17 



Hanover, 407, 43, 3; Hesse- Nassau, 203, 189, 87; Hesse, 1, 

 215, 198; Mecklenburg, -.Mi, 37; Brunswick, 19, 35, 2; Olden- 

 burg, 42, 1 ; Alsace-Lorraine, 13, 109, 12,542. 

 b. South. German States. 

 1. Bavaria. 



We \\ill next consider the history and the development of 

 the industry in South Germany, taking Bavaria as the type 

 for this section of the Empire and mentioning very briefly the 

 other States. 



On account of the continual prohibition of the use of grain 

 for distilling purposes, the production of spirits remained for 

 centuries almost entirely limited to that from fruit, wine and 

 brewery residues. 1 In fact distilling was very little more 

 than a branch of brewing. Under these circumstances the 

 quantity produced could not become very large and was chiefly 

 used for medicinal purposes. 2 These conditions remained 

 very little altered until the grain famine of 1816-18 caused 

 the extensive introduction of the potato into Bavarian agricul- 

 ture and furnished a new material for the stills. The situa- 

 tion was largely the same in the territories annexed to old 

 Bavaria at the beginning of the century to form the modern 

 kingdom, except that distilling from grain was quite import- 

 ant in some of the new districts. 3 



The system of taxing spirits reflects the conditions prevail- 

 ing in production. Up to 1806 a tax on the finished product 

 was levied, but it was abolished and from 1806 to 1880 brew- 

 ing and distilling were taxed in a similar manner, i. e., on the 

 amount of malt used, the so-called "Malzaufschlag." 4 The 

 very fact that the levy upon beer and spirits was according 

 to the same system indicates the close connection between the 

 two. Bavaria was the great "Bierland" of Germany and the 

 tax on beer was one of the chief sources of revenue, while that 

 on spirits was of little importance, producing only about 

 20,000 florins annually, of Which the half was from so-called 



1. Wolf, " Branntweinsteuer ; p. 83. 



2. Production at beginning of century only about 12,800 hec. E. Meyer, V. j. 

 s. fuer Volkswirtschaft, 1883 ; part 3, p. 147. 



3. Ibid., 147. 



4. Ibid.; p. 147. 



