i 
 
 i
 
 LIQUOR LAWS 
 
 UNITED STATES; 
 
 THEIR SPIRIT AND EFFECT 
 
 G. THOMANN, 
 
 Author of "Rkal and Imaginary Effects of Intemperance." 
 
 8 5 7 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 THE UNITED STATES BREWERS' ASSOCIATION. 
 
 ISSS.
 
 H Y. Economical Printing Co. 24 Vesey St., New Yobk.
 
 S0 7E 
 
 PEEFACE. 
 
 The liquor traffic, in all its bearings upon the moral and 
 social condition of man, has recently been made the subject of 
 methodical enquiries in very many European countries, and a 
 mass of extremely valuable material has already been and is 
 still being gathered there for the purpose of establishing a scien- 
 tific basis for future legislation. Similar efforts are at present 
 being made in the United States, and it is to be hoped that 
 fairness, impartiality, and an unselfish regard for the welfare 
 of the whole country may guide them. This book is offered 
 as an unpretending contribution to these efforts. It claims no 
 merit save that of strictest truthfulness in the representation 
 of the spirit and effect of the liquor laws of this country. The 
 nature of its subject-matter required a separation of the laws 
 enacted by Congress from those enacted by the legislatures 
 of the States. The former laws are reviewed in the present 
 volume ; the latter will form the subject of another volume, 
 to be published hereafter. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 New York City 
 April, 1885. 
 
 448341 
 
 1
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Chapter I.— Fiscal task of the first Congress. Pressure in favor of the protection 
 and eneouragement of domestic manufactures. Causes and evidences of this 
 pressure. Debate on Madison's customs proposition. Arguments for and 
 against protection ; for and against high rates of duty on distilled liquors. 
 Moral aspect of such duties. Unanimity of opinions in regard to expedi- 
 ency, from a moral standpoint, of encouraging the manufacture of malt 
 liquors. The first revenue law. The drift of popular sentiment in reference 
 to the question of temperance. Conclusions as to spirit of the first revenue 
 law, in its bearing on the liquor traflic 3-33 
 
 Chapter II.— Product of the import duties under the preceding Act. Additional 
 revenue necessary. Hamilton's propositions. Increase of specific duties, 
 and introduction of internal taxes on distilled spirits recommended. Hamil- 
 ton's views on the desirability of encouraging the manufacture of malt liq- 
 uors, for moral reasons. The work of the second session of Congress. Re- 
 jection of excise system. Enactment of Jaws increasing import duties, and 
 regulating collection thereof. Hamilton's revenue proposition again dis- 
 cussed in next session of Congress. Opposition to excise system by South- 
 ern members. Grounds of opposition. Enactment of law imposing addi- 
 tional duties on imported, and excise duties on domestic spirits. Conclusion 
 as to the spirit of these laws 34-55 
 
 Chapter III.— Review of the origin, nature and extent of the discontent pro- 
 voked by the excise law. Opposition to Hamilton's fiscal system. Jefi"er- 
 son's attitude. The alarming state of afiairs in Western Pennsylvania. 
 Brief review of outrages committed upon excise ofiicers up to the end of 
 1791. Hamilton's report on manufactures, and on the excise law. His re- 
 commendations on both subjects. Act increasing duties on distilled spirits 
 and malt liquors. Protective features of this Act. Modification of the Act 
 for laying internal duties on spirits 56-83 
 
 Chapter rv. — The Western or whiskey insurrection : Violent opposition to the 
 establishment of excise oflScers. Attack on Captain Faulkner. Meeting at 
 Pittsburgh. Seditious resolutions adopted. Proclamation by the President. 
 Reign of terror inaugurated by Tom the tinker. Continuation of outrages 
 upon officers and complying distillers. Attack on, and destruction of, Gen- 
 eral Neville's house. Seven thousand armed rioters march into Pittsburgh. 
 Bradford's design to revolutionize adjoining States and form an independent 
 State. Mails robbed. Second proclamation by the President. Militia 
 called out. Fruitless efi'orts of a peace cor amission. Advance of the army. 
 Flight of the more violent leaders. Re olutions of submission. Arrival 
 of the army at Parkison's Ferry. Insurgents dispersed and order re- 
 established 84-108
 
 yi, CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter v.— Perfectin? the revenue service:; numljer and compeuBation of officers. 
 Licenses to retailers of spirits and wines. Modifications of tlie excise law 
 in favor of country distillers. Repeal of internal duties ; its causes. Effects 
 of the various laws on the internal taxation of distilled spirits. Com- 
 parative table showing production, imports, exports and consumption of 
 spirits during the operation of the excise law. and after Its repeal, up to 
 1810. Effect of import duties upon fermented liquors. State of grape- 
 culture. The brewing industry in 1810 ; difficulties retarding its progress. . . 109-137 
 
 Chapter \T:.— Fiscal policy under Jefferson's and Madison's administrations. 
 Gallatin's financial views. Protection of domestic manufactures. Gallatin's 
 propositions on the subject. Supposition that in case of war the doublinc: of 
 external duties would meet all exigencies. Spirits singled out as capable of 
 bearing heaviest external tax. Timid policy in relation to internal liquor 
 traffic. Eflect of impending war with Great Britain. Change of fiscal policy ; 
 retnrn to Hamiltonian principles. Excise system proposed and ignored. 
 Import taxes doubled. Reverses of war. Madison urges imposition of 
 internal taxes. Congress acts on recommendation. Internal revenue system 
 enlarged; additional excise duties on spirits. Termination of war. Gradual 
 reduction of external and internal taxes, and final abolition of the latter 
 duties. Monroe's policy ; forecast of high protective measures. Retrospect; 
 effects of preceding laws 128-148 
 
 Chapter YII.— The relation which the aversion to excises and the protec- 
 tive idea bore to the question of temperance. What the protection of spirits 
 was intended to accomplish for agriculture. The wisdom of protecting 
 spirits, and the desirability of preventing their excessive consumption. 
 Why excises were not permanently applied to accomplish the latter. If it 
 be proper to use the taxing power in one form in order to create and extend 
 manufactures, it ought to be proper to use it in another form for restricting 
 those industries which militate against such economic policy. Reasons for 
 assuming that under certain circumstances a permanent excise on spirits 
 would have been feasible. Results of absence of internal taxes. Excessive 
 drinking habits of the rural population and consequent reaction, leading to 
 the opposite extreme 149-157 
 
 Chapter Vm.— The era of high protective tariffs. Party division on the subject. 
 Attitude of Calhotin before and after the Missouri compromise. Tariff of 
 1824. Temperance policy in regard to use of wine. Congress grants land to 
 French vintners. Duties on wines reduced for moral reasons. Protectionist 
 efforts in favor of whiskey. Pennsylvania farmers ask for prohibition of 
 importation of spirits. Futile efforts to reintroduce an excise on spirits. 
 The struggle for the protection of whiskey in 1828. Mixed state of afi'airs : 
 '•Yankee " mm ostracised ; whiskey described as palatable and fashionable. 
 Wrangle over the duty on molasses. Yankeedom and its alleged frauds 
 arraigned. Interesting debate on the expediency of creating new niarkets 
 for whiskey. Tariff of 1828. Increase of imposts on spirits and molasses. 
 Revocation of unjust clause in regard to latter article in 1830. Revision of 
 duties on wines. Extensive frauds upon the Government by importers of 
 wines. The tariff acts of laSO and 1833. Nullification of tariff. Calhoun and 
 Jackson. Compromise act of 1833. Reduction of duties. Financial crisis 
 nnder Van Buren's administration. Precarious condition of treasury under 
 Tyler's administration. Another conflict and compromise. Increase of 
 duties by tariff act of 1842. Fillmore on excises. Further changes of the 
 laws. Conclusions as to spirit and effect of laws 158-1 79
 
 CONTENTS. VII. 
 
 CnAriEr. IX.— Results of the "free whiskey" policy. Inebriety in the raral dis- 
 tricts ; clergymen, -vvomeu and children addicted to the vice. Testimony of 
 temperance authors. Work of temperance societies ; their moral efl'orts 
 directed against ardent spirits ; beneficent influence of their agitation. 
 Struggle between moderates and extremists. Split in the temperance party 
 in 1S36. The agitation transplanted from the domain of moral suasion to 
 the legislative field. Fermented drinks classed with ardent spirits. Absurd- 
 ity of means and ends. Various agencies counteracting the evils of drunk- 
 enness: progress of the nation: influx of emigrants; growth of brewing 
 industry and grape-culture. Walker, in 1845, proposes a tariff for revenue 
 only ; Mexican war prevents adoption of all his propositions ; his principles 
 acted on. Continued opposition to excise en spirits. Revenue tariff of 
 1S57 supplanted by Morrill tarifi'. State of the drink question in 1860 180-197 
 
 Chapter X.— Convocation of 37th Congress. Condition of the Treasury in 1861. 
 Fiscal necessities growing out of the rebellion. Increase of import duties 
 and imposition of direct taxes. Internal taxes postponed. Condition of 
 Treasury in 1862. Internal taxes on spirituous and malt liquors, aud on 
 licenses to dealers discussed. The temperance question discussed in both 
 Houses of Congress. Discrimination in favor of malt liquors advocated ; 
 scientific testimony in support of such advocacy. The status of the Prohibi- 
 tion States and of their Congressional representatives. Inconsistency of 
 advocates of Prohibition ; the futility of their schemes demonstrated by 
 their own statements. Differences as to rates of tax on distilled spirits, and 
 as to the expediency of taxing stock on hand. Evasion of tax by distillers 
 predicted. Text of revenue law in relation to intoxicants. Increase of 
 import duties in 1862. Increase of internal tax on spirits in 1864. Specula- 
 tion and fraud combining to frustrate objects of law. Appointment of 
 special revenue commission in 1865: their report and recommendations. 
 Modification of law in 1868 198-230 
 
 ■ Chapter XI.— Epitome of the policy of the Government and the spirit of the 
 laws since 1860. Prejudice against excises completely wiped out, so far as 
 intoxicants are concerned. Willingness of distillers and brewers to be 
 taxed. Faithful adherence to the policy of favoring malt liquors for moral 
 reasons. Universal desire, from the beginning of our Government to pre- 
 sent day, to substitute malt liquors for ardent spirits. Hamilton's aims 
 realized. The operation of the revenue laws during the first ten years of 
 their existence. Effect of speculation and frauds ; modifications of laws 
 with a view to preventing both. Brief review of external taxation on intoxi- 
 cants since 1860. Results of internal taxation since 1874. Marvellous 
 growth of brewing industry ; consumption of ardent spirits decreased by over 
 fifty per cent. ; the objects of the temperance movement realized. The 
 people of the United States among the first of temperate nations ; their 
 present policy adopted by European Governments, and sustained by scientific 
 investigations. What is needed to perpetuate and multiply the fruits of 
 wise laws. Revenue tables 231-251 
 
 Appendix.— Addenda to Chapters HI. and V. : 
 
 Fauchet's correspondence, and extracts from Digest of Manufactures, 1810. . 232-250 
 Tables of Imports and Exports of distilled and fermented liquors, from 
 
 1791 to 1883.
 
 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES ; 
 
 THEIR SPIRIT AND EFFECT. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 FISCAL TASK OF THE FIRST CONGKESS, PRESSTTRE IN FAVOR OF 
 THE PROTECTION AND ENCOURAGEMENT OF DOMESTIC MANU- 
 FACTURES. CAUSES AND EVIDENCES OF THIS PRESSURE. 
 DEBATE ON MADISOn's CUSTOMS PROPOSITION. ARGUMENTS 
 FOR AND AGAINST PROTECTION; FOR AND AGAINST HIGH 
 RATES OF DUTY ON DISTILLED LIQUORS. MORAL ASPECT OF 
 SUCH DUTIES. UNANIMITT OF OPINIONS IN REGARD TO EX 
 PEDIENCY, FROM A MORAL STANDPOINT, OF ENCOURAGING 
 THE MANUFACTURE OF MALT LIQUORS. THE FIRST REVENUE 
 LAW. THE DRIFT OF POPULAR SENTIMENT IN REFERENCE 
 TO THE QUESTION OF TEMPERANCE. CONCLUSIONS AS TO 
 SPIRIT OF THE FIRST REVENUE LAW, IN ITS BEARING ON THE 
 LIQUOR TRAFFIC. 
 
 In grappling with the fiscal results of the Revolutionary 
 war, the first Congress of the United States, confronted with 
 a depleted treasury and an enormous debt, the interest of 
 which had, owing to the impotency of the Continental Con- 
 gress, accumulated to a startling figure, could not in the 
 nature of things concede more than secondary importance to 
 any fixed policy, to any concisely formulated principle of
 
 4 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 political economy.* The controlling idea, the one object 
 which, obtruding itself with imperative directness upon the 
 members of Congress, temporarily excluded all others, was to 
 raise revenue, to rescue the tottering credit of the country, 
 and to establish that national integrity without which the 
 political independence so stubbornly and bravely fought for, 
 so gloriously achieved, would inevitably have fallen into con- 
 tempt. No policy, however judicious and popular, could have 
 prevailed in conflict with this object. 
 
 It so happened, however, that the mode of securing 
 revenue, the method of taxation most favored, because — 
 then as now — deemed least oppressive, bore within itself the 
 germ of, and presented the form and machinery for, a fixed 
 economic policy which, in the opinion of many leading minds 
 of that day, was singularly well adapted to a country of vast 
 territorial expanse, of immeasurable natural resources, but 
 having a scant population, almost no advanced manufactures, 
 and few means of bringing to the surface and utilizing the 
 immense and diversified wealth hidden under the soil. 
 
 That the laying of an impost on commodities imported 
 into the United States was the most feasible and popular 
 measure of obtaining revenue, seems to have been a foregone 
 conclusion with all the members of the first Congress. The 
 temptation to give this measure a protective coloring proved 
 irresistibly alluring. For, whatever the theoretical opiuion as 
 
 * From the report of the Congressional committee appointed to pre- 
 pare an estimate of supplies requisite for the year 1789, it appears that 
 the arrearages of interest up to the 31st December, 1787, amounted to 
 $8,123,124.55, in addition to which sum, Congress had to provide for 
 two years' interest, becoming due 1st January, 1790, and amounting to 
 $3,396,521.43; making a total of $11,519,646, or more than one-fourth of 
 the principal of the entire foreign and domestic debt — the former amounting 
 to $10,070,307. the latter to $27,383,917. (Am. State Papers ; Finance, 
 Vol. I, page 11.)
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 to the (jeneral economic expediency of a protective system may 
 have been, there can be no doubt, that a strong, wide-spread 
 popular sentiment in favor of the encouragement and pro- 
 tection of domestic manufactures prevailed in very many 
 localities, though it lacked uniformity of origin and cause. 
 But the very complexity of motives, views and interests, from 
 which this sentiment sprang, lent additional force to the 
 efforts for its realization. While in many instances the desire 
 to emancipate the new-born nation from the industrial thral- 
 dom of England was intensified by the animosity which the 
 war had engendered against everything English, in others it 
 was undoubtedly strengthened by an honest conviction, how- 
 ever erroneous, that industrial protection and national pros- 
 perity bore to each other the relation of cause and effect. In 
 certain localities this sentiment was produced by purely indus- 
 trial considerations, confined to a few manufactures wh^ch 
 formed an essential source of the wealth of the people imme- 
 diately concerned. The greater part of the urban population 
 of the country certainly desired protection from purely selfish 
 motives ; whereas among the rural population the advocacy of a 
 protective system was believed to be a part of true patriotism, 
 even if for no other reason than that, in case of war, the 
 absence of domestic manufactures implied — as the bitter ex- 
 periences of the struggling colonies had demonstrated, with 
 painful clearness — a want of means of defense, and, accord- 
 ingly, a humiliating and withal uncertain dependence upon 
 foreign nations for the munitions of war. Another motive, 
 actively at work in a small circle of far-seeing statesmen, was 
 the desire to acquire national prestige and recognition, and in 
 this case the impulses of patriotism helped to formulate a 
 policy which aimed at the utilization of a -tariff, with differen- 
 tial rates, as a regulator of our international relations. In- 
 asmuch as, under the circumstances then existing, such restric- 
 tions would necessarily have been directed against the very
 
 6 LIQrOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 country from -vrhicli we drew the greater part of imported 
 commodities, and as the condition of European politics, then 
 extremely unsettled and threatening, prevented the United 
 States, for a time, from profiting by their amical relations 
 with other maritime powers, the indirectly protective effect 
 of this motive will readily be perceived. English pre- 
 cedent, it is frequently claimed, may also have been a 
 factor in creating a Protectionist predilection ; but if this 
 assumption be admissible, it must appear as a somewhat 
 singular coincidence, that this policy was americanized by 
 Congress at the time, when it was beginning to lose its vitality 
 in the land of its birth. Eor it is a historical fact that Pitt's 
 Customs Consolidation Act of 1787, growing out of the dis- 
 content at the detrimental effects of a hopelessly confused 
 protective system, was but the timid precursor of the income 
 tax, a measure by which, two years later — hence at the time of 
 the initial session of our first Congress — the anti-Protectionist 
 movement, then, it is true, very far yet from the ultimate con- 
 summation of its objects, was inaugurated in England. Yet, 
 the seemingly flourishing condition of English manufactures 
 and commerce, ascribed by an influential school of politicians 
 to a restrictive and protective policy, may have had its weight 
 with those Americans, who looked up to, and were guided by, 
 English precedents. In some States, the law-making power 
 had already adopted protective measures, so constituted as tO' 
 afford encouragement to those manufactures which the neces- 
 sitous state of things of - preceding periods had called into 
 existence. 
 
 A scrutinizing study of the meagre stock of information 
 contained in the writings of politicians and statesmen, compe- 
 tent to judge of the state of affairs at the period in question, 
 leads to the conviction, that the cause of industrial pro- 
 tection found many able advocates even in those circles 
 ia which prevailed the opinion that agriculture would well-
 
 CHAPTER I. 4 
 
 iiis'Ii forever form nine-tenths of our wealth. And there 
 is, at bottom, no inconsistency in this, inasmuch as those 
 holding these opinions, very correctly believed that manu- 
 factures afforded great encouragement to agriculture, and 
 deserved the fostering care of government for this, if for no 
 other reason. Tench Coxe, for instance, subsequently Com- 
 missioner of Interaal Revenue under Hamilton's administra- 
 tion of the Treasury Department, a statesman, who to-day 
 would be styled a Free-Trader, concluded a paper read before 
 the society for political enquiries, convened in Benjamin 
 Franklin's house. May 11, 1787, in the following words : " That 
 the United States of America cannot make a proper use of the 
 natural advantages of the country, nor promote her agricul- 
 ture and other interests, without manufactures; that they can- 
 not enjoy the attainable benefits of commerce and the fisheries, 
 without some general restrictions and prohibitions affecting 
 foreign nations." 
 
 These conclusions are somewhat qualified by the admoni- 
 tion that, in establishing manufactories and forming these res- 
 trictions and prohibitions, care must be taken not to interfere 
 with the settlement and improvement of the soil. 
 
