40 



land larger than Baden, 15,081 square kilometers or Saxony, 

 14,923 square kilometers, and one-fifteenth of the entire agri- 

 cultural land of Germany. 1 



From an economic and sociological standpoint, it is a grave 

 question whether or not Germany can aiford the use of such 

 a per cent, of her land and labor in the production of an arti- 

 .cle of which the vast majority, at least at present, is used in 

 ways only injurious to the consumer, and lessening his de- 

 mand for other things which would add to the physical, men- 

 tal and spiritual capabilities of the nation. 

 IV. Possible Developments. 



a. The Extensive Use of Spirits for Technical Pur- 

 poses and the Possible Eesults Therefrom. 

 We have seen the great importance of the distilling indus- 

 try to the agriculture of Germany at the present time, but 

 within recent years possibilities of development have opened 

 up that seem almost unlimited. We refer to the extension of 

 the use of alcohol for technical and mechanical purposes. 



The German law allows spirits made unfit for human con- 

 sumption by the addition of spirits of wood, pyrimidin basis, 

 turpentine, sulphuric acid, shellac, etc., to go untaxed. The 

 most common mixture used is the "algemeine denaturirungs- 

 mittei," which is composed of four parts of spirits of wood, 

 and one part of pyrimidin basis, and is procurable from the 

 revenue officials at a cost of 75 to 80 marks for 100 liters. 

 Anyone may use this preparation in the proportion of 15 

 liters of it to 100 liters of pure alcohol. The mixing mus; 

 take place in the presence of two revenue officials, and the alco- 

 hol must not be less than 73 per cent. pure. Since March, 

 1897, the retail of such "denaturirte" spirits is not condi- 

 tioned, needs no concession or license, and in Prussia the re- 

 tailers pay no business tax (betriebs-steuer). There are only 

 certain conditions to be complied with, as to the announce- 

 ment of the business to the tax officials, and as to the strength 

 of the spirits sold. 2 



All these arrangements have been made by the government 



1. Dr. Wm. Bode, Der deut. Alkoholfrage. Leipsic, 1892, p. 10. 



2. Kalendar fuer das landwictschaftliche Gewerbe, 1898; p. 5. 



