana lasting
to Spring, the amount was increased to
100000 gallons, and later in the
Spring it was boosted by another $780,
900 gallons. About a month ago an
additional 100000 gallons were au-
thorized to be made. If this amount is
exhausted, then another expansion will
be permitted.
DR.. Doran is authority for the state
ment that by December 81 the country
should have over Is, 600 900 gallons Of
straight whisky already manufactured.
Whisky can be aged, he said, more
rapidly by putting heat on in the ware
houses. indeed, in about half the time
that was formerly considered necessary
He said that he had no doubt that
good whisky can be poperly aged IN
the wood under these conditions In
two or three years, or about half the
time considered necessary in the past
The present requirement Is four years
The rectiflcation of whisky is what
DR.. Doran and others believe will re-
suit in supplying Americans with a
large amount of domestic whisky as soon
as prohibition is repealed. He pointed
but that in the old days, before prohi-
bition. most of the whisky sold was not
bottled in bond. but was a blended
whisky. 1t was rectifled whisky. With
100000 gallons of old whisky nov
In warehouses in this country, nearly
all of it made before prohibition, from
24,000,000 to 40 900 900 gallons of blend
ed whisky can be made With the use
OF the old whisky as base Of 10 to Is
per cent a good rectifled whisky can be
produced.
Heavy Punitive Tax.
According to the Internal Revenue
Bureau the tax on whisky, as soon as
the eighteenth amendment has been re.
pealed will stand at $l10 gallon
Under the VolStead act a tax of Sc AZ
q gallon was imposed as a punitive ia,
as a means of preventing the illega
withdrawal of whisky for beverage pur.
poses.
( The price of imported whisky, bear.
ing a tariff of IS a gallon duty in ad
dition to the $l.10 q gallon domestic
tax, Is likely to be boosted so high tha
-Americans will stick very lar1elY "a