 Quite a different view of the question of protection is 
 presented in a petition of seven hundred and twenty-nine 
 tradesmen, mechanics and others, of the town of Baltimore, 
 submitted to the first Congress, April 11, 1789. It is stated 
 therein : 
 
 " That since the close of the late war, and the completion 
 of the Revolution, the petitioners have observed the 
 manufacturing and trading interests of the country 
 rapidly declining, while the wealth of the people hath 
 been prodigally expended in the purchase of those 
 articles, from foreigners, which our citizens, if pro- 
 perly encouraged, were fully competent to furnish.
 
 b LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 To check this growing evil some of the legislatures in the 
 several States interposed their authority; laws were by 
 them enacted with a view of subduing, or, at least, di- 
 minishing the rage for foreign, and of encouraging 
 domestic manufactures ; but the event hath clearly 
 demonstrated that no effectual provision could reason- 
 ably be expected until one uniform, efficient govern- 
 ment should pervade this wide-extended country. The 
 happy period having now arrived when the adoption 
 of the General Government gives one sovereign 
 legislature the exclusive power of laying duties upon 
 imports, the petitioners rejoice at the prospect thus 
 afforded them, that America, freed from her commercial 
 shackles, will see and pursue her true interest, becom- 
 ing independent in fact as well as in name, by the 
 encouragement and protection of American manu- 
 factures, as it is an universally acknowledged truth, that 
 the United States contain resources amply sufficient to 
 enable them to become a great manufacturing country, 
 and only want the patronage and support of wise and 
 energetic government." 
 
 The petition concludes with the imperative suggestion that 
 a rate of duty, sufficiently high to afford protection be 
 imposed upon one hundred and twenty enumerated 
 articles, among them beer, ale and porter. 
 
 A similar petition by the mechanics and manufacturers of 
 New York, was presented to Congress, April 18, 1789, and 
 was followed by many others of similar purport and tenor. 
 
 This cursory and incomplete enumeration of the causes to 
 whose co-operation must be ascribed the popular agency in 
 favor of protection, suffices, no doubt, to demonstrate the fact 
 that the first Congress did not lack a pressure from without to 
 urge it to the adoption of such a policy. At all events, the
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 unbiased reader of history can in no way be surprised to find 
 that the intention of creating and fostering domestic manu- 
 factures, particularly those of which England had so easily 
 acquired an almost complete monopoly in her former colonies, 
 very early assumed such a character, that a disproportionately 
 large part of the Congressional discussion, evoked by what is 
 known as the Tariff Act of 1789, was devoted to this subject. 
 In fact, the only elementary points of disagreement among the 
 national legislators, in reference to the customs tariff proposed 
 by Madison, embraced, in a mild form, all the essential features 
 of a conflict between the divergent principles of Protection 
 and Free Trade. Aside from mere detail, the only other note- 
 worthy cause of differences of opinion — so far as this work is 
 concerned — was of a moral nature, relating, as it did, to the 
 question of temperance. 
 
 These two facts, each of the utmost significance in its bear- 
 ing upon the liquor question, must constantly be borne in 
 mind, and permitted to guide the student, if an enquiry into 
 the spirit of the laws relating to, and in any manner affecting 
 the liquor trafiic is to yield reliable conclusions. 
 
 In proposing an impost on articles imported into the United 
 States, Madison, on the 8th day of April, 1789, the House of 
 Representatives having resolved itself into a committee of the 
 whole on the state of the Union — disclosed his opinion on the 
 subject of freedom of commerce, in such a way that from 
 some of his utterances, torn from the entirety of his argu- 
 ment, it might be made to appear that he was a Free Trader 
 in the modern sense of the term. " Commerce," he said " ought 
 to be as free as the policy of nations will admit." And again : 
 " I own myself the friend of a very free system of commerce." 
 The former expression reveals the true inwardness of his 
 position. 
 
 The scope of the freedom of commerce was, in his opinion, 
 to be circumscribed by the policy of nations. Undecided
 
 10 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 himself as to what policy the interests of the entire country 
 would dictate; ignorantof the opinions of his colleagues ; but 
 appreciating the urgency of the situation and overestimating, 
 rather than undervaluing, the necessity of establishing har- 
 mony, by avoiding serious parliamentary conflicts, he proposed 
 what he conceived to be the most effective means of speedily 
 obtaining revenue. — Without fixing the rates, he proposed 
 specific duties on rum ; all other spirituous liquors ; on mo- 
 lasses ; on Madeira wine, and all other wines ; on tea, pepper, 
 sugar, cocoa and coffee, and an ad valorem duty on all other 
 commodities. His proposition was based on a recommen- 
 dation made by the Continental Congress of 17S3, and at that 
 time agreed to by the States. 
 
 On the following day Lawrence, of New York, opposed the 
 laying of specific duties on enumerated articles, and advocated 
 a duty at a certain rate per cent, on the value of all imported 
 goods. He feared that an enumeration would create confu- 
 sion, besides being unjust, since it was not then known 
 whether the articles enumerated were able to bear the rate 
 specified, nor whether the enumeration included all articles 
 capable of bearing specific duties. Before experience had 
 taught, and systematic enquiries demonstrated, the character 
 and extent of specific duties, best calculated to further the 
 general welfare, a temporary ad valorem system seemed to 
 him x^referable to the one suggested. Fitzsimmons, of Penn- 
 sylvania, on the same day, first introduced the subject of 
 protective and sumptuary regulations. Opposed to & tempo- 
 rary system having for its exclusive object the raising of reve- 
 nue, this legislator offered an addition to the articles enumer- 
 ated in Madison's proposition, stating, that in doing so he was 
 actuated by a desire " to encourage the productions of our 
 country, to protect our infant manufactures and to place res- 
 trictions upon articles which are termed those of luxury.'"* His 
 
 * See Benton's " Abridgment of the Debates in CongresB." Vol. L, page 23.
 
 CHAFrER I. 11 
 
 additional list embraced fifty three articles — beer, ale and 
 porter being at the head ; it also included malt and cider. 
 White, of Virginia, and Tucker, of South Carohna, seemed 
 inclined to support Madison's proposition, with the only 
 difierence that both thought rum, wine and sugar could 
 bear an ad valorem tax in addition to a specific duty ; both 
 were unwilling to establish a permanent system, so long as it 
 was not positively ascertained what the interests of the whole 
 Union required. Not a word was uttered by either member 
 against the reasons given for swelling the list of enumerated 
 articles. Hartley, of Pennsylvania, dilated on the protective 
 theories enunciated by Fitzsimmons. He said : 
 
 " If we consult the history of the ancient world, we shall 
 see that they have thought proper, for a long time past, 
 to give great encouragement to the establishment of 
 manufactures, by laying such partial duties on the 
 importation of foreign goods, as to give the home 
 market a considerable advantage in the price when 
 brought to market. It is also well-known to this com- 
 mittee that thjere are many articles that will bear a 
 higher duty than others, which are to be taxed with a 
 certain impost ad valorem. From this view I think it 
 both politic and just that the fostering hand of the 
 General Government should extend to all those manu- 
 factures which will tend to national utility. * * * We 
 have been forced by necessity, and various other 
 causes, to increase our domestic manufactures to such a 
 degree as to be able to furnish some in sufiicient quan- 
 tities to answer the consumption of the whole Union, 
 while others are daily growing into importance. Our 
 stock of material is in many instances, equal to the 
 greatest demand, and our artisans sufficient to work 
 them up even for exportation. In these cases I take it
 
 12 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 to be the policy of every enlightened nation to give 
 their manufactures that degree of encouragement ne- 
 cessary to perfect them, without oppressing the other 
 parts of the community." 
 
 In a lucid, though somewhat timid manner, Madison, and 
 after him Boudinot, of New Jersey, remonstrated against acy 
 attempt to sacrifice the general welfare to local interests ; but 
 while emphasizing the superiority of agriculture over all other 
 material interests, the former admitted that " the States most 
 advanced in population, and ripe for manufactures, ought to 
 have their particular interests attended to in some degree," 
 Nothino; else was said against the enunciation of Protectionist 
 principles. It will readily be inferred that the advocates of 
 Protection had, thus early, the advantage of a plan of action, 
 of a fixed policy based on a knowledge and appreciation of the 
 wants of their respective localities and constituents. They 
 were, consequently, more direct and decided, less equivocal in 
 their arguments than those members who, for the want of in- 
 formation and experience, were neither prepared wholly to re- 
 ject, nor willing entirely to adopt the Protectionist idea ; yet 
 finally, as will be seen, acceded, reluctantly perhaps, to a tariff of 
 a decided Protectionist coloring. Nor do the preliminary argu- 
 ments, of which the foregoing is a very crude epitome, 
 contain anything warranting the supposition that the conces- 
 sions to local interests, foreshadowed in the last-quoted words 
 of Madison, would have been withheld, if the contemplation of 
 undefined dangers, which seemed to threaten the harmony and 
 hence the stability of the new government, had not produced 
 a feeling of timidity and a mutual inclination to temporize, 
 conciliate and mediate. On the contrary, it will be seen that 
 in few marked instances, even Madison, and others sharing 
 his views generally, advocated Protection from choice and 
 conviction, as, for example, in the case of 7naU liquors.
 
 CHAPTER I. 13 
 
 When on the third day of the discussion, the first article on 
 Madison's list, rum, came up for consideration (Sherman, of 
 New Jersey, having moved to fix the rate of duty at fifteen 
 cents per gallon), the discussion, which Smith, of Maryland, 
 initiated by a counter-proposition, was intercepted by Madi- 
 son's motion "that the Committee rise, in order to give 
 gentlemen time to make up their mincls respecting the 
 quantum of impost to be laid on each article. — Three days 
 intervened between this action and the resumption of debate 
 on the subject. Lawrence (N. T.) considered twelve cents a 
 sufficiently high duty on rum ; he feared that a higher rate 
 would prove " a strong temptation for smuggling," and thus 
 fail to attain its object. He said : 
 
 " I wish to lay as large a sum on this article as good policy 
 may deem expedient; it is an article of great con- 
 sumption, and though it cannot be reckoned a neces- 
 sary of life, yet it is in such general use, that it may be 
 expected to pay a very considerable sum into your 
 treasury. But, when we consider the relative propor- 
 tion of the first cost of it, and the fifteen cents duty, 
 we shall find it about one-third. This is too high, as 
 the risk of a total loss may be ventured in order to save 
 so great a sum." 
 
 Madison favored the higher rate, and adverted to popular 
 sentiment as approving of such measure ; an allusion which 
 Boudinot, of New Jersey, eagerly seized and dilated upon. 
 He stated that a high duty would answer two or three good 
 purposes, No article on the list, he thought, would yield so 
 large a revenue as this, and it might also tend to discourage 
 the use of ardent sj>irits. Moral considerations seem, however, 
 not to have been overwhelmingly potent with this legislator, 
 seeing that the third purpose which he thouglit a high duty
 
 14 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 could be made to serve, was the perfecting of our own distil- 
 leries by discouraging the "West Indies from turning their 
 molasses into rum, and compelling them to seek our market 
 for that product. His position, not particularly well defended 
 by sound logic, was assailed by Lawrence, who said : 
 
 " If we are to reason and act as moralists on this point, I 
 am certain it is the wish of every member to prevent 
 the use of ardent spirits altogether, for their influence 
 on the morals of the people is of the most pernicious 
 kind. Nor does the mischief terminate here, as I 
 apprehend it is equally destructive to the health ; but 
 we are not here to deliberate and determine on this 
 subject as moralists, but as politicians, and endeavor 
 to draw, (if I may use the expression) from the vices of 
 mankind that revenue which our citizens must, in one 
 form or other, contribute. * * * If we lay a high duty 
 on Jamaica rum, it is supposed it will prevent consump- 
 tion, but then the purpose we have in view is frustrated, 
 either because we cannot collect the tax or because the 
 object of it is no longer imported." 
 
 He again adverted to the danger of an evasion of the law 
 by smuggling, for which occupation our extensive and un- 
 guarded coast offered alluring temptation, as well as tlie con- 
 ditions of success. At the end of this brief discussion it was 
 agreed to tax ardent spirits, of Jamaica proof, fifteen cents ; 
 and all other spirituous liquors, twelve cents.* 
 
 So far the discussion had not elicited any very pointed 
 Protectionist argument ; but when Madison, asserting, by way 
 of preface, that he wished to protect our own manufacture as 
 much as possible, proposed to lay on molasses a duty of eight 
 
 * The rates ultimately adopted will be given hereafter.
 
 CHAPTEB I. 15 
 
 cents per gallon, the representatives of the Kew England 
 States promptly assumed the offensive in the interest of their 
 constituents, contending for a low duty, on the ground that the 
 contrary would involve the ruin of these States. The except- 
 ionally high duty proposed to be imposed on Jamaica rum was 
 to them a protective measure whose effectiveness would have 
 been seriously impaired, if not entirely neutralized, by a high 
 duty on West India molasses. Massachusetts then imported 
 annually between 30,000 and 40,000 hogshead of molasses, 
 obtained from the West Indies in exchange for the products of 
 the fisheries. A great quantity of this material was manu- 
 factured into rum, but no. inconsiderable portion of it entered, 
 in its original state, into the common diet of the people. The 
 latter circumstance gave the New England members an excel- 
 lent vantage-ground, and furnished them the means wherewith 
 to cloak the real animus of their opposition, had they elected 
 to do so, as they did not. Their avowed object was to protect 
 the rum distilleries at all hazards. Thatcher (Mass.) was the 
 only one who took a broad view of the temperance aspect of 
 the question. He said : " I presume a principal reason why a 
 high tax on spirits was admitted was in order to discourage the 
 use of it among ourselves. If this was the intention of the 
 committee, I have no objection to the burden ; but, even here, 
 I fear difficulties will arise. Did we judiciously examine 
 whether the spirit of the law accords with the habits and man- 
 ners of the people? and did we assure ourselves of the full 
 execution of the law ? If we have not, the act becomes impo- 
 litic, because a law which cannot be executed tends to make the 
 Government less respectable.'' Ames (Mass.) stated his ob- 
 jections in a speech which deserves to be reproduced in the 
 abridged form given in Benton's work : 
 
 " The principles on which this tax is founded, I understand to be this: 
 that it is an article of luxury, and of pretty general consumption, so that 
 the duty is expected to fall equally upon all, but that it will not operate in
 
 16 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 this manner, I ttink is easily demonstrable. Can a duty of fifty per cent. 
 ad valorem, paid, as it were, in an exclusive manner, by tbe State of Massa- 
 chusetts, be equal ? No, sir. But, taking it as a part of the general system 
 can it be equal unless a proportionable duty, equal to fifty per cent, is laid 
 upon articles consumed in other parts of the Union ? No, sir ; and is it in 
 contemplation of gentlemen to lay duties as high as to produce this equa- 
 lity ? I trust it is not ; because such duties could never be collected. Is not, 
 therefore, eight cents disproportioned to the rates fixed, or intended to be 
 imposed on other articles ? I think it is ; and, if to these considerations we 
 add what has been said before, relative to its being a raw material impor- 
 tant to a considerable manufacture, we cannot hesitate to reject it. How- 
 ever gentlemen may think the use of this article (rum) dangerous to the 
 health and morals of our fellow-citizens, I would also beg them to con- 
 sider, that it is no more so than any other kind of spirituous liquors, that it 
 will grow into an article for exportation ; and although I admit we could 
 export it even encumbered with the duty proposed, yet by it we run the 
 risk of having the manufacture totally ruined, for it can hardly now stand 
 a competition at home with West India rum, much less can it do so abroad. 
 If the manufacturers of country rum are to be devoted to certain ruin, to 
 mend the morals of others, let them be admonished that they prepare them, 
 selves for the event. If their situation will not operate to restrain the hand 
 of iron policy, consider how immediately they are connected with the most 
 essential interests of the Union, and then let us ask if it is wise, to take 
 measures subversive of your very existence. For I do contend that the 
 very existence of the Eastern States depends upon the navigation and fish- 
 ery, which receive a deadly wound by an excessive impost on the article 
 before us. I would concur in any measure calculated to exterminate the 
 poison covered under the form of ardent spirits, from our country ; but it 
 should be without violence. I approve as much as any gentleman the intro- 
 duction of malt liquors, believing them not so pernicious as those in common ^lse. 
 But before we restrain ourselves to the use of them, ice ought to he certain that 
 we have malt and hops, as well as brew-houses for their manufacture." 
 
 A slight concession, subsequently followed by a consider- 
 able reduction of the rate, was the result of this speech. The 
 duty on Madeira wine and other wines evoked no discussion 
 throwing any additional light on the subject, in either of the 
 two principal aspects l)efore-mentioned. A high duty on 
 Madeira was advocated, on the ground that it was an article of 
 luxury used exclusively by the rich.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 17 
 
 On the 15tli of April, the question being on inserting in 
 the list of dutiable articles heer, ale and porter, Fitzsimmons, 
 who had originally proposed such insertion, moved an alter- 
 ation in these objects, by distinguishing beer, ale and porter 
 imported in casks, from what was imported in bottles. He 
 urgently advocated the encouragement and protection of malt 
 liquors on moral grounds. " If," he said " the morals of the 
 people are to be improved by what enters into their diet, it 
 would be prudent in the National Legislature to encourage the 
 manufacture of malt liquors. The small protecting duties 
 laid in Pennsylvania had a great effect towards the establish- 
 ment of breweries ; they no longer imported this article, but 
 on the contrary exported considerable quantities, and in two, 
 three years, with further protection, would be able to furnish 
 enough for the whole consumption of the United States. He 
 moved that the duty be fixed at 9 cents per gallon. Lawrence^ 
 whose strictures and criticisms on high duties had, from the 
 beginning, placed him in an attitude of opposition to the wdiole 
 measure, wished to have American malt liquors strongly pro- 
 tected, on the ground that they were preferable to the English 
 product, and for the further reason that this manufacture would 
 add to the prosperity of domestic agriculture, as hops and bar- 
 ley were products of our soil. All those members, who partici- 
 pated in the debate, evinced the same inclination to protect 
 malt liquors, for moral and economic reasons ; but opinions 
 differed as to the expediency of the rate of duty named. Some 
 feared, that so high a duty, practically operating as a prohibi- 
 tion against foreign malt liquors, would give American brew- 
 ers a monopoly, and, by enhancing the price of the beverage, 
 increase the use of ardent spirits. To this objection was 
 opposed Sinnickson's (N. J.) argument that a prohibition of 
 foreign malt liquors would inevitably increase the domestic 
 manufacture of the article, and as inevitably lessen its price. 
 Madison, moving to lay a duty of eight cents on malt liquors.
 
 18 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 hoped " that this rate would he such an encourageTnent as to 
 induce the manufacture to take deep root in every State of the 
 Union." The striking unanimity of the members of Congress 
 on the subject of protecting this article precluded further 
 discussion. 
 
 In subsequent debates the objections urged against high 
 rates became more general, but preserved their original color- 
 ing, although the protective feature was no longer the principal 
 pivot of argument. The supposed difficulties in collecting 
 high rates, and the incentive they offered to evasions of the 
 law, were put forth as valid reasons against their adoption. 
 Great stress was laid on the alternative of tolerating such eva- 
 sions and suffering their consequences to the national treas- 
 sury, or of resorting to a system of collection which the people 
 would regard as oppressive, and hence resist. These objections 
 were met by a countervailing alternative, formulated by 
 Sherman, who thought that to reduce the proposed rates would 
 frustrate the object of raising an adequate amount of revenue 
 for the liquidation of the accumulated national obligations, 
 and the maintenance of the Government, and in that case it 
 would become necessary to supply the deficiency by direct tax- 
 ation. This touched a most vulnerable point in the legislative 
 and the popular mind. A deep-rooted aversion to direct taxes 
 seemed, at that time, absolutely to exclude the possibility of 
 having recourse to this method of raising revenue. When- 
 ever, in the devious course of the discussion, a casual allusion, 
 however slight, was made to any other mode of taxation than 
 the one under consideration, it instantly became evident that 
 a great majority of the members were unwilling even to enter- 
 tain any proposition tending in that direction. Yet, when the 
 motion to reduce the proposed duty on molasses was again 
 being considered, in its bearing on domestic distilleries, 
 fisheries and navigation, the New England members daunt- 
 lessly propounded the adoption of an excise on domestic rum.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 19 
 
 as a revenue-method holding out an offset to the probable 
 deficiency of national income, consequent upon the wished-for 
 lowering of the duty on molasses. Such was the potency 
 of the local interests in question, that their defenders felt 
 no hesitancy in suggesting this highly unpopular measure. 
 In one sense, their position was entirely logical however, 
 even if they only used it as a blind, depending for its 
 rejection upon the very unpopularity of it. Logical it was, 
 because all that had been said in reference to distilleries, from 
 a moral as well as from an economic point of view, could not 
 apply to imported molasses in the raw state, save on the 
 assumption that the entire quantity imported would be trans- 
 formed into rum. But inasmuch as this premise was 
 recognizedly untenable, it seemed but just to claim an exemp- 
 tion from the high tax for that portion of the imported 
 article consumed in its original state. 
 
