Year: 1865

more shrewdness simply responded that he could only
point tho OF the declaraton and had no au
th0rty TO interpret its spirit


pagne the merchants say that the ctn or o. raw VINE
Of the ordinary quality costs on an average H. ~ 90 III III
bottle, the niddling from n oOc 70 ~ sec, sno me
superior from IL 75 70 A. i5c per bottle In federal
money (g0d Standard this would be respectively ABOUT
2s 2e 70 SSc and als ss oGtus and he ad
mixture, is from forty 70 SHY Sen.Mos Per
bottle. II may be mentioned mere .ns. ~ 'Se oOin AL % %
reside here for that purpose cost from two TO four sous
each Those for Russia where the champagne drinkers
are the most parcuar about the cors cost the highest
price. The wine merchants say they perfectly
satisfied with profit OF fifty centmes, nearly ten
price OF the raw wine the Of preparing market
and the small cost OF sending IT from here TO the port OF
embarkaton makes up tne ngure At which they 90 now
order able to give the figures relative TO this point


asked privilege OF being shown copies OF invoices OF
Arms in Rheims These were shown me- and they fully
bear the made by the wine merchants and


NAV perhaps be OF the readers of the HERALD
showing the actual cost, with fair profit TO the
manufacturer Of the champagne for which they
pay hve and six dollars bottle at the
New York hotels recent invoice Of Piper Heidsieck
of FIVE hundred dozen sent at the rate Of 81 40c the
bottle Ut may be stated here that for all practical pur
poses the franc" be counted twenty cents and
the 'centime at the rate Of nve to the cent, gold
standard.) hundred dozen Of We. Clcquot was in
voiced at 81 81 ssc the bottle; two hundred and nifty
hundred and sixty dozen Of J.. Roederer Co. (the
highest priced brand which goes the United states
A. 2tc. per bottle; hundred dozen Of Mumm Co at
n. 14c and seven hundred and eighty dozen of M0et
4 Chandon at 2f 42c the bottle This OF course is in
dependent OF duty freight and the commission Of the
agent in the United States Andn connection with this
last item important point is made by the wine manu-
facturers in excupatng themselves from the charges Of
the Custom House authorities One of the points upon
which the latter base themselves in the Of
their that the same houses which invoice wines
In the European market publish indeed their prices Of
them, at least franc bottle higher The wine mer
here DO not h deny tins .G but give ass
ket is not the same kind of wine that sent to the
United States. Thus for example, light but fine


favored wine is made for Russia ito which the best
champagnes sent while for England fuller bodied
wine than that made for the United States is
factured.


But the principal answer TO this made by the wine
merchants Is that the practice of trade between them
and the local European wine dealers is entirely different
your country all the well known houses here consign
their wines for SALE and do not sell them and in the


is not included On the other hand the sales in Europe
made principally through travelling agents, TO whom
These agents sell the wines in the different European
cities; and in the current prices which champagne
dealers give here for the European markets
they include the pay and commission Of their
agents. This they say, accounts for the fact
that they mark their wines at higher figure
for the European market than in their American in
voices They assert that their profits from the
wines to the United States greater than from
those sold in Europe and that they would be only too





the wine which they send at the invoice prices which
they have presented for past and pay them for il
at the rates therein named In explanation of the fact
asserted and proven letters produced by the customs
authorities In the San Francisco trial. that certain nler
chants here did offer TO sell wine from their cellars Mt
much higher rate than the usual invoice price, they


that they have contracts with their American agents
binding them not to sell any wines for America except


ing through them and that II they do they would be
required pay their agents indemnity that bcsides


they do not desire to do any direct trade and that when


proposition Of the kind is made 70 them they invaria
raby put their prices high enough to cover all indem
nifty TO their agents. and high as to discourage any
attempt at direct trade, which they do not desire TO do


believe have thus given as succinctly as possible,
all the salient points in this matter-a the arguments
Of the wine dealers themselves. They may be summed
up in the following propositions:-


FSrt-That there is wholesale trade In champagne
wines here; and consequently, in literal TRUTH ''mar-
ket valuen to the article


Second-That the only way Of arriving at just invoice
price is add to the Of the bys tho cost OF
manufacture and expectation to port Of embarkation
and


Third-That they have not only always done this but
have added thereto considerable allowance for pre-
sumed profit.