UNIVERSITY^ 



21 



The statistics of production during the early part of the 

 contury are scanty and until 1885 unsatisfactory, because of 

 the numerous changes and curious methods of taxation, seven 

 different laws having been in operation between 1807 and 

 1885. The changes were chiefly brought about by the diffi- 

 culty in finding any system of taxation not injurious to the 

 small agricultural stills that would be productive of revenue. 

 Before 1842 no statistics of the number of distilleries exist. 

 In 1842 there were 9,139 stills; in 1850, 9,799, and the esti- 

 mated product 38,986 hectoliters. 1 From 1859 to 1864 the 

 average number operated was 10,733 and product 47,983 hec- 

 toliters. 2 From 1865 to 1885 a system of malt taxation, pat- 

 terned after the Bavarian, was used and 110 statistics were col- 

 lected. In 1885 the taxation was harmonized with that of 

 Xorth Germany, and in 1887 independent taxation was given 

 up. In 1886-87, 7,885 stills were operated of which 1,560 

 used potatoes, 2,282 grain, 1 molasses, 7 beets, 3,163 fruit, 

 848 brewers' grains, and 44 other materials; 7,067 of them 

 produced only up to 5 hectoliters of alcohol and 55 exceeded 

 50 hectoliters. 3 



3. Baden. 



Situated along the upper Rhine and containing a portion of 

 the Rhine valley, Baden is a very fertile agricultural country 

 and contains, besides very numerous small farms, great num- 

 bers of vineyards. It is the land of small distilleries, largely 

 in the hands of the wine-growers. At the beginning of the 

 century there were about 20,000 of them in operation during 

 the wine season, but real industrial distilling scarcely existed. 

 These conditions continued until after 1837, when distilling 

 began to develop in the grand-duchy and little by little larger 

 plants with improved apparatus were established. This 

 growth was largely due to the introduction of a tax according 

 to the still capacity. 4 As in Prussia, this brought improved 

 methods to enable escape from taxation, and so steady develop- 

 ment. The system of taxation remained unchanged until 



1. Wuertemberg Jahrbuch, 1851 ; p. 202. 



2. Ibid, 1865 ; p. 82. 



3. Monatahefte zur Statistik, Etc., for 1887. 



4. Wolf, Branntweinsteuer.p. 112. 