 Yiewed in conjunction wnth what was predicted as to the 
 ruinous effect of a high tax on distilleries, the position seemed 
 not quite so well taken ; for, as Madison justly argued, to 
 resort to a low rate of impost on molasses, adding to it an 
 excise on domestic rum, would lay an equally heavy burden on 
 the distilleries — the only difi'erence being, that the tax would 
 be paid in two forms, instead of one. 
 
 After Ames and Goodhue had again stated the close con- 
 nection existing between the molasses trade and the fisheries, 
 Madison, who in this debate displayed all that keen penetration, 
 rapid comprehension and felicity of utterance which easily 
 won for him the leadership of the House, summed up the 
 counter-arguments in this forcible manner.* 
 
 " He tliought an excise very objectionable, but as no actual proposition 
 for entering into such a system was before the committee, he forbore to say 
 anything further about it. He admitted an excise would obviate in part 
 
 * These and all previous quotations are taken from Benton's " Abridg- 
 ment of the debates of Congress."
 
 20 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 some of the difSciilties, but Tie did not think the answer pfiven to his argu- 
 ment altogether satisfactory ; yet there was another argument he urged on 
 a former occasion remaining unanswered — it was, that at this moment the 
 fisheries, distilleries, and all their connections, were laboring under heavier 
 duties than what is now proposed ; true, the duty is collected in a different 
 mode, but affects the consumer in the same manner. The gentlemen have 
 said, to be sure, that the duty is evaded ; but if half is collected, it amounts 
 to more than six cents per gallon. It is said that a tax on molasses would 
 be unpopular, but not more so than a tax on salt. Can gentlemen state 
 more serious apprehensions in the former than the latter case ? Yet the com- 
 mittee did not forego a productive fund, because the article was a necessary 
 of life and in general consumption. If there is the disposition that is repre- 
 sented for people to complain of oppression of Government, have not the 
 citizens of the Southern States more j ust ground for complaint than others ? 
 The system can only be acceptable to them, because it is essentially neces- 
 sary to be adopted for the public good. Gentlemen argue that a tax on 
 molasses is unpopular, and prove it by experience under the British Govern- 
 ment. If this is to be adduced as a proof of the popularity of a measure, 
 what are we to say with respect to a tax on tea? Gentlemen remember, 
 no doubt, how odious this kind of tax was thought to be throughout Ame- 
 rica ; yet the House had, without hesitation, laid a considerable duty upon 
 it. He did not imagine that a duty on either of those articles was in itself 
 objectionable; it was the principle upon which the tax was laid that made 
 them unpopular under the British Government. 
 
 It is said that this tax is unjust : now he had not a single idea of 
 justice, that did not contradict the position. If it be considered as it relates 
 to rum, he was certain the consumers of foreign rum paid a larger propor- 
 tion of revenue into the Treasury than the consumers of country rum ; they 
 paid more than equal distribtitive justice required ; if it was considered as it 
 respected molasses, there would appear no injustice. Molasses was consumed 
 in other States ; but if it was not, sugar was used in its stead, and subjected to 
 a duty as high as that on molasses. But dismissing both these considerations^ 
 and even admitting the whole weight to fall ou the Northern States, it would 
 not be disproportioned, because, in the long list of enumerated articles 
 subject to a high duty, they import few or none ; indeed the articles were 
 pretty generally taxed for the benefit of the manufacturing part of the 
 uortbern community; see loaf sugar, candles, cheese, soap, &c. He hoped 
 gentlemen would not infer from this observation, that he thought the en- 
 couragement held out by the bill to manufacturers improper ; far from it ; 
 he was glad to see their growing consequences, and was disposed to give 
 them every aid in his power. From this view of the subject, he was inclined 
 to adhere to the bill, and not make any reduction."
 
 CHAPTEK I. 21 
 
 The discussion, so far as it throws any light ou the features 
 of the subject under consideration, practically ceased with 
 Madison's speech. After various amendments had been made, 
 and clauses added — among the latter, one limiting the opera- 
 tions of the law to the 1st day of June, 1796 — the bill was 
 sent to the Senate, and there read a first time on May 18th, 
 passing to a second reading on the 21st, and a third reading on 
 the 11th of June. On June 12th, the bill was returned to the 
 House with various amendments. For obvious reasons, the 
 literal text of the debates in the Senate cannot be given ; their 
 tenor, however, may readily be deduced from the character of 
 the amendments. The latter were principally based upon the 
 grounds maintained by the minority of the House. The 
 refusal of the House to concur in the amendments proposed 
 by the Senate, was met by the declaration of the latter body, 
 ' that the amendments would not be receded from. Both 
 branches of Congress insisting, with equal tenacity, on carrying 
 their points, the appointment of a committee of conference 
 was finally agreed upon ; and this committee reported, on the 
 27th of June, that the conference resulted in the adoption of 
 the bill as amended by the Senate, with some additional alter- 
 ations affecting, among other things, the rate of duty on 
 spirituous and malt liquors. The President approved the bill 
 on July dth. The rates of duty imposed by virtue of it upon 
 the articles of the liquor traflic were as follows : 
 
 Specifio Rates: 
 
 Ale, beer and porter, 5 cents per gallon ; and 20 cents per 
 dozen bottles. Cider, 20 cents per dozen bottles. 
 
 Malt, ten cents per bushel. Molasses, two and one-half 
 cents per gallon. Spirits, Jamaica, ten cents per gallon, and 
 all others eight cents. Madeira wine, eighteen cents per gal- 
 lon, and other wines, ten cents per gallon.
 
 22 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The following is the title, and the full text of the first 
 section, of the law. 
 
 AN ACT FOK LAYING A DUTY ON GOODS, WARES, AND MERCHANDISES 
 IMPOETED INTO THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Section I. Whereas it is necessary for the support of government, 
 for the discharge of the debts of the United States, and the encouragement 
 and protection of onanufactures, that duties be laid on goods, wares and 
 merchandise imported : 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
 United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the first 
 day of August next ensuing, the several duiies hereinafter mentioned shall 
 be laid on the following goods, wares and merchandise imported into the 
 United States from any foreign port or place, that is to say : on all distilled 
 spirits of Jamaica proof, imported from any kingdom or country whatso- 
 ever, per gallon, ten cents; on all other distilled spirits, per gallon, eight 
 cents ; on molasses, per gallon, two and a half cents ; on Madeira wine, per 
 gallon, eighteen cents ; on all other wines, per gallon, ten cents ; on every 
 gallon of beer, ale or porter in casks, five cents ; on all cider, beer, ale or 
 porter in bottles, per dozen, twenty cents ; on malt, per bushel, ten cents ; 
 on brown sugars, per pound, one cent; on loaf sugars, per pound, three 
 cents ; on all other sugars, per pound, one and a half cents ; on coffee, per 
 pound, two and a half cents ; on cocoa, per pound, one cent ; on all candles 
 of tallow, per pound, two cents ; on all candles of wax or spermaceti, per 
 pound, six cents; on cheese, per pound, four cents; on soap, per pound, two 
 cents ; on boots, per pair, fifty cents ; on all shoes, slippers or goloshes made 
 of leather, per pair, seven cents ; on all shoes or slippers made of silk or 
 stuff, per pair ten cents ; on cables, for every one hundred and twelve pounds, 
 seventy-five cents : on tarred cordage, for every one hundred and twelve 
 pounds, seventy-five cents ; on untarred cordage and yarn, for every one 
 hundred and twelve pounds, ninety cents ; on twine or pack thread, for every 
 ODe hundred and twelve pounds, two hundred cents ; on all steel un wrought, 
 for every one hundred and twelve pounds, fifty-six cents ; on all nails and 
 spikes, per pound, one cent ; on salt, per bushel, six cents ; on manufactured 
 tobacco, per pound, six cents ; on snuff, per pound, ten cents ; on indigo, per 
 pound, sixteen cents ; on coal, per bushel, two cents ; on pickled fish, per 
 barrel, seventy-five cents ; on dried fish, per quintal, fifty cents. On all teas 
 imported from China or India, in ships built in the United States, and belong- 
 ing to citizens thereof, or in ships or vessels built in foreign countries, and on 
 the sixteenth of May last, wholly the property of citizens of the United States 
 and so continuing until the time of importation as follows : on bohea tea, 
 
 ;4
 
 CHAPTER I. 23 
 
 per pound, sir cents ; on all souchong, or other black tea, per pound, ten 
 cents ; on all hyson teas, per pound, twenty cents ; on all other green teas, 
 per pound, twelve cents. On all teas imported from Europe in ships or ves- 
 sels built in the United States, and belonging wholly to a citizen or citizens 
 thereof, or in ships or vessels built in foreign countries, and on the sixteenth 
 of May last, wholly the property of citizens of the United States and 
 so continuintr until the time of importation, as follows : on bohea tea, 
 per pound, eight cents ; on all souchong, and other black teas, per pound, 
 thirteen cents; on all hyson teas, per pound, twenty six cents; on all other 
 green teas, per pound, sixteen cents. On all teas imported, in any other 
 manner as above mentioned, as follows : on bohea tea, per pound, fifteen 
 cents, on all souchong, or other black teas per pound, twenty-two cents; 
 on all hyson teas, per pound, forty cents, on all other green teas, per 
 pound, twenty-seven cents. On all goods, vfares and merchandises, other 
 than teas, imported from China or India, in ship not built in the United 
 States, and not wholly the property of citizens thereof, nor in vessels built in 
 foreign countries, and on the sixteenth of May last wholly the property of a 
 citizen or citizens of the United States, and so continuing until the time of 
 importation, twelve and a half per centum ad valorem. 
 
 TEN PER CENTUM AD VALOREM. 
 On all looking-glasses, windows and other glass (except black quart 
 bottles) ; on all china, stone and earthen ware ; on gun powder ; on all paints 
 ground in oil ; on shoe and knee buckles ; on gold and silver lace ; and on 
 gold and silver sheaf. 
 
 SEVEN AND A HALF PER CENTUM AD VALOREM. 
 
 On all blank books ; on all writing, printing or wrapper paper, paper 
 hangings and pasteboard ; on cabinet wares ; on buttons ; on all saddles ; 
 on all gloves of leather ; on all hats of beaver, fur wool, or mixture of either ; 
 on all millinery ready made ; on all castings of iron, and upon slit and rolled 
 iron ; on all leather tanned or tawed, and all manufactures of leather, except 
 such as sball otherwise be rated ; on canes, walking sticks and whips ; on 
 clothing ready made ; on all brushes ; on gold, silver, and plated vrare, and 
 on jewelry and paste work ; on anchorc*, and on all wrought, tin and pewter 
 ware. 
 
 On playing cards, per pack, ten cents. On every coach, chariot or 
 other lour wheel carriage, and on every chaise, solo, or other two wheel 
 carriage, or parts thereof, fifteen per cent, ad valorem. On all other goods, 
 wares and merchandise, five per cent on the value thereof at the time and 
 place of importation, except as follows : saltpetre, tin in pigs, tin plates, lead, 
 old pewter, brass, iron and brass wire, copper in plates, wool, cotton, dyeing
 
 24 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE TIISnTED STATES. 
 
 woods and dyeing drugs, raw hides, beaver and all other furs, and deer 
 Bkins. 
 
 The question of temperance, which formed a strong under- 
 current throughout the discussion on the subject of laying high 
 duties on spirituous and malt liquors, was presented in various 
 aspects, according to the conjunction in which it stood to the 
 principal issue. When arrayed against local interests, as in the 
 case of the New England States, it was promptly relegated, by 
 those immediately affected, to the domain of moral philosophy 
 and ethical speculation, as an uncommonly good thing in itself, 
 highly desirable wherever attainable, without detriment to 
 material interests ; but scarcely worthy of serious considera- 
 tion, where the raising of revenue and the protection of exist- 
 ing industries dictated a contrary course. But even in these 
 cases there was rare unanimity of opinion as to one of the reme- 
 dies, propositionally and positively recommended, and ulti- 
 mately adopted. The true status of the question needs some 
 elucidation. 
 
 The historian Hildreth, in reviewing the foregoing debates, 
 says : 
 
 The great evils attending the free use of ardent spirits had 
 already attracted public attention. A tract on this 
 subject by Dr. Kush had lately been republished in 
 almost all American papers, and had made a strong im- 
 pression on the public mind. At the federal festival at 
 Philadelphia (held on July 4, 1788, celebrating the 
 ratification of the new Constitution by ten States,) 
 ardent spirits had been excluded, American beer and 
 cider being the only liquors used." * 
 
 This laconic reference clearly points out both the evil and 
 the remedy, as understood by all those members of Congress, 
 whose speeches are herein quoted ; but a closer examination 
 
 * " The History of the United States of America," Vol. IV.,. page 69.
 
 CHAPTER I. 25 
 
 will be necessary to a full understanding of the question. — The 
 consumption of ardent spirits had assumed almost incredible 
 proportions ; the use of whiskey and rum had become so com- 
 mon that these articles were almost universally regarded as 
 necessaries of life. According to an estimate, the correctness 
 of which the reader will have an opportunity of testing hereafter, 
 the per capita consumption at that time appears to have been 
 between twelve and thirteen quarts, annually. Tlie actual 
 consumptiou eludes computation ; but this estimate, it is justi- 
 fiably assumed, falls below, ratlier than above the true figure. 
 Almost every farmer, in some States, manufactured his own 
 whiskey, not only from the surplus of his cereal produce over 
 and above the marketable portion, but frequently from all 
 that part for which, either in the raw state, or manufactured 
 into flour, a ready market could have been found, jind this is 
 not inexplicable when it is considered that ardent spirits had 
 in some States become a measure of value, in lieu of currency, 
 being accepted, for example, without reluctance, as remunera- 
 tion for agricultural labor. Indeed, distillation had become an 
 almost indispensable adjunct of agriculture in grain-growing 
 localities; the condition of things growing out of this combi- 
 nation resembling strikingly the situation which was produced 
 in Sweden, at about the same time (1787), when every family 
 was given the right to distill liquors for home consumption.^ 
 Distillation afforded many pecuniary advantages. Coxe states, 
 that from a bushel of rye two gallons of spirits could be 
 extracted and brought to market, where it realized for the farmer 
 two-thirds of a dollar at less expense than if the same quantity 
 of grain had been manufactured into flour and carted to the 
 same place for sale.f The fisheries and navigation of the New 
 
 * See " Real and Imaginary Effects of Intemperance," by G. Thomann, 
 New York, 1884 ; page 93. 
 
 f " View of the United States ; " page 124.
 
 26 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 England States were — as has been learned from tlie debates in 
 Congress — but the superstructure erected npon the basis of 
 molasses ; and, whatever Ames and his colleagues may have 
 said of the consumption of this article in the raw state, it is 
 not difficult to understand that advantages, similar to those 
 favoring distillation in grain-growing localities, also operated 
 to increase the manufacture of ardent spirits in the JSTew 
 England States. — In Pennsylvania the consumption of whiskey 
 must have been prodigious, there having been, in 1790, no less 
 than five thousand stills in operation. The census of 1790 
 places this State's entire population at 4-34,373 ; at a rough 
 estimate, then, there was one still for every eighty-six of the 
 inhabitants, man woman and child. Excesses, of which the 
 present generation, trained to comparative sobriety, have no 
 adequate conception, naturally followed such drinking habits 
 and tended to arouse the darkest apprehensions in the minds of 
 the more enlightened citizens of Pennsylvania, particularly 
 of the city of Philadelphia — then the centre of humane thought 
 and philanthropic aspirations. A rational temperance move- 
 ment aiming, not at the destruction of the distilleries and the 
 total abandonment of spirituous liquors, but at a refinement of 
 drinking habits, was inaugurated long before the assembling 
 of tlie first Congress, and its advocates and promoters had, at 
 the period now under consideration, already acquired, by study, 
 observation and experience, a very clear conception of the 
 means necessary to the consummation of their object. The 
 nature of this means cropped out at every stage of the Con- 
 gressional debate on the subject of imposts, and the unanimity 
 with which it was approved and adopted by members of Con- 
 gress, shows that the public mind had been thoroughly imbued 
 with a sense of its importance and effectiveness. This was, it 
 need scarcely be said after all the quotations on the subject, the 
 effort to create and cultivate a taste for malt liquors, and to 
 substitute these, so far the climate of the various localities, the
 
 CHAPTER I. "• 
 
 mode of life and occupation of the people would permit, for 
 
 ardent spirits. 
 
 Dr. Benjamin Rush, physician, moralist, philosopher, 
 essayist, politician and orator; at one time professor of medi- 
 cine and clinical practice at the University of Pennsylvania; 
 a savant whose writings are even to this day quoted by tem- 
 perance advocates, believed, as did the majority of his cultured 
 contemporaries, that the true solution of the question lay m 
 encouraging the brewing industry. In his essays on the effects 
 of the excessive use of alcohol on the human body, this idea 
 stands out in bold relief; but it is also easily traceable in all 
 those didactic writings, by which he strove to mould popular 
 thought in matters relating to individual happiness and general 
 prosperity, as, for example, in his " Account of the manners of 
 the German inhabitants of Pennsylvania." This valuable 
 paper is prefaced with the following words : 
 
 " The State of Pennsylvania is so much indebted for her 
 prosperity and reputation to the German part of her 
 citizens that a short account of their manners may, per- 
 haps, be useful and agreeable to their fellow-citizens in 
 every part of the United States." 
 
 Dwelling briefly on the origin of German immigration, he 
 proceeds to a description of those characteristics in which the 
 German farmers differed from most other farmers of Pennsyl- 
 vania. He praises their frugality and economy, their habits 
 and love of labor ; holds up for emulation the almost tender 
 care they take of their horses and cattle ; describes minutely 
 the splendid condition in which they maintain their farms, gar- 
 dens and buildings ; the economy they practice in the disposi- 
 tion of their products ; their methodical cultivation of the soil ; 
 the division of labor on their farms; the charming concord 
 prevailing in their families ; their aptitude for music ; their 
 piety and rectitude ; their love of civic liberty, and the pride
 
 28 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 they take in the propagation of their kind.* And, as if to furnish 
 a key to all these traits, he states, in describing these peoples' 
 diet : " Yeiy few of them ever use distilled spirits in their 
 families, their common drink being leer^ wine and ciderP 
 Dr. Rush closed his essay with an eloquent apostrophe to the 
 citizens of the Union, the legislators of Pennsylvania and the 
 law-makers of the United States, to the latter of whom he 
 addressed the following words : 
 
 " Legislators of the United States, learn from the wealth 
 and independence of the German inhabitants of Penn- 
 sylvania to encourage, by your examples and laws, 
 the republican virtues of frugality and economy. They 
 are the only pillars which can support the present Con- 
 stitution of the United States." 
 
