AmMlrch,imrm'}       Internal  Revenue  Tax  on  Alcohol,  117 
are  its  cleanliness,  freedom,  from  danger  of  explosion  and  lack  of 
disagreeable  odor.  It  would  undoubtedly  be  extensively  used  in 
this  country  as  an  illuminant  if  the  tax  were  removed. 
For  heating  and  cooking,  alcohol  is  unquestionably  safer,  cleaner 
and  more  agreeable  to  use  than  gasoline,  and  would  preferably  be 
used  in  millions  of  households  for  these  purposes  if  it  were  furnished 
at  the  same  price  as  that  material.  Small  portable  alcohol  stoves 
giving  out  sufficient  heat  to  thoroughly  warm  a  large  room  are  in 
general  use  in  Germany,  and  it  is  estimated  that  the  alcohol  used 
tor  heating  is  as  economical  as  anthracite  coal  at  $6  per  ton.  The 
adoption  of  a  system  of  untaxed  denaturized  alcohol  would  make 
the  use  of  alcohol  as  a  fuel  for  heating  purposes  entirely  practicable, 
and  would  be  of  especial  advantage  to  those  large  sections  of  the 
country  where  coal  and  wood  are  scarce. 
It  is  in  the  manufacture  of  the  organic  chemicals  that  the  greatest 
field  for  new  industries  would  be  created  by  legislation  giving  cheap 
alcohol.  This  is  practically  the  only  line  in  which  the  United  States 
falls  far  behind  foreign  nations,  and  our  failure  to  develop  this  im- 
portant group  of  industries  is  almost  entirely  due  to  the  high  price 
of  commercial  alcohol.  We  import  annually  about  $10,000,000 
worth  of  fine  chemicals,  drugs,  coal-tar  colors,  dyes,  etc.,  chiefly 
from  Germany,  almost  all  of  which  could  be,  and  would  be,  manu- 
factured here  under  alcohol  laws  as  liberal  as  those  of  the  countries 
from  which  these  articles  are  imported. 
The  greatest  advantage  which  cheap  alcohol  gives  foreign  manu- 
facturers of  these  products  can,  perhaps,  be  better  shown  by  a  com- 
parison of  the  exports  of  fine  chemicals  from  one  country,  Germany, 
with  the  total  production  of  the  United  States.  While  the  value  of 
the  artificial  dyes  annually  made  in  this  country  is  only  about 
$2,500,000,  Germany  exports  each  year  more  than  $30,000,000 
worth  of  these  products.  The  annual  production  of  fine  chemicals, 
drugs,  etc.,  manufactured  in  this  country  is  valued  at  less  than 
$5,000,000.  The  value  of  these  articles  annually  exported  by  Ger- 
many exceeds  $50,000,000.  Thus  on  these  two  lines  of  products, 
in  which  the  advantage  ot  the  German  manufacturers  over  those  of 
this  country  is  almost  entirely  due  to  cheapness  of  alcohol  in  Ger- 
many, the  value  of  our  total  production  is  exceeded  by  more  than 
$70,000,000  by  the  German  export  trade  alone.  In  view  of  these 
remarkable  facts  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  with  our  abundant  capital, 
