EDITORIAL.  283 
third  of  this  amount.  Keference  is  then  made  to  the  action  of  the  British 
government  in  allowing  spirits  to  be  methylated  (rendered  unfit  for  a  beve- 
rage) for  use  in  the  arts,  to  have  but  a  nominal  duty,  and  of  the  effect  of  this 
amelioration,  the  British  officials  say  "  It  is  scarcely  too  much  to  say  that 
if  this  mixture  had  not  been  devised  for  the  relief  of  our  manufacturers, 
it  would  have  been  almost  impossible  to  maintain  the  present  high  rate  of 
duty:1 
The  commissioners  then  argue  that,  if,  in  Great  Britain,  a  country  of 
limited  area  and  dense  population,  with  a  thoroughly  organized  revenue 
system  and  police,  the  attempt  to  maintain  this  high  rate  of  duty  is  so  un- 
successful, how  utterly  impossible  will  it  be  in  a  country  like  the  United 
States,  with  a  sparse  and  partly  disaffected  population,  to  prevent  illicit 
•       distillation  being  conducted  on  a  grand  scale. 
The  commission  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  it  was  the  desire  of 
American  manufacturers,  using  alcohol,  to  have  a  legal  provision  for 
methylating  alcohol  for  their  use,  had  some  of  it  mixed,  and  imported 
some  of  the  English  spirit  so  treated,  and  submitted  them  to  the  repre- 
sentatives of  various  branches  in  which  alcohol  is  much  used.  The  judg- 
ment rendered  by  these  persons  was  unfa  vorable  to  the  use  of  "  methylated 
spirits." 
The  Report  says,  "  In  a  communication  made  to  the  commission  by  the 
American  Pharmaceutical  Association,  the  memorialists  urge  that  4  the 
enormous  increase  in  the  price  of  alcohol  (twelve  times  its  former  cost) 
has  very  materially  interfered  with  the  best  interests  of  Pharmacy,  by 
tending  to  cramp  and  hinder  the  progress  of  the  art,  and  materially  lessen 
the  use  of  alcohol  by  encouraging  the  use  of  imperfect  and  improper  sub- 
stitutes. This  diminished  use  has  by  no  means  reached  its  limit,  and  it 
may  be  safely  estimated  for  Pharmacy,  that  if  the  present  high  rate  of 
duty  be  maintained,  the  use  of  alcohol  will  be  diminished  more  than  one- 
half.  With  half  the  present  rate  of  duty,  Pharmacy  might  not  be  seriously 
affected  ■  and  if  so,  the  revenue  accruing  from  one-half  the  present  rate 
of  duty  would  be  larger  and  be  more  easily  collected  than  from  the  exist- 
ing rates.' " 
"  In  common  with  the  Pharmaceutists,  it  also  appears  to  be  the  general 
opinion  of  a  majority  of  the  representatives  of  the  various  trade  interests 
who  have  appeared  before  the  commission  in  relation  to  this  matter,  that 
a  reduction  of  the  tax  on  proof  spirits  to  one  dollar  per  gallon  would  suf- 
ficiently relieve  them  from  the  injurious  effects  of  the  present  high  price  of 
alcohol,  and  lead  to  a  very  large  increase  in  its  consumption  for  industrial 
purposes. 
The  commission  argue  that  the  grain  producinginterests  of  the  country 
would  be  benefitted ;  and,  finally,  they  ask  whether  it  is  just  and  expedient 
on  the  part  of  the  Government  to  impose  by  law  so  high  a  tax  on  alcohol  as 
to  act  as  a  premium  for  fraud,  which  it  is  morally  certain  human  nature  as 
ordinarily  constituted,  will  not  resist ;  and  then,  secondly,  to  impose  severe 