 Contrasting Rush's description of the manners of these 
 people with what was said in reference to the general drink- 
 ing habits and their results, it is not difficult to comprehend 
 the objective point of the essay quoted. 
 
 The moral and economic aspect of this temperance movement 
 becomes still more manifest in the writings of Tench Coxe. His 
 views on the expediency of creating and fostering breweries 
 coincided with the opinions of a great majority of the members 
 of the first Congress : 
 
 " The encouragement to agriculture," he says, in his essay 
 before quoted, " afforded by seme manufactories, is a 
 reason of solid weight in favor of carrying them on with 
 industry and spirit. Malt liquors, if generally used, 
 linseed oil, starch (and, were they not a poison to our 
 morals and constitution, we might add grain spirits,) 
 
 * Had a German written sucli an essay, he would be liable to the impu- 
 tation of an excess of national pride, and the author of this book, himself a 
 German, would scarcely have found the courage to quote him.
 
 CHAPTER I. 29 
 
 would require more grain to make tliem, than has been 
 exported in any year since the revolution. We cannot 
 omit to observe here, that beer strengthens the arm of 
 the laborer without debauching him, while the noxious 
 drink now used enervates and corrupts him." 
 
 He styles beer " the best of our commodities," and urges 
 upon farmers the advantages held out to them by the cultiva- 
 tion of hops and barley ; but, though he consistently keeps in 
 the foreground the economic interrelation between agriculture 
 and the various manufactures mentioned, basing thereon his 
 advocacy of moderately protective measures, he emphasizes 
 again and again, with unusual ardor and force, the advisability 
 of generally introducing malt liquors, upon purely moral 
 grounds. 
 
 This leading idea of temperance advocates had already 
 borne appreciable fruit, when Congress devoted some attention 
 to the matter. The local authorities had in some cases acted 
 upon it, with wisdom and judicious discrimination, and to 
 their action and the refining influence of increasing intellec- 
 tual activity must be attributed the flourishing condition of 
 the brewing industry of Pennsylvania, as before described in 
 the words of one of the Congressional representatives of this 
 State. So evident, indeed, were the results of a rational 
 exercise of moral suasion and judicious laws — unaided by any- 
 thing resembling, in the remotest, an intermeddling with 
 private rights, that Coxe found in the actual state of things 
 sufficient warrant for the statement, that 
 
 " it may be considered a fact strongly in favor of the in- 
 dustry, sobriety and tranquility of the city of Phila- 
 delphia that its breweries exceed, in the quantity of 
 their manufactured liquors, those of all the sea-ports of 
 the United States."
 
 30 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 And again : 
 
 " The superior virtue, both moral and political, of a country 
 which consumes malt liquors instead of distilled spirits, 
 needs only to be mentioned." 
 
 It has been observed that in addition to economic consid- 
 erations, and those of a moral nature, there is plainly discernible 
 in the Congressional debates and other public utterances, what 
 one might be tempted to regard as a patriotic motive, tending 
 to a preference of American malt liquors over English beer, 
 ale and porter. In reality this motive partakes more of a 
 sanitary, than a patriotic character. 
 
 The fiscal policy, which unfortunately transformed the 
 drinking habits of the English people, had reached its climax 
 at the very period when the necessity for a contrary course 
 became manifest in the United States ; in fact, the decline of 
 the English taste for malt liquors is coeval with its comparatively 
 vigorous rise and development here. From 1760 to 1803 malt 
 and hops were so heavily taxed in England, that they naturally 
 ceased to form the essential ingredients of the beverage then 
 offered for sale, under the alluring name of malt liquors ; and 
 the adulterations of the article, overstepping the limits of the 
 average human stomach's forbearance, drove people from the 
 use of that drink. As a consequence, great dissatisfaction pre- 
 vailed throughout the three kingdoms. The Enghsh brewers 
 were made the butt of much abuse and sarcasm.* 
 
 * "The tax on beer, early in the reign (George III.) had greatly exas- 
 perated the mob. The Royal Magazine tells that while their Majesties were 
 at Drury Lane Theatre, to see the Winter's Tale, as Qarrick was repeating 
 
 the lines : 
 
 • For you, my hearts of oak, for your regale, 
 Here's good old English stingo, mild and stale,' 
 
 a fellow cried out of the gallery : ' At threepence a pot. Master Garrick, or 
 confusion to the brewers ! ' 
 
 Imposts on malt were continually brought forward. The brewers as
 
 CHAPTER I. ^1 
 
 Strange it would have been, indeed, had this state of things 
 escaped the observation of American patrons of English malt 
 liquors, or failed to bring about, in some degree, a revulsion 
 of the prejudice in favor of that article. Naturally, American 
 beer was* given the preference, and deservedly, too, as the 
 article manufactured here possessed all the qualities of good 
 and pure English ales of the old standard, and none of the 
 abominable qualities of the later decoctions. The best proof 
 of this is in the fact, that, as early as 1790, Calcutta mer- 
 chants—as James Mease tells us in his " Picture of Phila- 
 delphia," published in 1810— having tasted American porter, 
 and found it to be a wholesome, pure drink, able to bear the 
 climate, ordered large quantities of it, in preference to the 
 stuff they had been accustomed to import from England. 
 
 With these facts before him, the reader can not find it 
 difficult either to draw his own, or fully understand our, con- 
 clusions as to the spirit of the first revenue law, in its bearing 
 on the liquor traffic. 
 
 Specific duties upon spirituous liquors were adopted, first, 
 because their general consumption offered a strong guarantee 
 for their becoming a lucrative source of revenue ; and, secondly, 
 because, for moral reasons, popular sentiment seemed to exact 
 them. But the force of either of these reasons, logically con- 
 sidered, must more or less attenuate that of the other, because 
 they are based on opposite assumptions. The efficacy of the 
 
 well as their clients were wild. Mr. Whitbread inveighed on one occasion 
 against the Ministry for laying a war tax upon malt. Sheridan, who was 
 present, extemporized the following lines : 
 
 ' They've raised the price of table drink ; 
 What is the reason, do you think ? 
 The tax on malt 's the cause, I hear — 
 But what has malt lo do with beer?" 
 {Nineteen Centtt.-y.H of Drink in England by V. FrenchX
 
 32 LIQrOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 duties in the one case, must necessarily be proportionate to 
 their insufficiency in the other. The economist calculated 
 upon a large consumption ; the moralist, on the contrary, on a 
 discouragement of the use of ardent spirits. Both masters 
 could not be served in an equally efficient manner ; for what- 
 ever was to be a gain to the treasury must inevitably be a loss 
 to morality. But even this is not yet an entirely correct state- 
 ment of the case ; for, under the system adopted, it might 
 occur — and did — that neither the fiscal nor the moral objects 
 would be attained. Comparatively high duties might operate 
 as a check on the importation of liquors, and tliat would be a 
 loss to the treasury ; — yet morality need not necessarily gain 
 anything by it, since the check on the importation must un- 
 avoidably act as a correspondingly effective impetus to domestic 
 manufacture. The contemplation of the latter contingency 
 must naturally have suggested to the minds of the law-makers 
 the necessity of resorting, in the near future, to an excise on 
 distilled spirits; and the countervailing benefits to agriculture, 
 anticipated in that case, may have silenced other remon- 
 strances. 
 
 Protection, though strongly recommended as a helpmate to 
 agriculture, was held subordinate to fiscal and moral considera- 
 tions, save in the case of the distilleries of the New England 
 States. The representatives of these States, while acknow- 
 ledging the force of the ethical arguments, and admitting, as 
 Ames did repeatedly, that a partial substitution of malt liquors 
 would bring about a much-desired change of the general drink- 
 ing habits and their results, insisted, very properly, that the 
 moral aspect of their case should not prevail against its 
 material requirements, when it was known beforehand that a 
 contrary course would involve the welfare of a large part of 
 the population. Here, the idea of protecting the domestic 
 product overbalanced all other considerations. 
 
 On general principles, then, the members of the first Con-
 
 CHAPTER I. 33 
 
 gress admitted the desirability of diminishing the use of ardent 
 spirits, but seeing the impossibility of realizing this desidera- 
 tum, by the legislative enactments ])roposed, they agreed to 
 draw from the vicious indulgence of a human craving the 
 greatest attainable pecuniary and economic advantage. 
 
 An impost was placed on malt liquors for the express and 
 sole purpose, and with the distinctly avowed intention, of en- 
 couraging and protecting domestic breweries, partly on account 
 of the advantages offered by this manufacture to agriculture, 
 but primarily and principally because it was universally con- 
 ceived to be a moral corrective of great force ; the only means 
 by which the desideratum before-mentioned could be realized. 
 Breweries were, by legal measures, to he forced into existence, 
 encouraged, fostered and nurtured, so that their product, by 
 its abundance, cheapness and quality, could become the com- 
 mon drink of the people.— This was the intention of that 
 generation of law-makers, whom we of the present day look 
 up to with reverence and grateful admiration, as to the founders 
 of our civic happiness and material prosperity. And it is 
 well to keep in view this indisputable historical fact, as, in the 
 light of subsequent events and the present state of things, it 
 serves as a gauge of the far-seeing wisdom, sound judgment 
 and keen penetration of those legislators; and shows, by con- 
 trast, the perniciousness of measures advocated in our day — 
 measures which, wherever adopted, have completely withered 
 the inestimable fruits of temperance matured under the opera- 
 tion of wise laws.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 product of the import duties under the precedlng act. 
 additional revenue necessary. hamilton's proposi- 
 tions, increase of specific duties, and introduction 
 of internal taxes on distilled spirits recommended. 
 Hamilton's views on the desirability of encouraging 
 
 THE manufacture OF MALT LIQUORS, FOR MORAL REASONS. 
 
 the work of the second session of congress, rejection 
 OF excise system, enactment of laws increasing im- 
 port duties, and regulating collection thereof. 
 Hamilton's revenue propositions again discussed in 
 next session of congress, opposition to excise system 
 by southern members, grounds of opposition, enact- 
 ment OF law imposing additional duties on imported, 
 and excise duties on domestic spirits, conclusion as 
 
 TO THE spirit OF THESE LAWS. 
 
 The act layinor duties on imported goods, wares and mer- 
 chandise was almost immediately followed by an act to 
 regulate the collection of duties (approved July 30, 1789j, 
 establishing collection districts ; designating ports of entry 
 and delivery, and prescribing the mode of collection. In all 
 fifty-nine collection districts were established, of which IS^ew 
 Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Delaware formed one each, 
 while in Massachusetts there were twenty districts ; in Con- 
 necticut, three ; in !N^ew York, two ; in New Jersey, three ; in 
 Maryland, nine ; in Virginia, twelve ; in South Carolina, three, 
 and in Georgia, four. North Carolina and Rhode Island, not 
 having ratified the Constitution, were necessarily excluded for 
 a time from the operation of this law, and, in some respects,
 
 CHAPTER II. ^«^ 
 
 Stood to the United States in the same relation as any foreign 
 country. Thns, for example, an act, approved September 
 16th, 1789, provides that " all rum, loaf sugar, and chocolate 
 manufactured or made in the States of North Carolina, or 
 Khode Island and Providence Plantation, and imported into 
 the United States, shall be subject to the like duties, as goods 
 of the like kinds, imported from any state, kingdom or coun- 
 try, are made subject to." * 
 
 The custom houses in the several States were not organ- 
 ized till at different periods, from the fifth of August to 
 sometime in September, f and even then the machinery of 
 collection could not be said to be in perfect working order. 
 Hence the result of the operation of the law during the 
 remainder of the year cannot be depended upon as a safe cri- 
 terion of the pecuniary productiveness of the duties. Under 
 date of March 4th, 1790, the Secretary of the Treasury 
 reported that the net revenue from imposts and tonnage, from 
 the 11th of August to the 31st of December, 1789, amounted 
 to $788,797.40. A large part of this sum was derived from 
 the duties on malt licpiors and distilled spirits.:{: From the 1st 
 of October, 1789, to the 30th of September, 1790, the gross 
 product of the duties on imports amounted to $2,130,224. ; 
 the net amount, minus discount, drawbacks and expense of col- 
 lection, being $1,903,709. According to the official exhibit 
 of imports (see appendix) there were imported in the period 
 
 * In his tour of the Eastern States, after tlie adjournment of the first 
 eeasion of Congress, Washington purposely avoided Rhode Island. (See 
 Hildreth.Vol. IV., p. 149.) 
 
 f Hamilion's report to the House of Representatives, April 22, 1790. 
 
 t The tables of Exports and Imports contained in the appendix to this 
 book, be:in with the year 1790. For their compilation, which required 
 great pkill and attention, I am indebted to the kindness of my friend Mr. 
 W. Burchard, a staiisticiau of large experience.
 
 36 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 named : 90,813 gallons and 18,997 dozen bottles of beer, ale 
 and porter ; 3,8-l-l,411 gallons of spirits ; 271,007 gallons of 
 Madeira Wine, and 616,751 gallons of other wine ; the dnty 
 on these imports yielding a gross revenue of over half a mil- 
 lion dollars. If the net amount of the revenue obtained under 
 the operation of the tariff act of July 4, 1789, be placed 
 opposite the sum necessary for the maintenance of government 
 and the payment of the annual interest on the public debt — 
 both items amounting in the aggregate to $2,839,163 — it will 
 be understood that an increase of means of revenue was un- 
 avoidable. Hamilton, in his report of the 14tli of January, 
 1790, and again in his communication to the House of Kepre- 
 sentatives, dated March 4tli, 1790, recommended an increase 
 of the specific duties on imported spirituous liquors, and the 
 introduction of a system of internal revenue. In the former 
 report he says, dealing exclusively with wines, spirituous 
 liquors, tea and coffee as objects of additional taxation : 
 
 " That the articles which have been enumerated, will, better 
 than most others, bear high duties, can hardly be a ques- 
 tion. They are, all of them, in reality, luxuries ; some of 
 them, in the extent in which they are used, pernicious 
 luxuries. And there is, perhaps, none of them, which is 
 not consumed in so great abundance, as may justly denomi- 
 nate it a cause of national extravagance and impoverish- 
 ment. The consumption of ardent spirits, particularly, 
 no doubt very much on account of their cheapness, is 
 carried to an extreme which is truly to be regretted, as 
 well in regard to the health and morals, as to the economy 
 of the community. — Should the increase of duties tend 
 to a decrease of consumption of those articles, the effect 
 would be, in every way, desirable. The saving which it 
 would occasion would leave individuals more at their ease, 
 and promote a favorable bahince of trade. As far as this
 
 CHAPTER II. 37 
 
 decrease might l:>e applicable to distilled spirits, it woiild 
 encourage the suhstitution of cider and malt li<iuors^ 
 benefit agriculture, a7id open a new and productive source 
 of revenue y 
 
 It required a degree of moral intrepidity commensurate 
 with the many eminent qualities of Hamilton's mind and 
 character, to recommend the adoption of a policy which, in 
 the first session of Congress, was repeatedly rejected, although 
 neither formally offered for consideration, nor directly dis- 
 cussed. In the face of previous Congressional debates on the 
 subject, he could not ignore the unpopularity of the 
 measures he proposed, nor is it probable that he failed to see 
 how, in heeding the sacred voice of duty and obeying the 
 dictates of necessity, he gave his opponents an enticing oppor- 
 tunity of posing as champions of the people's rights — an oppor- 
 tunity of which it was to be feared they would but too gladly 
 avail themselves, at his expense. An easy matter under then 
 existing circumstances ! The American people had not yet 
 become fully habituated to their sovereignty ; they, in some 
 measure, still looked upon the General Government as some- 
 thing above and outside of themselves, more or less antagonistic 
 to their rights. And of these rights they were equally as 
 jealous, as they had shown themselves capable of vindicating 
 them. Owing to the methods of collection by which excises 
 were usually rendered effective, these measures were generally 
 regarded as oppressive ; and the same was thought of any system 
 that could have been proposed in prevention of smuggling ; so 
 that the propounder of such measures must as inevitably be- 
 come a victim of public animosity, as the opponent an object 
 of admiration. That Hamilton was fully aware of this fact, 
 appears from his sagacious anticipation of the most telling 
 objections to high duties — so far as they related to the danger 
 of inviting evasions of the law — and to an excise system. In
 
 38 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 his propositions relative to the public credit, advocating the 
 loan of various sums of money sufficient to discharge the 
 arrears of interest and to meet the obligations to be incurred 
 by the assumption of the state debts, and laying out a plan 
 for obtaining revenue for the payment of current obligations 
 and expenses, he showed himself completely master of the 
 financial situation ; and, though his advice was, in some of its 
 essential features, disregarded at first, he had the satisfaction, 
 a year later, of seeing the majority of Congress converted to 
 his views. In his allusion to the general drift of public sen- 
 timent regarding the abuse of spirituous liquors, he exhibited 
 that spirit of moderation and tolerance which distinguish all 
 his utterances and actions. Like Dr. Rush, the great temper- 
 ance advocate of thoje days,* he was opposed, not to the 
 moderate use, but to the vicious abuse of distilled spirits, and, 
 convinced of the impossibility of summarily obliterating the 
 evil of excess, deeply rooted in the habits of the people, he, 
 with the majority of his enlightened contemporaries, conceived 
 the idea of gradually undermining the habit by the introduc- 
 tion of a mild stimulant, invigorating the mind and strengthen- 
 ing the body. 
 
 That part of his revenue propositions which relates to the 
 objects under present consideration, was sub-divided, as has 
 been stated, into increased import duties and an excise on 
 distilled spirits. The import duties were to be : on Madeira 
 wine, thirty cents per gallon ; on sherry, 25 cents; on other 
 wines, twenty cents ; distilled spirits from twenty to forty 
 
 * Nothing can be less justifiable than an attempt to corroborate, by- 
 reference to this author, the assertion that ardent spirits were at that period 
 regarded as poison. Dr. Rush, in his " Account of the life and death of 
 Edward Drinker" says approvingly : " The time and manner in which he 
 used spirituous liquors, I believe, contributed to lighten the weight of his 
 years, and probably to prolong his life. Give wine to him that is of a 
 heavy heart, and strong drink to him that is ready to perish."
 
 CHAPTER n. 39 
 
 cents per gallon, according to their per cent below or above a 
 o-iveu proof. The internal taxes were to be from eleven to 
 thirty cents per gallon, on spirits manufactured from molasses 
 and other foreign material ; and from ten to twenty-five cents 
 per gallon, on spirits distilled from domestic products ; — the 
 rate of tax to be determined, as in the former case, by the 
 alcoholic strength of these liquors. Spirits distilled outside 
 of cities, towns and villages were to be taxed at the rate 
 of sixty cents annually for every gallon of the capacity of 
 each still. 
 
