sow TO RAISE REVENUE. 737 



ing that the smaller brewers were being more and more absorbed 

 by the great concerns while the amount of assessed profits was 

 10,177,000, showing an increase of sixty per cent in the profits of 

 the brewing trade during those ten years/' 



If it is desirable at the present time for the Federal Govern- 

 ment to increase its annual revenue by additional taxation, it is 

 certain that such a result can not be attained more certainly and 

 with so little of expense, effort, or industrial friction, as by a 

 moderate increase of the tax on fermented liquors. The existing 

 tax (twenty per cent ad valorem) is lower than upon almost any 

 other industrial product entering largely into domestic consump- 

 tion spirits paying, for example, eight hundred and forty per 

 cent ; tobacco, one hundred and nine ; wool, manufactured, fifty- 

 six; iron and steel, forty-eight; breadstuffs, twenty-five; glass, 

 fifty-two, and the like. The business of brewing malt liquors is 

 acknowledged to be one of the most successful of domestic indus- 

 tries, and financial participation in it has in recent years been so 

 attractive to foreign capitalists that it is generally believed that 

 the ownership of a large proportion of the brewing business in 

 the United States has passed into their hands. It is also reason- 

 ably certain that in the distribution of industrial products for 

 consumption there is no branch of business that returns a larger 

 profit on the labor and capital employed than the retailing of 

 malt liquors ; a small retail store often supporting a large family, 

 besides paying high Federal and State licenses. The data already 

 submitted, which are believed to be reliable, show that beer can 

 be retailed at a profit for one and three quarter cents per glass of 

 a half pint, on which the present tax is one fifth of a cent, yield- 

 ing a present revenue of about $34,000,000 ($33,784,000) per annum. 

 An increase of the present rate of tax i. e., from one dollar to 

 two dollars per barrel of thirty-one gallons, or from one fifth to 

 two fifths of a cent to a half- pint glass might be reasonably ex- 

 pected to at once yield at least $30,000,000 additional per annum, 

 bringing up the present annual revenue from this source to $64,- 

 000,000, with a prospective annual increase of $3,000,000 ; and this 

 without increasing the cost of his beer to the individual consumer 

 or materially diminishing the profits of the brewer or the whole- 

 sale or retail dealer. 



It remains to briefly notice the reasons that have been popu- 

 larly urged against any increase in the taxation of fermented 

 liquors. It is said that the brewers already pay a fair share of 

 the expenses of the Government, and " to make them pay more 

 looks like a discrimination against a particular industry." But 

 as the case now stands, the discrimination in respect to taxation 

 is not adverse to the brewing interest but greatly in its favor ; 

 and the proposed increase in rate would impose a smaller burden, 



TOL. L. 56 



