AGRICULTURAL ALCOHOL IN GERMANY. 3 
THE ECONOMIC SITUATION. " 
It would appear that as soon as the production of alcohol became 
an industry it was placed under governmental control. Not only 
for ethical reasons was this necessary, but for economic reasons as 
well. The fact that although alcohol as a beverage is not a physiolo- 
gical necessity, but that nevertheless there is a strong demand for it 
by man, makes it an especially opportune object for raising internal 
revenue. Under such conditions it is self-evident that the develop- 
ment of the alcohol industry in any country will be materially in- 
fluenced by revenue and other legislation. 
While the increased tax on alcohol used as a beverage placed a 
national check upon its consumption and therefore upon its manu- 
facture, the rapid strides which have been made, especially in the 
improvement of the crude material, are directly attributed to the 
operation of a certain phase of the laws taxing the finished product. 
MASH-CAPACITY TAXES, 1820 AND 1868. 
| The tax which up to 1820 was levied upon the still was in that 
year replaced in Prussia and in others of the North German States 
by a mash-capacity tax. To control the output of alcohol and to 
tax this directly was not considered feasible, although theoretically 
it was the simplest and most equitable method. Inasmuch as the 
ratio between the volume of mash, as made in those days, and the 
‘finished product was fairly well established, the taxation of the mash 
capacity, while indirect, appeared more equitable and fair than a tax 
on the distilling apparatus, a much more variable factor in the pro- 
cess of manufacture. 
The average yield of alcohol about 1820 was computed at 2.5 per 
cent of the mash, a very low figure when compared with the results 
attained since then. Immediately, therefore, it became an object to 
the manufacturer to crowd as much fermentable material as possible 
into each unit of his mash-tub capacity. This was accomplished on 
the one hand by thickening the mash and on the other hand by 
choosing those potatoes which were richest in starch. As will be 
seen later, this second factor led to the general cultivation of potatoes 
richer in starch; and, since it was much to his advantage to secure 
the most complete fermentation possible, the distiller was led to a 
_more careful study and manipulation of the yeast. 
The inevitable result was that the original tax on the basis of a 
2.5 per cent alcohol yield became antiquated and had to be increased 
gradually in accordance with the improvements made in the tech- 
nology of fermentation. With each increase in the rate of taxation 