 During the second session — lasting from January 4th to 
 August 12th, 1790 — the attention of the House of Kepresen- 
 tatives was so monopolized by the funding scheme, the proposed 
 assumption of the State debts and the bill fixing the perma- 
 nent seat of Government, that, beside the former propositions, 
 little else of Hamilton's report reached a stage favorable to a 
 thorough ventilation and dispassionate consideration. With 
 his recommendation to assume the debts of the States, Hamil- 
 ton had thrown the firebrand of discord into the House. The 
 waves of sectionalism ran high, dashing furiously against the 
 frail structure of harmony which the mediatory spirit of the 
 preceding session had erected ; and it was only by a compro- 
 mise, effected at the eleventh hour, that a danger could be 
 averted which seemed to threaten the very existence of govern- 
 ment The bill fixing the permanent seat of government 
 ofifered a basis for this compromise. The Southern members 
 wished to have the national capital on the banks of the Poto- 
 mac (the bill was so worded) ; the members from the Eastern 
 and Middle States were for the Susquehanna ; the latter mem- 
 bers for, the former against the assumption of the State debts. 
 " Each measure," says Benton, " failed by small majorities ; 
 both were afterwards passed. Two members from the Potomac, 
 who had voted against assumption, agreed to change their 
 votes ; a few from the Eastern and Middle States, who had
 
 40 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 voted against the Potomac, agreed to change in its favor, and 
 80 the two measures passed."* 
 
 The wrangling in the House only terminated with the close 
 of the session ; and it is owing to this dangerous dispute that 
 the essential features of Hamilton's revenue propositions failed 
 to obtain mature consideration ; while his excise plan was 
 rejected. 
 
 In addition to an act " to provide more effectually for the 
 collection of duties " — embracing a few of the many correct- 
 ives for the shortcomings pointed out by Hamilton as impedi- 
 ments in the way of realizing the object of the act of 1789, 
 and extending also to Rhode Island and North Carolina, who 
 had in the meantine ratified the Constitution — a bill was passed 
 in this session, and approved August 10th, 1790, increasing the 
 specific and ad valorem duties on articles imported into the 
 United States ; but only partly on the scale recommended by 
 the Secretary of the Treasury. The Senate, who in the pre- 
 vious session had sided with the minority of the House in 
 reducing the rates, now pursued the opposite course, encour- 
 aged, no doubt, by the strong indications of the groundlessness 
 of the apprehensions regarding smuggling. An appreciable 
 increase of revenue — though not as large as recommended — 
 was thereby effected. The duties laid by this act on wines, 
 distilled spirits, malt liquors, malt and molasses were as 
 follows : 
 
 On Madeira wine of the quality of London particular, per 
 gallon, thirty-five cents ; other Madeira wine, per gallon, 
 thirty cents; on sherry wine, per gallon, twenty-five 
 cents ; other wines, per gallon, twenty cents; on distilled 
 spirits, of more than ten per cent below proof, twelve 
 cents ; if more than five, and not more than ten per cent. 
 
 * See Hildreth's History, Vol. IV., p. 210 ; and Benton's Abridgement, 
 &c., Vol. I, foot-note page 250.
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 41 
 
 below proof, per gallon, twelve and one half cents ; if of 
 proof, and not more than five per cent, below proof, per 
 gallon, thirteen cents ; if above proof, but not exceeding 
 twenty per cent., per gallon, fifteen cents; it' more than 
 twenty, and not more than forty per cent, above proof, 
 per gallon, twenty cents; if more than forty per cent, 
 above proof, per gallon, twenty-five cents. 
 On beer, ale and porter in casks, per gallon, five cents ; in 
 bottles, per dozen, twenty cents. 
 On molasses, per gallon, three cents. 
 On malt, per bushel, ten cents. 
 
 The law to provide more effectually for the collection of 
 duties was partially based on the views of Hamilton, who 
 believed that the only expedient of conciliating high duties 
 with a safe collection was the establishment of a second or 
 interior scrutiny. The re-districting of States— now including 
 Khode Island and i^orth Carolina— was also effected by this 
 law. Thus, it will be seen, that the most important revenue 
 measures, submitted at the beginning of the session, were 
 ignored, while the causes which had dictated them were 
 increased in magnitude and multiplied in form. Under such 
 circumstances, the logic of events could not fail to compel the 
 ultimate sanction of the modes and extent of taxation pre- 
 viously described, and it was to be foreseen that the insuffi- 
 ciency of existing laws would lay bare the untenableness of 
 the position of those law-makers who opposed high duties from 
 a fear of evasions of the law, yet were adverse to measures for 
 the prevention of smuggling ; and opposed excises quite as 
 strenously as they objected to high duties. Where else was 
 the requisite revenue to come from, unless direct taxation 
 should be resorted to, which was equally abominable in the 
 eyes of those legislators? 
 
 A few days after the opening of the third session, (Decem- 
 ber 4, 1790), Hamilton renewed his propositions in relation to
 
 42 
 
 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 an increase of the import duties, and the laying of internal 
 duties on distilled spirits, recommending that the net product 
 of these duties be applied to the payment of the annual 
 interest upon the amount of the assumed State debts."^ He 
 proposed the following additions to the import duties on dis- 
 tilled spirits, which are specified in the Act of August 
 10, 1790. 
 
 On those of the first class of proof, per gallon, eight cents. 
 " " second " " " eight and a half cts. 
 
 " " third " " " nine cents. 
 
 " " fourth " " " ten cents. 
 
 " " fifth " " " eleven cents. 
 
 " " sixth " " " fifteen cents. 
 
 Furthermore, he proposed the following taxes on spirits 
 distilled in the United States, namely : 
 
 If from molasses, sugar, or other foreign material, and 
 
 Of the first class of proof, per gallon, 
 " second " " " 
 
 " third '• " " 
 
 " fourth " " " 
 
 " fifth " " " 
 
 " sixth " " " 
 
 eleven cents, 
 twelve cents, 
 thirteen cents. 
 fifteen cents. 
 twenty cents, 
 thirty cents. 
 
 * These debts amounted to $21,000,000. the amount of interest thereon 
 to $788,333.33. The assumed debts of the various States were as 
 follows • 
 
 New Hampshire $300,000 
 
 Massachusetts 4,000,000 
 
 Rhode Island. . . 200,000 
 
 Connecticut 1,600,000 
 
 New York 1 ,200,000 
 
 New Jersey 800,000 
 
 Pennsylvania 2,200,000 
 
 Delaware 200,000 
 
 Maryland 800,000 
 
 Virg-inia 3,200,000 
 
 North Carolina 2,200,000 
 
 South Carolina 4,000,000 
 
 Georgia 300,000
 
 CHAPTER n. ^3 
 
 If from materials of the growth and production of the 
 United States, and 
 
 Of the first class of proof, per gallon, 
 " second " " 
 
 " third 
 
 " fourth " " 
 
 " fifth " " 
 
 " sixth " " 
 
 nine cents. 
 
 ten " 
 
 eleven " 
 
 . thirteen '* 
 
 seventeen " 
 
 twenty-five " 
 
 The oft-described apprehensions on account of the evasions 
 of the law, to which high duties were supposed to give rise, 
 were anticipated by Hamilton in these words : 
 
 " The expediency of improving the resource of distilled 
 spirits, as an article of revenue, to the greatest practicable 
 extent, has been noticed upon another occasion. There is 
 scarcely an attitude in which the object can present itself, 
 which does not invite, by all the inducements of sound policy 
 and public good, to take a strong and effectual hold of it.— 
 The mode of collection appears the only point about which a 
 difficulty or question can arise. The Secretary begs leave to 
 remark, that there appear to him two leading principles, one 
 or the other of which must characterize whatever plan may 
 be adopted. One of them makes the security of the revenue 
 to depend chiefly on the vigilance of t\ie public officers. The 
 other rests essentially on the integrity of individuals inter- 
 ested to avoid the payment of it. * * * The oaths of the 
 dealers have been almost the only security for their compliance 
 with the laws. It cannot be too much lamented that these 
 have been found inadequate dependence. But experience has, 
 on every trial, manifested them to be such. Taxes or duties, 
 relying for their collection on that security, wholly or almost 
 wholly, are uniformly unproductive. And they cannot fail to 
 be unequal as long as men continue to be discriminated by
 
 4:4 LIQFOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 unequal portions of rectitude. The most conscientious will 
 pay most ; the least conscientious, least." 
 
 In respect to excises, he showed that the system which 
 it was contemplated to inaugurate, obviated the two great 
 objections commonly urged against this mode of taxation, 
 namely, the summary jurisdiction confided to officers of excise • 
 and, secondly, the general power vested in these officers, of 
 visiting and. searching indiscritninately the houses and stores 
 of dealers in excised articles. 
 
 On the 5th of January, a bill — modelled after Hamilton's 
 propositions — repealing, after a certain time, the act laying 
 duties on distilled spirits, (fee, and imposing others in their 
 stead, was taken up for consideration by the House of Repre- 
 sentatives, and at once put to a crucial test, on a motion, made 
 by Jackson (Florida), to strike out the essence of the first 
 clause. This motion was rejected by a great majority, — and 
 thus the ultimate fate of the measure seemed to be ascertained 
 beforehand, with moderate accuracy. Jackson's exceptions to 
 an excise, from a Southern point of view, are remarkable for 
 more than one reason, the most interesting of them being the 
 exact truthfulness of his statement relative to the climatic con- 
 ditions which led the Southern people to the exclusive use of 
 ardent spirits. 
 
 He thought the law would be particularly unpopular and 
 and oppressive in the Southern States because " the citizens of 
 those States have no alternative to adopt, by which they can 
 diminish the weight of tax ; no hreweries or orchards to fur- 
 nish a substitute for spirituous liquors / hence these become 
 a necessary article. They were not only necessary, but salutary 
 in the Southern regions. This had been acknowledged by an 
 Eastern author, Mr. Morse, an authority which he presumed 
 would not be disputed by the Northern gentlemen, especially 
 when it is considered that he is a clergyman. Mr, Morse declared 
 that grog is a necessary article of drink in the Southern States."
 
 CHAPTER II. > 45 
 
 Jackson was particularly severe in his strictures on the petition 
 of the college of physicians, which had lately been read in the 
 House, on the subject of distilled spirits. They might, he 
 thought, with equal propriety interpose their offices to prevent 
 the use of many articles which were deemed poisonous or of 
 pernicious quality ; they might, for instance, petition Congress 
 to pass a law prohibiting the use of mushrooms, because some 
 ignorant persons had been poisoned by eating that plant. 
 
 In giving vent to his opposition to excises on general prin- 
 ciples, he fell into an error, common in those days with 
 politicians of intellectual mediocrity ; he referred to the unpo- 
 pularity of excises in England, but either purposely or 
 unwittingly ignored the fact, that the wide difference in the 
 state of affairs of both countries absolutely precluded a ration- 
 nal parallelism. In England the rapacity of the government had, 
 for so-called State reasons, unintelligible to the masses, abused 
 the taxing power, in this form, to an extent, subversive of the 
 material welfare of the people, as well as of their rights; 
 whereas in our country this mode of taxation was adopted, in 
 its least objectionable form, under stress of circumstances 
 created by the people in their successful struggle for political 
 independence. In England the tax included many necessaries 
 of life, and rose to a figure which placed before the manu- 
 facturer the alternative of abandoning an unprofitable business, 
 or cheating the purchaser by the offer of spurious articles ; 
 whereas in the United States the tax extended to but a few 
 articles of consumption, not absolutely necessaries of life, and 
 was, withal, so low that it could not affect the quality of the 
 articles taxed. Parker (Virginia) objected to the manner 
 of collecting internal duties, exaggerating — nigh unto ludi- 
 crous distortion — the infringements on the people's rights to 
 which it was alleged the measure would give a clear field. " It 
 will^'' he said, " convulse the Government ; it will let loose a 
 swarm of harpies, who, under the denoniination of revenue
 
 46 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE TTNITED STATES. 
 
 officers toill range through the country^ prying into every 
 marCs house and affairs, and like a Macedonian phalanx 
 hear doion all hefore them.''' These words are here typograph- 
 ically emphasized, because they sounded the keynote of that 
 spirit of defiant opposition to which the American people owe 
 the subsequent open resistance by the people of "Western 
 Pennsylvania to the execution of the excise law. 
 
 Jackson, Parker and Stone (the latter from Maryland) were 
 opposed to the measure for the further reason, that, as they 
 thought, no necessity existed for additional revenue. A simple 
 reference, by Lawrence, to the exhibit of revenues derived 
 from import duties and tonnage during the year ended in 
 September, 1790, sufficed to reveal the fallacy of this assertion. 
 The rejection of Jackson's motion closed that day's parliamen- 
 tary combat, in Avhich, by the way, the friends of the measure 
 offered, in the matter of arguments, merely a passive resist- 
 ance, very effectively opposing the vis inei^tice to the rather 
 virulent assaults from Southern members. 
 
 On the next day (January 6.) Parker moved to strike out 
 the section specifying the rates of duties, and renewed his 
 aro-uments against the mode of collection. The alternative of 
 adopting an excise system, or resorting to direct taxes, and the 
 preferableuess of the former mode of taxation were pointed out 
 by Madison, who confessed, that he also would oppose excises, 
 if any other less objectionable mode of raising revenue could 
 be devised. Lawrence adverted to the act of last session, by 
 which the debts of the States were assumed, and the obliga- 
 tions of the General Government increased. He also pointed 
 out the deficiency in the revenue already existing, and expressed 
 it as his opinion that, in view of the pressing demand for 
 additional revenues, the duties contemplated in the bill ap- 
 peared the most obvious for the Government to recur to. 
 A rigorous collection would bear hard only on the dishonest, 
 while it would protect the fair trader from bearing an undue
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 47 
 
 proportion of the public burdens. He doubted whether direct 
 'taxes would be agreeable, even to the gentlemen who had 
 mentioned them. Steele (North Carolina) feared that the 
 situation of affairs in some of the Southern States, especially 
 the one he represented, would help to breed great discon- 
 tent at a system of excise. Such, he said, was the state of the 
 public mind, in various parts of the Union, that he should 
 dread taking any measures which serve to increase the fer- 
 mentation which the people are in. An excise he considered 
 of that nature. He thought a direct or poll tax, or duties on 
 navigation, law proceedings, legal conveyances, etc., preferable 
 to excises. One of his singular statements was, that the con- 
 sumption of ardent spirits in North Carolina was so gre«it, 
 that the duty would amount to about ten times as mucl. as in 
 the State of Connecticut. Livermore (New Hampshire) liked 
 the bill, and thought the people would ; they would consider 
 this mode of taxation as drinking down the national debt. 
 He and Sedgwick (Massachusetts) defended the entire mea- 
 sure from a Hauiiltonian standpoint, showing that the 
 obnoxious features of English excise laws, which had been 
 adverted to as evidences of the unrepublican character of such 
 taxation and its consequent unpopularity, were carefully 
 avoided in the bill under consideration. Of all the subjects 
 of revenue within the power of Congress, they deemed none so 
 proper as the internal duty on ardent spirits contemplated by 
 the bill. The import duties had been extended as far as sound 
 policy dictated, and there remained only excises to be resorted to, 
 unless direct taxes were to be adopted. Popular sentiment was 
 more strongly opposed to the latter taxes than to an excise 
 duty on spirituous liquors. Furthermore, Sedgwick said, It 
 should be observed that in all insensible modes of taxation a 
 much greater sum would be obtained from an individual tlian 
 by any mode of direct imposition: this, without entering into 
 a discussion of the reasons upon which it was founded, could
 
 48 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 be demonstrated by a fact. He instanced the porters of Lon- 
 don, from whom, in the single article of beer, was drawn ten 
 times as much as could be procured by the most rigorous mode 
 of direct taxation. Though he attached no weight to the moral 
 considerations urged agu'nst the great consumption of ardent 
 spirits, he thought a diminution in the consumption of those 
 liquors would not be attended with any sensible inconve- 
 nience. 
 
 The imputation of a lack of patriotism, which some of the 
 Southern members had cast on their own States, evoked a very 
 energetic protest from Smith (of South Carolina), who felt 
 convinced that the Southern people would submit without 
 complaint to any measures which the General Government 
 would see proper to adopt ; and all the more willingly would 
 they do so in this case, when, seeing and judging for them- 
 selves, they would find the tax proposed to be equal and just. 
 On the 21st of January, a unique bit of discussion on what to- 
 day would be styled civil service reform took place, on the 
 motion to amend the bill, by adding a clause to prevent in- 
 spectors, or any officers under them, from interfering in 
 elections, further than giving their own votes. The arguments 
 in favor of this amendment form a forecast of the circum- 
 stances which gave birth to the law on the same subject, in 
 force at the present time ; hence, to the members using them 
 would have to be accorded credit for great foresight, were it 
 not for the fact that the pictures they drew of possible abuses 
 of official power were borrowed from English examples. It 
 was feared that the power vested in inspectors would give 
 these officers many opportunities of acquiring such a know- 
 ledge of persons and characters, as would enable them unduly 
 to influence election results. On the other hand it was con- 
 tended that to prevent any citizen from publicly or privately 
 uttering his opinions on political affairs, would be equivalent 
 to depriving him of rights, inalienably vested in citizenship.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 49 
 
 Citizens of good character and standing in the community 
 would not accept an office coupled with such a degrading con- 
 dition, and the Executive would consequently be com- 
 pelled to appoint irresponsible persons, alike willing to take 
 the office and suifer the degradation. This rather exalted view 
 of the matter prevailed with a large majority of the members ; 
 the vote on the adoption of the amendment being: Yeas, 21 ; 
 Nays, 37. With this vote, the virulent opposition to the bill, 
 fomented at the beginning of the discussion by resolutions 
 passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature, and demonstrations of 
 discontent from other quarters,* sullenly yielded ; and on the 
 27th of January the bill passed the House by a vote of 
 35 to 21. 
 
 Smith, who had so manfully vindicated the honor of the 
 Southern States, voted /or the bill ; so did four members from 
 Yirginia, namely : Madison, Griffin, Lee and White. Alto- 
 gether, only five Southern votes were cast for the bill. Two 
 members from New York and three from Pennsylvania voted 
 with the majority of Southern representatives against the 
 act. 
 
 As finally passed, the act, (approved March 3, 1791) 
 embraced the essence of Hamilton's suggestions. The import 
 duties on distilled spirits were fixed as follows : 
 
 For every gallon of spirits, more than ten per cent below proof, 
 
 twenty cents. 
 For every gallon of spirits under five and not more than ten 
 
 per cent below proof, twenty -one cents. 
 For every gallon of spirits of proof, and not more than five 
 
 per cent below proof, twenty-two cents. 
 For every gallon of spirits above proof, but not exceeding 
 
 twenty per cent, twenty-five cents. 
 
 * The succeeding chapter treats at some length of these demoustrations 
 of disconteut-
 
 50 LIQtTOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 For every gallon of spirits more than twenty, and not more 
 than forty per cent above proof, thirty cents. 
 
 For every gallon of spirits more than forty per cent above 
 proof, forty cents. 
 Here is the text or purport of the principal sections 
 
 relating to excise duties : 
 
 Section 14. And be it further enacted, That upon all spirits which 
 after the last of June next, shall he distilled within the United Slates, 
 wholly or in part from molasses, sugar or other foreign materials, there 
 shall be paid for their use the duties following; that is to say ; — For every 
 gallon of these spirits more than ten per cent, below proof, according to 
 Dicas' hydrometer, eleven cents. For every gallon of those spirits under 
 five and not more than ten per cent, below proof, twelve cents. For every 
 gallon of these spirits of proof, and not more than five per cent, below 
 proof, thirteen cents. For every gallon of those spirits above proof, and 
 not exceeding twenty per cent., fifteen cents. For every gallon more than 
 twenty, and not more than forty per cent, above proof, twenty cents. For 
 every gallon more than forty per cent, above proof, thirty cents. 
 
