352 MALT AND BEER IN SPANISH AMERICA. 



All beer is now imported in bottles. The pint bottles are preferred, 

 being more salable than those containing a liter. 



The duty is 300 reis per liter, equivalent to about 15 cents of our 

 money, with 5 per cent, -f 7 per cent. 



The most salable are Bass's ale, German beer, and Guinness 7 stout. 



To get at the first cost is not an easy matter. There may be an under- 

 valuation. The invoice value may be too large as well as too small; 

 nothing very accurate can be obtained on this head, the undervalu- 

 ation or the too great value depending upon many things. I have been 

 informed that English beer ranges in cost from 3J shillings per dozen 

 for pint bottles to 6| shillings per dozen for quart bottles. German 

 beer is said to be below these figures even. To add to the original 

 cost are the following : freight, the duty, custom-house stamps, charges 

 for weighing, warehouse rent, porterage, fees of the dispatcher, insur- 

 ance, commission, etc., and the entire cost ready for sale is consider- 

 able. 



The selling price is from 7J milreis to 9J milreis per dozen for pint 

 bottles, or from say $3.75 to $4.75. 



Quart bottles German beer sell from 7 to 9 milreis per dozen bot- 

 tles ; at retail the price is 500 reis, or about 25 cents, for every half bot- 

 tle, no matter what the quality is. The domestic manufacture is less 

 in price. 



German beer is being preferred to the English, because it is a much 

 lighter beverage than the English, and also because it is cheaper. Im- 

 porters say the reason so little is imported from the United States is 

 because of the greater cost to the purchaser and the higher freight 

 rate for carrying it than is paid on any coming from Europe. And this 

 higher freight rate applies not only to beer, but in general to any article 

 brought to New York. If, say the importers and dealers, the American 

 beer could be sold at as low a price as the German beer, there is no 

 doubt but the United States might furnish the largest share of the beer 

 that is consumed in this place. Until this is done, say they, the United 

 States can not export her beer in any quantity to this place. 



There are some well-known houses here that have been for years in 

 the business of importing beer, wines, and liquors, and through these 

 the different kinds of beverage are sold to wholesale or retail dealers, 

 or even to families in many cases. Besides, the different brands now 

 well-known have a tendency to shut out any new brand, unless the 

 new brand is an article that is both superior and cheaper. In view of 

 all this, then, the brewers of the United States, in order to place their 

 beer on this market, will find it necessary to manufacture it more cheaply, 

 get a reduction of freight rates, and then establish an agency here, 

 having employed a man of push and activity who understands the 

 language and can cater to catch the trade. 



DAVID N. BURKE, 



UNITED STATES CONSULATE, Consul. 



Baliia, March 21, 1890. 