 Section 15. That upon all spirits, which after the last day of June next, 
 shall be distilled within the United States, from any article of the growth 
 or produce of the United States, in any city, town or village, there shall be 
 paid for their use the duties following ; that is to say : — For every gallon 
 more than ten per cent, below proof, according to Dicas' hydrometer, nine 
 cents. For every gallon under five and not more than ten per cent, below 
 proof, ten cents. For every gallon not more than five per cent, below proof, 
 eleven cents. For every gallon above proof, but not exceeding twenty per 
 cent., thirteen cents. For every gallon more than twenty and not more 
 than forty per cent, above proof, seventeen cents. For every gallon more 
 than forty per cent, above proof, twenty-five cents. 
 
 Section 16. That the said duties on spirits distilled within the United 
 States shall be collected under the management of the Supervisors of the 
 Revenue. 
 
 Section 17. That the said duties on spirits shall be paid or secured 
 previous to the removal thereof from the distilleries at which they are 
 respectively made. And it shall be at the option of the proprietor or pro- 
 prietors of each still either to pay the said duties previous to such removal, 
 with an abatement at the rate of two cents for every ten gallons, or to secure 
 the payment of the same, by giving bond quarter-yearly, with one or more 
 sureties, to the satisfaction of the chief officer of inspection within whose
 
 CHAPTER n. 51 
 
 survey such distillery shall be, and in such sum as the said officer shall 
 direct, with the condition for the payment of the duties upon all such of the 
 said spirits as shall be removed from such distillery, within three months 
 next ensuing the date of the bond at the expiration of nine months of the 
 said date. 
 
 Section 18. That the Supervisor of each district shall appoint proper 
 officers to have the charge and survey of the distilleries within the same, 
 assigning to each one or more distilleries as he may think proper, who 
 shall attend to such distilleries at all reasonable times, for the execution of 
 the duties by this act enjoined on him. 
 
 Section 19. That previous to the removal of spirits from any distil- 
 lery, the officer within whose charge and survey the same may be, shall 
 brand or otherwise mark each cask containing the same, in durable char- 
 acters, and with progressive numbers, and with the name of the acting 
 owner or other manager of such distillery, and of the place where the same 
 was situate, and the quantity therein, to be ascertained by actual guaging, 
 and with the proof thereof. And the duties thereupon having been first 
 paid or secured, as above provided, the officer shall grant a certificate for 
 each cask of the said spirit, to accompany the same wheresoever it shall be 
 sent, purporting that the duty thereon hath been paid or secured, and de- 
 scribing each cask by its marks ; and shall enter in a book for that purpose 
 to be kept, all the spirits distilled at such distillery, and removed from the 
 same ; and the marks of each cask, and the persons for whose use, and the 
 places to which removed and the time of each removal, and the amount of 
 duties on the spirits so removed. And if any of the said spirits shall be 
 removed from any such distillery without having been branded or marked, 
 or without such certificate, the same, together with the cask containing, and 
 the horses or cattle, with the carriages, their harness and tacliling, the 
 vessel or boat with its tackle and apparel, employed in removing them, 
 shall be forfeited, and may be seized by any officer of inspection. And the 
 Superintendent or manager of such distillery shall also forfeit the full 
 value of the spirits so removed, to be computed at the highest price of like 
 spirits in the market. 
 
 Section 20. That no spirits shall be removed from any distillery at any 
 other times than between sun rising and sun setting, except by consent and 
 in the presence of the officer having the charge and survey thereof, on pain 
 of forfeiture of such spirits, or of the value thereof at the highest market 
 price, to be recovered with costs of suits from the acting owner, etc. 
 
 Section 21. That upon stills which after the last day of June next 
 shall be employed in distilling spirits from materials of the growth or pro-
 
 52 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 duction of the United States, in any other place than a city, town or village, 
 there shall be paid for the use of the United States, the yearly duty of sixty- 
 cents for every gallon, English wine-measure, of the capacity or content of 
 each and every such still, including the head thereof." 
 
 Section 23 prescribes that duties shall be paid half-yearly 
 upon demand by the officer of the survey ; and that in case of 
 failure to pay, the amount of duties due may be recovered, 
 with costs, in action of debt, or may be levied by distress and 
 sale of goods of delinquent distiller. 
 
 Section 24: gives distillers the right to keep an account of 
 the quantities of spirits distilled and sold ; which account, if 
 sworn to and submitted to the proper officers, shall form the 
 basis of computing the taxable quantity of spirits distilled. 
 
 Section 25 makes it incumbent on distillers to place a 
 sign upon a conspicuous part outside and in front of each 
 building used for distilling or keeping ardent spirits ; also to 
 make entry of every such building at the nearest office of 
 inspection. 
 
 Section 26 authorizes inspectors to visit distilleries, take 
 account of spirits, brand casks, keep registry of stock, give 
 certificates to distillers, etc. 
 
 Section 36 provides that the penalties imposed on dis- 
 tillers for neglecting to make report to inspectors of their 
 intention of distilling spirits, or for neglecting to mark the 
 houses, apartments or vessels to be employed, or for neglecting 
 to enter in books the quantity distilled, shall not extend to any 
 person employing one still only, and that of a capacity not 
 exceeding fifty gallons, including the still-head. 
 
 Section 60 pledges the net product of duties under this 
 act for the payment of the interest on loans made prior to the 
 fourtli of August, and to be made pursuant to the Act " making 
 provision for the debt of the United States."
 
 CHAPTER II. 53 
 
 As to the spirit of this law, it will be noticed, in respect to 
 high rates of import duties, that the act indicates a striking mu- 
 tation of opinions, for which various explanations may be oifered. 
 In tlie first place, the necessity for introducing the much- 
 dreaded excise system, as the lesser of two evils — the alterna- 
 tive of direct taxation being considered the greater — reconciled 
 the opponents of high rates of imposts with a system which, 
 even if carried to the utmost limits proposed, was in their 
 opinion still the least objectionable of these three modes of 
 raising revenue. And their opposition naturally diminished 
 in proportion to the growth of their desire to restrain the 
 excise within narrow bounds. More potent, at all events more 
 direct in its influence, than this reason, was the conviction, 
 rapidly gaining ground, that high duties on imported articles 
 could be made collectable, without recourse to obnoxious mea- 
 sures of supervision and control. The productiveness of the 
 duties under the Acts of July 4:th, 1789, and August 10th, 
 1T90, imposing comparatively high rates, helped to form this 
 conviction, and Washington's favorable account of the opera- 
 tion of both laws strengthened it. A further explanation may 
 be found in the growing inclination to protect certain manu- 
 factures ; but it must be remarked in this connection that the 
 excise on distilled spirits neutralized in a degree the protective 
 agency of import duties imposed by the foregoing law. It is, 
 indeed, a most singular characteristic of the debates on the 
 subject, that the deviation from the rule of incidental protec- 
 tion, established during the preceding sessions, a deviation, 
 whose results were easily to be foreseen, failed to elicit any 
 serious adverse criticism. That the protective idea was tem- 
 porarily lost sight of, so far as distilled spirits are concerned, 
 cannot be gainsaid. The Act of 1790 imposed an import 
 duty of from twelve to twenty-five cents per gallon, according 
 to proof ; the Act of March 3, 1791, fixed a like duty at from 
 twenty to forty cents. Now, if the rates of the excise duties
 
 54 LIQrOE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 imposed by the latter law, namely, from eleven to thirty 
 cents per gallon, according to strength, be deducted from the 
 rates of import — as deducted they must be, if the ability of 
 the domestic article to compete with the foreign product is to 
 be determined — it will be seen that the protective duties were 
 diminished, as compared with those imposed by the Act of 
 1790, by from three to fifteen cents.* That this inequality, 
 which in view of the avowed intention of the legislative majority 
 may be termed an anomaly, occurred merely by an oversight, 
 will be shown in the next chapter. 
 
 In regard to the excise duty, the strictures of the refractory 
 minority were dictated not so much by the solicitude usually 
 felt in reference to measures threatening, or seeming to threa- 
 ten, the liberty of citizens, as by an intense selfishness, jealous 
 of the material interests of a few localities, indifferent to the 
 weKare of the whole Union. Subsequent events prove that 
 this selfishness, conspiring with the popular prejudice against 
 excises in general, served partly as a lever, partly as a mask for 
 an incipient cabal, which ended by becoming a line of demar- 
 cation between two great political parties. It is true that any 
 excise system, however liberally constituted and lenientlj 
 carried out, would have been unpopular ; but it is historically 
 demonstrable that the unpopularity of this particular measure 
 would have occasioned no serious disturbance, had not the 
 malevolence of ambitious aspirants for political fame — or noto- 
 riety — resorted to inflammatory means for purposes of its own, 
 and had not radical differences of political opinion helped to 
 create a feeling of antagonism to the administration, an anta- 
 gonism proceeding no doubt from pure motives in most 
 instances, from questionable motives in some, but in all from 
 a total misconception of the administration's purposes. The 
 
 * The excise duty on spirits from foreign material is, of course, re- 
 ferred to.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 55 
 
 attempt to justify the opposition to excise duties on spirituous 
 liquors, on the ground that these articles of consumption were 
 necessaries of life, failed to make any impression ; for, though 
 it may have been admitted that in some localities and under 
 certain circumstances, the moderate use of ardent spirits was 
 indispensable to physical comfort, yet the excessive consumption 
 could not by any manner of reasoning be made to appear as 
 necessary for the proper sustenance of life. 
 
 The most significant fact in connection with the discussion 
 on this law is the general approval — outspoken at times, tacit 
 and implied at others — of the moral tendency, sought to be 
 established as a policy in relation to the liquor traffic. Hamil- 
 ton's words, quoted in this chapter, were but the echo of a 
 popular sentiment which even pervaded the speeches of those 
 members of Congress, who opposed the taxing of ardent spi- 
 rits. "When Jackson, for instance, in his bitter speech against 
 the excise law, said that the Southern people had " no breweries 
 or orchards to furnish a substitute for spirituous liquors," he 
 virtually confessed himself a supporter of the policy which 
 Madison, voicing the sentiment of all his colleagues, * formu- 
 lated in the first session, when he spoke in favor of encouraging 
 and protecting American breweries for moral purposes, and 
 uttered the hope that this industry would take deep root in 
 every State of the Union. The excise law is but another 
 illustration of this sentiment, inasmuch as it treats exclusively 
 of distilled spirits. 
 
 * In all the debates on this subject, not one word was uttered either 
 against the moral or economic reasons urged in favor of this policy.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 REVIEW OF THE ORIGIN', NATURE AND EXTENT OF THE DISCONTENT 
 
 PROVOKED BY THE EXCISE LAW. OPPOSITION TO HAMILTON'S 
 
 FISCAL SYSTEM. JEFFERSOn's ATTITUDE. THE ALARMING- 
 STATE OF AFFAIRS IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. BRIEF RE- 
 VIEW OF OUTRAGES COMMITTED UPON EXCISE OFFICERS UP TO 
 THE END OF 1791. — HAMILTON'S REPORT ON MANUFACTURES, 
 
 AND ON THE EXCISE LAW. HIS RECOMMENDATIONS ON BOTH 
 
 SUBJECTS. ACT INCREASING DUTIES ON DISTILLED SPIRITS AND 
 
 MALT LIQUORS. PROTECTIVE FEATURES OF THIS ACT. MODI- 
 FICATION OF THE ACT FOR LAYING INTERNAL DUTIES ON 
 SPIRITS. 
 
 Little doubt can exist that the discontent provoked in some 
 localities by the act laying duties on spirits distilled within 
 the United States, derived a potent impetus from the inflam- 
 matory agitations of the enemies of Washington's administra- 
 tion; but it must be remembered that a strong repugnance to 
 excises,* ingerminated by British misrule, had, years before 
 the enactment of the present law, found vent in such official 
 documents as may justly be termed the prototypes of the anti- 
 excise resolution passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature, on 
 the 22d of January, 1791. The changed condition of afi"airs, 
 
 * " The colonists had brought with them from England a deep aversion 
 to excises, -which perpetuated itself, unabated, from generation to genera- 
 tion. The first Congress, in its address of October, 1774, to the inhabitants 
 of Canada, laid particular stress on the imposition of excises as one of the 
 evils accompanying subjection to England. In the nullification convention 
 of New York, it was proposed that the power to impose excise duties on 
 any article which grew or was manufactured in America, should be expressly 
 denied to Congress. " (Hoist's Constitutional and Pol. Hist, of the U. S. 
 Chicago, 1877, Vol. I, p. 94.)
 
 CHAPTER m. 67 
 
 by which the rebellious subjects of a monarchy became the 
 sovereign citizens of a republic of their own creation, did not 
 essentially change popular sentiment in regard to excises gene- 
 rally ; and it was to be feared that in localities on which the 
 burden of taxation must fall with particular weight, the dissatis- 
 faction naturally aroused by measures militating against self- 
 interest, would occasion some difficulties in collecting the 
 taxes. There was all the more reason for this apprehension 
 as to Pennsylvania, seeing that the Legislature of that State 
 had, with a large majority,* passed the above-mentioned reso- 
 lution, characterizing the excise law, before its passage, as 
 having a tendency to destroy the rights and liberties of their 
 constituents. And this in the face of the fact, that at various 
 times during the Revolutionary war and the period succeeding 
 it and preceding the permanent estabKsliment of the National 
 Government, excise taxes had been levied on distilled spirits 
 by the local authorities of Pennsylvania — taxes which, it must 
 be added, however, the distillers displayed little alacrity in 
 paying. That Pennsylvania was from the beginning, and for 
 a number of years remained, the most dangerous seat of the 
 opposition against the new law, will be readily understood in the 
 light of the description before given of the state of the liquor 
 traffic. So general had the manufacture of ardent spirits be- 
 come in Pennsylvania, that as early as 1779 the Assembly 
 enacted a law to prevent distillation of all kinds of grain or 
 meal, being induced to this act by the threatening aspect, 
 both moral and economic, of a consumption of ardent spirits 
 almost fabulous. " In many parts of the country," says Find- 
 ley in his History of the Insurrection, " you could scarcely 
 get out of sight of the smoke of stiU-houses." Famine and 
 demoralization of the people were regarded as the inevitable 
 results of such a state of affairs. In October, 1779, this pro- 
 
 The vote on the passage of the resolution stood : Yeas, 40 ; Nays, 16.
 
 58 LIQTJOB LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 liibitorj law was repealed and permission granted to distill rye 
 and barley ; an excise tax being then again levied on every gal- 
 lon of ardent spirits distilled within the State. But neither 
 law seems to have had the slightest effect upon the extent of 
 the manufacture of distilled spirits. After their passage, as 
 before, nearly every farmer distilled his own whiskey and 
 deemed it his inalienable right to evade the tax, and resist the 
 collector whenever a favorable opportunity presented itself for 
 doing so. Open violence was resorted to in few isolated cases 
 only, and in these, though involving no fatal casualities, the 
 courts of law speedily meted out justice to the rioters. 
 
 In view of the state of the public mind on the subject, and 
 the condition of things generally, the Pennsylvania Legislature 
 must at least be held accountable for having added fuel to the 
 fire, by the adoption of a resolution which every one of their 
 constituents could, by a slight stretch of conscience, construe 
 as a justification for whatever means he chose to employ in 
 the defence of rights so wantonly (!) violated. 
 
 This resolution reads as follows : 
 
 The Legislature of this Commonwealth ever attentive to the rights and 
 liberties of their constituents, and conceiving it a duty incumbent on them 
 to express their sentiments on such matters of a public nature as in their 
 opinion have a tendency to destroy those rights, agree to the following reso- 
 lutions, namely ; 
 
 Resolved, That in the proceedings on the part of the United States, 
 tending to the collection of a revenue by means of excise established upon 
 principles subversive of the peace, liberty, and rights of the citizen, ought 
 to attract the attention of this House. 
 
 Resolved, That no public exigency within the knowledge or contempla- 
 tion of this House, can, in their opinion, warrant the adoption of any species 
 of taxation which shall violate those rights which are the basis of our 
 government, and thereby exhibit the singular spectacle of a nation resolutely 
 opposing the oppression of others in order to enslave itself. 
 
 Resolved, That these sentiments be communicated to the Senators repre- 
 senting the State of Pennsylvania in the Senate of the United States, with
 
 CHAPTER ni. 59 
 
 the hope that they will oppose every part of the Excise Bill now before 
 Congress, which shall militate against the just rights and liberties of the 
 people.* 
 
 Gallatin (subsequently Secretary of the Treasury), Find- 
 ley and others, who are said to have either openly fomented or 
 secretly abetted the violent opposition to the law, endeavored 
 to defend the resolution on the ground that it was the right of 
 every State Legislature to express their opinions as to proposed 
 or adopted measures of the Federal government. This right 
 was not seriously questioned at all ; it was undoubtedly the 
 right of the Pennsylvania Legislature to give expression to 
 their views, but it was wrong under then existing circumstances 
 to exercise this right — wrong from a patriotic point of view to 
 do aught which, by shaking the confidence scarcely re-esta- 
 blished by dint of heroic efibrts on the part of Washington 
 and his cabinet, could not but emperil the welfare of the com- 
 monwealth. That the majority favoring the adoption of the 
 resolution lacked that degree of foresight which would have 
 enabled them to estimate beforehand the dangers their conduct 
 invited, may readily be assumed without further proof; but 
 history points to a clique of politicians who instigated this 
 short-sighted, yet well-meaning legislative majority, and did 
 so with the determination of bringing about evils they had 
 persistently presaged, and ardently wished for. In them, the 
 act was much worse than wrong. In the subsequent development 
 of the insurrectionary spirit incited by them, they buttoo palpa- 
 bly evinced their malevolence, showing that what they alleged 
 to have been the outcome of their sympathy with, and desire 
 of expressing, a popular sentiment, was, in verity, an artifice 
 designed to cover their enmity to the National Administration, 
 an enmity which soon stalked forth boldly, making Hamilton 
 its central point of attack. And this inimical attitude was 
 
 * Journal of the Legislature, 1791, p. 110.
 
 60 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 neither confined to the one locality nor to the one cause here 
 in question. The bitter struggle over the Assumption Bill 
 only marks the beginning of a relentless political warfare 
 against the Administration, particularly against Hamilton's 
 fiscal system. The Virginia Assembly had passed a resolution 
 denouncing assumption " as repugnant to the Constitution, 
 giving to it the exercise of a power not granted to the General 
 Government ; a measure particularly injurious to the interests 
 of Virginia, an act impolitic, unjust, odious and defoi'med ; 
 one which republican policy could scarcely have suggested as 
 intended to concentrate and perpetuate large moneyed interests, 
 which would produce a prostration of agriculture at the feet 
 of commerce, or a change in the present form of the Federal 
 government, fatal to American liberty."* In North Carolina 
 and Maryland a similar spirit had been aroused and found vent 
 in resolutions antagonistic to Hamilton's financial schemes. 
 The secret enemies of Washington, and open adversaries of 
 Hamilton, spread the most astounding reports as to the inten- 
 tions and aims of the Administration. Washington, too popu- 
 lar and too highly esteemed to be openly charged with unpa- 
 triotic motives, was represented as being the tool of a party 
 headed by Hamilton and Adams, whose policy, it was alleged, 
 tended to pave the way for a change of government from a 
 republican to a monarchical form. Although as yet little cre- 
 dence was accorded to such reports outside of the disaffected 
 localities, it was evident that the Administration must be pre- 
 pared to meet an opposition as virulent as it was, in some 
 respects, unjustified. The formation of the minority into a 
 compact political party had begun, and the leaders were cast- 
 ing about for material wherewith to erect a distinctive politi- 
 
 * " This is the first symptom of a spirit," was the language of Ham- 
 ilton to the Chief Justice," which must either be killed, or will kill the Con- 
 stitution of the United States." (History of the Republic, by J. C. Hamil- 
 ton. Vol. IV., p. 479.
 
 CHAPTER III. 61 
 
 cal basis. Apprehensions on that account were all the more 
 warranted as the least placable of Hamilton's opponents, Jef- 
 ferson, held the foremost administrative office under Washing- 
 ton, and was, indeed, the most gifted, as he surely was the 
 noblest and most patriotic of the leaders of the opposition. 
 It would seem, as if his ardent love of liberty, partaking some- 
 what of the character of French republicanism of those days, 
 rendered him unduly suspicious of his surroundings, and, 
 clouding his usually bright intellectual vision, made him see 
 dastardly schemes for the destruction of the American Repub- 
 lic, where, in truth, there was but the most self-sacrificing 
 devotion to the country's welfare. 
 
 " Hardly Avas Jefferson warm in his new office as a member 
 of the cabinet," says Hildreth,* "when he appears to have 
 adopted the idea, founded, it would seem, on casual expressions 
 of speculative opinion dropped in the freedom of unreserved 
 social intercourse, that a conspiracy was on foot, headed by 
 Adams and Hamilton, to overturn the republican institutions of 
 the United States, and to substitute a monarchy and an aristo- 
 cracy in the place, the monarchy being principally patronized 
 by Hamilton, and the aristocracy by Adams, and both being 
 inclined to give the wealthier and more intelligent few a very 
 disproportionate influence in the government. Though a great 
 advocate for toleration and liberality in matters of religion, in 
 politics Jefferson was a consummate bigot. One single specu- 
 lative error outweighed, in his estimation, the most devoted 
 patriotism, the most unquestionable public service." Professor 
 V. Hoist, writing of the compromise by which the Assumption 
 Bill was passed, an expedient which he characterizes as the first 
 unmistakable indication of a geographical party division, 
 asserts, as do nearly all competent historians, that " Jefferson, 
 when he believed there was no danger that his words would 
 
 * History of the United States, Vol. iv., p. 297.
 
 62 LIQUOB LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 "be whispered in wider circles, gave full vent to his secret ani- 
 mosity against Washington." * It would surelj be a venture- 
 some undertaking, to establish any direct connection between 
 the revolt in Pennsylvania and the animosity of Jefferson 
 against the Administration, although Jefferson styled the excise 
 duty an " infernal error," and held Hamilton's system to be 
 founded on " principles inimical to liberty," and calculated to 
 undermine the Constitution. Yet it must be conceded, that 
 his antagonism and the manner in which it was manifested, 
 strengthened the opposition generally, and gave nourishment, 
 perhaps against his will and wish, to the insurrectionary spirit 
 of the people of Western Pennsylvania. Under such circum- 
 stances the solidification of the opposition party progressed 
 rapidly, and the seed of discontent was being sown broadcast, 
 even while the measures proposed and carried out by the 
 executive departments were bringing forth blessings which, to 
 use Washington's words, three years ago it would have been 
 madness to have foretold. It was necessary to digress thus 
 briefly from the subject in hand, to show that the discontent 
 at the excise, though springing, as has been shown, from pre- 
 judices and preconceived ideas alike powerful and unreasonable, 
 and especially dangerous for being the one and the other, 
 would not seriously have disturbed the tranquility of the na- 
 tion, particularly under the beneficent influences of a prosper- 
 ity almost miraculously restored, had it not been indirectly 
 nurtured by men of eminence and popular power, and used by 
 others to serve a purpose foreign to its original ends and 
 objects. 
 
 The spirit of resistance was most violently manifested in 
 the western counties of Pennsylvania, because, as Findley — 
 one of its prime instigators — says, the people of that locality 
 anticipated peculiar hardships from the excise. " Without money 
 
 * Pol. & Const. Hist. Vol. I. , \^.
 
 CHAPTER m. ^^ 
 
 or the means of procuring it, and consuming their whiskey 
 only in their families or using it as an article of barter, which 
 though in some respects answered the place of money, yet 
 would not be received in pay for tlie excise tax, they thought 
 it hard to pay as much tax on what sold with them but at from 
 two shillings to two shillings and six pence, as they did where 
 it brought double that price."* From this it might be inferred 
 that a modification of the law would have allayed the excite- 
 ment prevalent among the inhabitants of those localities ; but 
 the truth is, that Findley himself, who was afterward elected 
 to represent his State in the second Congress, and his coadjutors 
 did everything in their power to prevent a pacific solution of 
 the question. '^ While a member of the Pennsylvania Legisla- 
 ture he intimated, in an entirely unguarded manner, that no 
 taxes should be paid at all, and the excise officers made to feel 
 the full weight of popular indignation. And the latter recom- 
 mendation was by no means a figurative phrase. The predom- 
 inant opinion among the people of those counties, an opinion, 
 stimulated by men of Findley's calibre, was, that to restrict 
 distillation in any manner, however legitimate, or to impose 
 taxes upon what they deemed a necessary of life, must be 
 regarded as a violation of "natural rights "—a term used in 
 the petition of the citizens of Westmoreland. Yet even 
 this disposition, dangerous and deplorable under any circum- 
 tances, would not of itself have brought about a conflict of the 
 people with the government ; it required the devices and arti- 
 fices of the demagogue, to fan the embers into flame ; f and 
 the demagogue was industriously at work. 
 
 * Findley's History of the Insurrection, p. 41. 
 
 f Washington writing of his tour through the Southern States, in some 
 of which sentiments prevailed similar to those entertained in Western Penn- 
 sylvania, states that he found everywhere a ready acquiescence to the laws 
 made under the new government. " At the time," he wrote, " of passing a 
 law imposing a duty on home-made spirits, it was vehemently affirmed by
 
 64 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 As early as July 27, 1791, hence a few weeks after the 
 beginning of the operation of the law, but ere yet the first 
 excise office had been opened in any of the western counties 
 of Pennsylvania, the movement for an open opposition was 
 inaugurated. On the day mentioned, an indignation meeting 
 was held at Ked Stone Old Fort (now Brownsville), attended by 
 delegates from the counties of Westmoreland, Allegany, Wash- 
 ington and Fayette. Prominent citizens were present at this 
 meeting, among them Albert Gallatin. The resolutions adopted 
 characterized the act of Congress as " unequal in its operation, 
 immoral in its effects, dangerous to liberty, and especially op- 
 pressive to the inhabitants of the Western country." A tho- 
 rough organization of all citizens opposed to the law was 
 recommended, and preliminary arrangements were made for 
 organizing county committees, who were either to attend in 
 corjjore, or be represented at a general convention to assemble 
 at Pittsburgh on the 7th of September, for the purpose of 
 planning concerted action. Previous to the latter date the 
 committee for Washington county — the seat of the greatest 
 turbulence — adopted resolutions declaring that " any person 
 who had accepted, or may accept an office under Congress, in 
 order to carry the law into effect, should be considered as ini- 
 mical to the interests of the country," and urging upon the 
 citizens of Washington county the expediency of " treating 
 every person who had accepted such office, or might thereafter 
 accept, with contempt, and absolutely to refuse all kind of com- 
 munication or intercourse with the officers and withold from 
 
 many, that sucli a law could have never been executed in the Southern 
 States, particularly in Virginia and North Carolina. I took some pains to 
 obtain information on this point and there remains no doubt that the law- 
 will be carried into effect, not only without opposition, but vrith general 
 approbation, in those very parts where it was foretold that it would never 
 be submitted to by any one. It is possible, however, and perhaps not impro- 
 bable, that some demagogues may start up and prodiice and get signed some 
 resolutions declaratory of their disapprobation of the measure.
 
 CHAPTER III. 65 
 
 them all aid, support or comfort." * The f^encral meeting held 
 at Pittsburgh (September 7, 1791) entered into resolutions 
 more comprehensive in their objects and less inflammatory in 
 their tendency, than those which had before passed the meet- 
 ing in "Washington. Their resolutions contained severe cen- 
 sures, not only on the lavr which was the immediate subject of 
 objection, but upon what they termed the exorbitant salaries 
 of officers, the unreasonable interest of the public debt, the 
 want of discrimination between original holders and trans- 
 ferees, and the institution of a national bank. A representa- 
 tion to Congress, and a remonstrance to the Legislature of 
 Pennsylvania against the law more particularly complained of, 
 were prepared and published. 
 
 On the day before the meeting the opposition broke out in 
 an act of violence upon the person and property of Robert 
 Johnson, collector of revenues for Allegany and Washington. 
 Waylaid and seized by a masked party, at a place on Pidgeon 
 Creek, in Washington County, he was robbed of his horse, 
 tarred and feathered, clipped of his hair, and left in that con- 
 dition to make his way home as best he could. Having 
 recognized some of his assailants in spite of their masks, he 
 procured warrants for their arrest. The serving of the pro- 
 cesses was confided l)y marshal Clement Piddle to liis deputy, 
 Joseph Fox, who, going into Allegany, in the month of Octo- 
 ber, to discharge this duty, took alarm at the threatening aspect 
 of things, and fearing for the safety of his person, resorted to 
 what Hamilton disapprovingly styled the injudicious and fruit- 
 less expedient of sending them by private messenger under 
 cover.f The deputy's report to his superior officer contained 
 
 * The description of the disturbances from this meeting onward is 
 almost literally talccn from Hamilton's " Report on the opposition to internal 
 duties." Hamilton's Works, Vol. iv., 578. 
 
 f Findley, who avidiously seized every incident by which the insurrec- 
 tionary movement could in any degree be justified, criticises this unwise
 
 66 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 many particulars evincing a considerable fermentation in the 
 locality in question, and inducing the belief that the processes 
 could not with safety have been executed. Indeed, the person 
 who had been sent with the processes was seized, robbed, 
 whipped, tarred and feathered, blindfolded, and tied in the 
 woods, in which condition he remained five hours. 
 
 Other outrages of a similar character soon followed. Wells, 
 collector of revenue for Westmoreland & Fayette, was ill- 
 treated at Greensbui-gh and Union Town. About the same 
 time a demented person of the name of Wilson, a stranger in 
 those parts, laboring under the unfortunate delusion that he 
 was officially connected with the revenue service made inqui- 
 ries in reference to stills, pretending that he was instructed to 
 report to Congress the names of the distillers who had entered 
 their places of business according to law. Pursued and 
 captured by a party of masked regulators, the poor idiot was 
 dragged to a blacksmith's shop, a distance of five miles from 
 the place of his capture, stripped of his clothing, repeatedly 
 branded with hot irons, tarred and feathered, and then turned 
 
 course in these words : " If the inspector could have contrived a surer 
 method to degrade the government in the esteem of the rioters, and invite 
 insults, it is beyond my comprehension ; and unhappily the poor man, who 
 was ignorant of what he was doing, was the victim of this injudicious plan. 
 What better could the inspector expect ? If the people were well disposed, 
 where the process was to be served, why discourage the marshal from going 
 forward ? If they were not well disposed, why send a poor creature who, 
 not knowing what he delivered, could not give testimony of his having 
 servad the processes ?" [Findley either unconciously or wilfully covfoxuids the 
 story oftheidiot, named Wilson, /witJi that of the private messenger sent hy Fox.'] 
 " The authority of a commission from government, and the respectability 
 attached thereby to the person that bears it, generally procures a degree of 
 reverence to an officer of justice. The sheriff or constable will be respected 
 where the officious bum vnll probably be flogged. " [History of the Insurrec- 
 tion, page 69.] Findley seems to forget that collector Johnson and other 
 excise officers learned to their sorrow that their commission secured them no 
 sort of reverence.
 
 CHAPTER m. 
 
 67 
 
 loose in this pitiable state. These outrages were not confined 
 to othcers of the revenue, however ; everybody who ventured 
 to express an opinion favorable to the law was treated in like 
 manner, as was shown in the case of a man of the name of 
 Eoseberry, who was tarred and feathered for remarking that 
 the inhabitants of Washington county could not reasonably 
 expect protection from a government whose laws they so stren- 
 uously opposed. Persons who had been summoned as wit- 
 nesses against the rioters in the case of Wilson were seized 
 and carried off, in order to prevent their giving testimony in 
 court, and all well-disposed citizens were systematically terror- 
 ized. A recent writer terms these outrages " practical jokes," 
 and seeks to exonerate the prominent citizens and oflace-holders, 
 who had partaken in the meetings before-described, from the 
 reproach of having sanctioned or even tacitly approved any acts 
 of violence. This is evidently an opinion based on Findley's 
 description of the troubles ; but even the most charitably 
 disposed will scarcely deem it tenable, in view of the un- 
 deniable fact that open violence was simply the natural con- 
 sequence of the spirit pervading some of the resolutions 
 adopted at those meeting ; that nothing was done to allay the 
 excitement by those who had fomented it, and, finally, that the 
 law could not be executed in those counties, and remained a 
 dead letter for over three years. 
 
 Hamilton explains the comparatively passive attitude 
 maintained l)y tlie National Government subsequent to these 
 outrages and before tlie assembling of Congress, in these words : 
 
 " It seemed highly probable, from the issue of the experi- 
 ment which had been made, that the ordinary course of 
 civil process would be inefiectual for enforcing the exe- 
 cution of the law in the scene in question, and that a per- 
 severance in this course might lead to a serious concussion. 
 The law itself was still in the infancy of its operation.
 
 68 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 and far from established in other important portions of 
 the Union. Prejudices against it had been industriously 
 disseminated, misrepresentations diffused, misconceptions 
 fostered. The Legislature of the United States had not 
 jet organized the means by which the Executive could 
 come in aid of the Judiciary, when found incompetent to 
 the execution of the laws. If neither of those impedi- 
 ments to a decisive exertion had existed, it was desirable, 
 especially in a republican government, to avoid what is in 
 such cases the ultimate resort, till all the milder means 
 had been tried without success. It was deemed wise to 
 forbear urging harsh measures, till further reflection and 
 experience had corrected false impressions, and till the 
 National Legislature had an opportunity to modify the 
 law." 
 
 Before considering the propositions submitted to Congress 
 in Hamilton's report on the subject of excises, it is necessary 
 to make mention of two other reports, closely related to the 
 liquor traffic; the one is Hamilton's justly renowned report on 
 manufactures,* the other his plan for raising additional reve- 
 nue for the protection of the Western frontiers,t submitted 
 December 5, 1791, and March 17, 1792, respectively. 
 
 The former report, demonstrating the expediency of en- 
 couraging domestic manufactures, as a means of creating a 
 home market for the surplus of agricultural produce, to which 
 some of the principal foreign markets were closed at the time, 
 includes, among the manufactures to be encouraged and pro- 
 tected, breweries and distilleries. It must have been remarked 
 that all utterances heretofore quoted revealed a strong inclina- 
 tion to protect and encourage at least those manufactures 
 which, to use an oft-repeated phrase, were generally regarded 
 as handmaids to agriculture. Whatever opposition was brought 
 
 * American State Papers, (Finance), Vol. I., p. 123. f Ibid., p. 159.
 
 CHAPTER ni. 
 
 69 
 
 to bear against this inclination so far as the two beforenamed 
 manufactures from grain were concerned, was directed against 
 the manner of doing the thing. In this respect, however, the 
 more recent laws, and the discussions had thereon, show a 
 marked change of opinion. As to ardent spirits it was now 
 pretty generally admitted that it would be wise— since they 
 must, from their great consumption, form one of the princi- 
 pal sources of revenue— to give preference to the domestic 
 product over the foreign article. As to malt liquors the opin- 
 ion predominated, and very decidedly too, that, equally 
 profitable to agriculture, they should be fostered as a means of 
 diminishing the use of the former liquors and thus improve 
 the moral status of the people. Hamilton's report is conceived 
 entirely in this spirit. It reads : 
 
 " Manufactures of the several species of grain have a title 
 to peculiar favor : not only because they are most of them 
 immediately connected with the subsistence of the citizens, 
 but because they enlarge the demand for the most precious 
 products of the soil. Ardent spirits and malt liquors are, 
 next to flour, the two principal manufactures of grain. The 
 first has made a very extensive, and the last a considerable 
 progress in the United States. In respect to both an exclu- 
 sive possession of the home market ought to be secured to the 
 domestic manufacturers, as fast as circumstances will admit. 
 Nothing is more practicable, and nothing more desirable. 
 The existing laws of the United States have done much 
 towards attaining this valuable object. But some additions 
 to the present duties on foreign malt liquors', and perhaps 
 an abatement of those on home-made spirits, would more 
 efi'ectually secure it ; and there does not occur any weighty 
 objection to either. An augmentation of the duties on im- 
 ported spirits would favor as well the distillation of spirits 
 from molasses as that from grain. And to secure to the na- 
 tion the benefit of a manufacture, even of foreign materials, is
 
 70 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 always of great, though perhaps of secondary importance. A 
 strong impression prevails in the minds of those concerned in 
 distilleries (including, too, the most candid and enlightened), 
 that greater differences in the rates of duty on foreign and 
 domestic spirits are necessary, completely to secure the suc- 
 cessful manufacture of the latter ; and there are facts which 
 entitle this impression to attention. 
 
 " It is known, that the price of molasses for some years 
 past has been rising in the West India markets, owing partly 
 to a competition which did not formerly exist, and partly to 
 an extension of demand in this country ; and it is evident 
 that the late disturbances in those islands, from which we 
 draw our principal supply, must so far interfere with the pro- 
 duction of the article as to occasion a material enhancement 
 of the price. The destruction and devastation attendant 
 on the insurrection in Hispaniola, in particular, must not 
 only contribute very much to that effect, but may be expected 
 to give it some duration. These circumstances, and the duty 
 of three cents per gallon on molasses, may render it difficult 
 for the distillers of that material to maintain, with adequate 
 profit, a competition with the rum brought from the "West 
 Indies, the quality of which is so considerably superior. The 
 consumption of Geneva, or gin, in this country is extensive. 
 It is not long since distilleries of it have grown up among us to 
 any importance. They are now becoming of consequence ; 
 but being still in their infancy they require protection. It is 
 represented that the price of some of the materials is greater 
 here than in Holland, from which place large quantities are 
 brought — the price of labor considerably greater — the capitals 
 engaged in the business there much larger than in those which 
 are employed here — the rate of profits, at Avhich the under- 
 takers can afford to carry it on, much less — the prejudices in 
 favor of imported gin, strong. These circumstances are 
 alleged to outweigh the charges, which attend the bringing
 
 CHAPTER m. 
 
 71 
 
 of the article from Europe to tlie United States and the pres- 
 ent difference of duty, so as to obstruct the prosecution of 
 the manufacture with due advantage. Experiment could 
 alone decide with certainty the justness of the suggestions 
 which are made ; but in relation to branches of manufac- 
 ture so important, it would seem inexpedient to hazard an 
 unfavorable issue and better to err on the side of too great, 
 than of too small a difference in the particular in question. 
 
 " It is therefore submitted, that an addition of two cents 
 per gallon to the duty on imported spirits of the first-class of 
 proof, with a proportionable increase on those of higher proof, 
 and that a deduction of one cent per gallon be made from 
 the duty on spirits distilled within the United States, begin- 
 ning with the first-class of proof and a proportionable de- 
 duction from the duty on those of higher proof. It is ascer- 
 tained, that by far the greater part of the malt liquors con- 
 sumed in the United States are products of domestic breweries. 
 It is desirable, and, in all likelihood, attainable, that the whole 
 consumption should be supplied by ourselves. The malt 
 liquors made at home, though inferior to the best, are equal 
 to a great part of those which have been usually imported. 
 The progress already made is an earnest of what may be ac- 
 complished. The growing competition is an assurance of 
 improvement. This will be accelerated by measures tending 
 to invite a greater capital into this channel of employ- 
 ment. 
 
 " To render encouragement of domestic breweries decisive, 
 it may be advisable to substitute for the present rates of duty 
 eight cents per gallon generally, and it will deserve to be 
 considered as a guard against evasions, whether there ought 
 not to be a prohibition of their importation, except in casks of 
 considerable capacity. It is to be hoped that such a duty 
 would banish from the market foreign malt liquors of inferior 
 quality; and that the best kind only would continue to be
 
 72 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 imported, till it should be supplanted by the efforts of equal 
 skill and care at home. 
 
 " Till that period, the importation so qualified, would be 
 a useful stimulus to improvement ; and in the meantime 
 the payment of the increased price, for the enjoyment of a 
 luxury, in oixier to the encouragement of a most useful branch 
 of domestic industry, could not reasonably be deemed a 
 hardship. 
 
 " If anything in addition is judged eligible, the most 
 proper would appear to be a direct bounty on window glass 
 and black bottles. The first recommends itself as an object 
 of general convenience ; the last adds to that character the 
 circumstance of being an important item in breweries. A 
 complaint is made of great deficiency in this respect." * 
 
 The war carried on against hostile tribes of aborigines on 
 the then western frontiers of the Union, helped to realize, 
 sooner perhaps than would otherwise have been the case, the 
 intentions of Hamilton as to the protection of distilled, and 
 the encouragement of malt liquors. The defeat of St. Clair 
 by the hostile Indians and the insufficiency of martial means 
 for the protection of the western frontiers necessitated the 
 augmentation of the military establishment of the Union. 
 A bill was accordingly introduced into Congress (January 21, 
 1792), and passed, embodying the main features of a report by 
 
 * The lack of black quart bottles was at that time deemed an impedi- 
 ment to the brewing industry, and it was for this reason that this article 
 was exempt from the ten per cent, duty imposed, by previous acts, upon 
 glass ware. Interesting in this connection is the fact, that on June 2, 1 790, 
 a Congressional committee reported favorably on the petition of John F. 
 Amelung, who, having established a large glass manufactory in Frederick 
 County Md., sustained great losses by fire, and hence asked Congress for a 
 loan of money in order to enable him to continue operation. The committee 
 recommended, that a sum not exceeding $8,000.00 be advanced by the Treas- 
 ury, on the ground that an industry so important to the United States 
 deserved help. (Am. State Papers, Finance, Vol. i, p. 63.)
 
 CHAPTER III. 73 
 
 the War Department, to the effect that the two enrolled regi- 
 ments, as well as the artillery battalion be raised to their full 
 complement — the strength of a regiment on war footini;" being 
 nine hundred and sixty men — and that three new regiments, 
 including a small mounted force, be organized ; the President 
 being further authorized to cause the ein-olment of additional 
 squadrons of cavalry, in case the exigencies of the service 
 should require it. The amount of money requisite for this 
 increase of the military forces was estimated at $675,950 ; 
 hence additional revenues had to be raised amounting to that 
 figure, minus $150,000, which latter sum Hamilton thought 
 would represent the surplus of income for the preceding year. 
 Pointing out three expedients for providing this sum, namely, 
 disposing of the interests of the United States in the Bank of 
 the United States, contracting a new loan, and imposing addi- 
 tional taxes, Hamilton declared himself in favor of the last 
 named resort, recommending an increase of the specific duties 
 on imported wines, distilled spirits, malt liquors and ten other 
 articles, and also of certain ad valorem duties. The increase 
 of import duties on distilled spirits and malt liquors recom- 
 mended in each of the two documents just mentioned, was 
 again urged in Hamilton's reports respecting the difficulties 
 in the execution of the act laying duties on spirits distilled 
 within the United States. 
 
 Reviewing the objections which had arisen in various 
 quarters against this law, and which were stated in a number of 
 memorials and petitions, the Secretary states : " These objec- 
 tions have reference to a supposed tendency of the act, first, to 
 contravene the principles of liberty ; secondly, to injure morals ; 
 thirdly, to oppress by excessive penalties ; fourthly, to injure 
 industry and interfere with the business of distilling.'" 
 
 As to the first objection Hamilton took the ground that 
 there can surely be nothing in the nature of an internal duty 
 on a consumable commodity, more incompatible with liberty
 
 74 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 than in that of an external duty on a like commodity. A 
 doctrine which asserts that all excises are inconsistent with the 
 genius of a free government, would tend to deprive the Gov- 
 ernment of what is, in most countries, a principal source of 
 revenue, and, by narrowing the distribution of taxes, would 
 throw an undue proportion of the public burden on the mer- 
 chant and on the landholder. 
 
 Tacitly admitting that the prejudices against excises had a 
 rational foundation in the fact that the manner of collecting 
 such taxes had generally been productive of a tendency to in- 
 terfere with the rights of the tax-payers, he states that in the 
 case of the law under consideration, the mere name of the 
 measure misled the people, while prejudices excluded a due 
 attention to the fact, that the act was free from the features 
 which have served, in other cases, to render laws on the same 
 subject exceptionable. " The very things which have been stu- 
 diously avoided in the formation of the law are charged upon 
 it." The complaint that a summary and discretionary juris- 
 diction vested in excise officers, tended to abridge the right of 
 trial by jury, is dismissed by Hamilton as unfounded, there 
 being nothing in the act even to give color to a charge of the 
 kind against it. In answer to the charge that excise officers 
 are empowered to search and inspect indiscriminately all the 
 houses of persons engaged in the business of distilling, he 
 refers to that section of the law which prescribes that all 
 houses and buildings used for the purposes in question must 
 be previously entered and marked, and then says : " An officer, 
 under the act in question, can inspect or search no house 
 or building, or even an apartment of any house or build- 
 ing, which has not been previously entered and marked 
 by the possessor as a place used for distilling or keeping 
 spirits. And even the power, so qualified, is only applicable 
 to distilleries from foreign materials, and in cities, towns and 
 villages from domestic material; that is, only in cases in
 
 CHAPTER ni. 75 
 
 which the law contemplates that the business is carried on 
 upon such a scale as eflectually to separate the distillery from 
 the dwelling of the distiller. The distilleries scattered over 
 the country, which form much the greater part of the whole, 
 are in no degree subject to discretionary inspection and search. 
 The true principle of the objection which may be raised to a 
 general discretionary power of inspection and search is, that 
 the dwelling of a citizen ought to be free from vexatious in- 
 quisition and intrusion. The principle cannot apply to a case 
 in which it is put in his own power to separate the place of his 
 business from the place of his habitation / and, by designating 
 the former by visible public marks, to avoid all intermeddling 
 with the latter. Such marks are represented (by the oppo- 
 nents) as a dishonorable badge ; and thus a regulation, designed 
 as much to conform with the feelings of the citizen, as for the 
 security of the revenue, is converted into a matter of objection. 
 There can be nothing more harmless or less inconvenient than 
 such a regulation. The thing itself is frequently done by per- 
 sons of various callings, for the information of customers ; and 
 why it should become a hardship or grievance, when required 
 for a public purpose can, with difficulty, be imagined. The 
 supposed tendency of the act to corrupt morals," Hamilton 
 continues, " relates to the oaths, which are, in a variety of 
 cases, required, and which are liable to the objection, that they 
 give occasion to perjury. The requiring of oaths is not pecu- 
 liar to the act in question ; oaths are common appendages of 
 revenue laws, and are among the usual guards of these laws, 
 as they are of public and private rights in courts of justice. 
 They constantly occur in jury trials, to which the citizens of 
 the United States are so much and so justly attached. The 
 same objection, in different degrees, lies against them in both 
 cases, yet it is not perceivable how they can be dispensed with 
 in either. As to the charge that the penalties of the act are 
 severe and oppressive, it is made in such general terms, and so
 
 76 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE TTNITED STATES. 
 
 absolutely without the specification of any single particular that 
 it is difficult to imagine where it points. The penalties the law 
 inflicts are in their nature the same with those which are com- 
 mon in revenue laws, and, in their degree, comparatively mod- 
 erate. There appears to be but one provision in the law, 
 which admits of a question whether the penalty prescribed 
 may not partake of severity. It is that which inflicts the 
 pains of perjury on any person who shall be convicted of wil- 
 fully taking a false oath in any of the cases in which oaths are 
 required by the act. Precedents in relation to this particular 
 vary. In many of them, the penalties are less severe than for 
 perjury in courts of justice, in others they are the same. 
 The latter are, generally, of the latest date, and seem to have 
 been the result of experience. And the practice is certainly 
 founded on strong reasons. 1st. The additional security which 
 it gives to the revenue cannot be doubted. Many who would 
 risk pecuniary forfeitures and penalties would not encounter 
 the more disgraceful punishment annexed to perjury. 2d. 
 There seems to be no solid distinction between one false oath 
 in violation of law and right, and another false oath in violation 
 of law and right. A distinction in the punishment of different 
 species of false swearing is calculated to beget false opinions 
 concerning the sanctity of an oath ; and by countenancing an im- 
 pression that a violation of it is less heinous in the cases in which 
 it is less punished, it tends to impair in the mind that scrupulous 
 veneration for the obligations of an oath which ought always 
 to prevail. The supposed tendency of the act to injure in- 
 dustry, and to interfere with the business of distilling, has re- 
 lation to the eff"ect of the duty upon the extent of the manu- 
 facture ; when a manufacture is in its infancy it is impolitic 
 to tax it, because the tax would be both unproductive, and 
 would add to the difficulties which naturally impede the first 
 attempts to establish a new manufacture, so as to endanger its 
 success. But when a manufacture (as in the case of distilled
 
 CHAPTER ni. 77 
 
 spirits in the United States) is arrived at maturity, it is as fit 
 an article of taxation as any other. To the manufacture itself 
 the duty is no injury if an equal duty be laid on the rival 
 foreign article, and when a greater duty is laid upon the latter 
 than upon the former, as in the present instance, the difference 
 is a bounty on the domestic article, and operates as an encour- 
 agement of the manufacture, * * * However true the 
 allegation that it is, and ought to be, the prevailing policy of 
 nations to cherish their own manufactures, it is equally true 
 that nations, in general, lay duties for the purpose of revenue 
 on their own manufactures ; and it is obvious, to a demonstra- 
 tion, that it may be done without injury to them. The most 
 successful nations in manufactures have drawn the largest rev- 
 enue from the most useful of them. It merits particular at- 
 tention, that ardent spirits are an article which has been gen- 
 erally deemed, and made use of, as one of the fittest objects of 
 revenue, and to an extent, in other countries, which bears no 
 comparison with what has been done in the United States." 
 
 Reviewing, in the thorough and exhaustive manner charac- 
 teristic of all his public documents, a series of other less im- 
 portant objections to the act, Hamiltion concludes his report * 
 by submitting such alterations as were thought to remove some 
 of the causes of discontent on account of the law, and to ren- 
 der the collection of the taxes more secure. Among his prop- 
 ositions he repeats the one made in his report on manufactures 
 relative to an increase of the rate of import duties on distilled 
 spirits. He further proposed that in localities where a want 
 of money might prevent the payment of the tax, the Govern- 
 ment should accept the product itself in lieu of currency ; that 
 the distinction respecting distilleries from domestic material 
 
 * It is in tliis report that Hamilton estimates the annual per capita con- 
 sumption of distilled spirits, in the United States, at eleven quarts. The 
 consumption in the year 1880 did not amount to four quarts.
 
 78 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 in cities, towns and villages be so altered as to confine it to 
 one or more stills worked at the same distillery, the capacity 
 or capacities of wliich together do not fall short of four hun- 
 dred gallons ; that at least one oflB.ce of inspection shall be es- 
 tablished in each coi^nty, and as many more as the supervisor 
 may judge necessary for the accommodation of the inhabitants. 
 That in order to prevent evasions of the law, the possessors or 
 proprietors of stills be held jointly and severally liable, and the 
 duty be made a specific lien on the still ; also that the owner 
 of the land upon which stills are worked should be made an- 
 swerable for the duty, except where the distiller is a honafide 
 tenant of the land for a term of not less than one year ; and 
 that the exemption specified in the 36th section of the law be 
 abolished. He also recommended a number of changes in 
 respect to drawbacks, to the marking of casks and other ves- 
 sels used in the manufacture of distilled spirits ; to the man- 
 ner and time of paying taxes, and to the character, duties and 
 compensation of revenue oflicers. 
 
 These suggestions, together with the recommendations con- 
 tained in the two other reports, resulted in the enactment of 
 two laws. The one, an act for raising a further sum of money 
 for the protection of the frontiers (approved May 2, 1792,) 
 imposed the following duties on objects pertaining to the 
 liquor traflBc : 
 
 Madeira wine of the quality of London particular, per gallon, fifty-six 
 cent ; Madeira of the quality London market, per gallon, forty cents ; other 
 Madeira wines, per gallon, forty cents ; Sherry, per gallon, thirty -three 
 cents ; Saint Lucar, per gallon, thirty cents ; Lisbon, per gallon, twenty-five 
 cents ; Oporto, per gallon, twenty -five cents ; TenerifEe and Fayall, per gal- 
 lon, twenty cents. All other wines, forty per cent, ad valorem. 
 
 Spirits, distilled wholly or chiefly from molasses, or other foreign materials: 
 Of the first-class of proof, per gallon, twenty-eight cents. 
 
 second 
 
 third 
 
 fourth 
 
 fifth 
 
 sixth 
 
 twenty-nine 
 
 thirty-one 
 
 thirty-four 
 
 forty 
 
 fiftv
 
 CHAPTER III. 79 
 
 All other distilled spirits : 
 
 Of second-class of proof and under, per gallon, twenty-five cents. 
 " tliird '• " " " twenty-eight " 
 
 " fourth " " " " thirty-two 
 
 " fifth " " " " thirty-eight " 
 
 " sixth " " " " forty-six 
 
 Beer, Ale and Porter, per gallon, eight cents. 
 
 (Black quart bottles again exempt from the duty on glass ware. ) 
 
 The other law (approved May 8, 1791), concerning the 
 internal duties on distilled spirits, is sufficiently important to 
 warrant its partial reproduction. It reads : 
 
 Section 1. Be it enacted, &c.. That from and after the last of June 
 next, the present duties upon spirits distilled within the United States, and 
 on stills shall cease, and that in lieu thereof, upon all spirits which after the 
 said day shall be distilled wholly or in part from molasses, sugar or other 
 foreign materials, there shall be paid the duties following, that is to say : 
 For every gallon of those spirits of the first-class of proof, ten cents. 
 
 second 
 
 third 
 
 fourth 
 
 fifth 
 
 sixth 
 
 eleven 
 
 twelve " 
 
 fourteen " 
 
 eighteen " 
 
 ' twenty-five " 
 
 And upon all spirit which after the said day shall be distilled within 
 the United States from materials of the growth or produce of the United 
 States, in any city, town or village, at any distillery at which there shall be 
 one or more stills which, singly or together, shall be of the capacity of four 
 hundred gallons or upwards, there shall be paid the duties following : 
 For every gallon of those spirits of the first-class of proof, seven cents. 
 " second " 
 
 third " 
 " fourth " 
 
 fifth " 
 " sixth " 
 
 And upon stills which after the said day shall be employed in distilling- 
 spirits from materials of the growth or produce of the United States, at any 
 other place than a city, town or village, or at any distillery in a city, town 
 or village, at which there shall be one or more stills, which, singly or to- 
 gether shall be of less capacity than four hundred gallons, there shall be paid 
 the yearly duty of fifty-four cents for every gallon, English wine measure, of 
 the capacity or contents of each and every such still, including the head 
 
 eight 
 nine 
 eleven 
 thirteen 
 eighteen "
 
 80 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE TJNITED STATES. 
 
 thereof : Provided, that it shall be at the option of the proprietor or posses- 
 sor of any such still, instead of the said yearly duty, either to pay seven 
 cents for every gallon of spirits by him or her distilled, or to pay at the rate 
 of ten cents per gallon of the capacity for each and every month of the em- 
 ployment of such still, and in case the said proprietor shall elect to pay either 
 the said rate of seven cents, or the said monthly rate of ten cents, according 
 to the capacity of his still, he at the time of making entry of his still or 
 stills, shall by writing under his hand, left at the office of inspection where 
 such entry shall be made, notify the said election, and if the same shall be 
 to pay the said monthly rate of ten cents, shall demand a license for the 
 term of time, specifying the day of commencing and the day of ending, 
 during which he shall intend to work his still or stills, which license shall 
 without delay or expense to the said proprietor be granted. And in case of 
 an election to pay the said monthly rate of ten cents, it shall not be lawful 
 for any person by whom the same shall have been made, to work his still or 
 stills at any time within the year from the date of his entry thereof, other 
 than that for which a license shall have been granted unless he shall have 
 previously obtained another license for such further time, which upon like 
 application shall be granted in like manner, and if such person shall work 
 his still or stills, contrary to direction or provision aforesaid he shall forfeit 
 and pay for every such ofEence two hundred dollars. 
 
 Section 2. That there be in each county comprehended within any dis- 
 trict, at least one office of inspection at which every person having or keep- 
 ing a still or stills within such county shall, between the last day of May 
 and the first day of July in each year, make entry of such still or stills ; and 
 at which every person, who being a resident within the county shall procure 
 a still or stills, or who removing within a county, shall bring therein a still 
 or stills, shall, within thirty days after such procuring or removal, and be- 
 fore he or she shall begin to use said stills, make entry thereof. And 
 every entry, besides describing each still and capacity thereof, shall specify 
 the place where, and the person in whose possession it is, and the purpose 
 for which it is intended, as whether for sale or use in distilling ; and in 
 the case of removal, shall specify the place from which every such still 
 shall have been brought. 
 
 Section 3. That every proprietor or possessor of a still shall be jointly 
 and severally liable for the duty thereupon ; and that every owner of land, 
 upon which any still shall be worked, shall be liable for the duty, unless the 
 same shall be worked by a lawful and bona fide tenant of the land of an 
 estate, not less than for one year, or unless such owner can make it appear, 
 that the possessor of, or person by whom such still shall have been worked, 
 was during the whole time of working the same, a trespasser or intruder on 
 his laud.
 
 CHAPTER in. 81 
 
 Section 4. Tliat every oflBcer of inspection within whose survey any 
 distillery of Geneva or sweet cordial, subject to the payment of duty by the 
 gallon of spirits distilled thereon may be, shall forbear to visit or inspect, 
 for a space not exceeding two hours in each day, such part of the said dis- 
 tillery as he may be required by the proprietor or manager of such distillery 
 to forbear to visit and inspect, for which purpose it shall be necessary 
 for the said proprietor to give notice in writing to the said officer, describing 
 therein particularly the part of such distillery, which it shall be his desire 
 that the said officer may forbear to visit, &c. , * * * 
 
 Section 5. That it shall be in the discretion of the Secretary of the 
 Treasury to regulate as well the marks, to be set upon the casks, vessels and 
 packages containing distilled spirits, as the forms of the certificates which 
 are to accompany the same, and that when any cask or vessel in which dis- 
 tilled spirits have been contained, shall have been emptied of its contents, 
 it shall be lawful for the marks thereupon to be effaced by, or in the pre- 
 sence of an officer of inspection, and if the said cask or vessel shall after- 
 wards be used for putting therein other spirits, the same may be marked 
 anew. 
 
 Section 6. That instead of a notice of twenty-four hours heretofore 
 required to be given of the intent to export distilled spirits in order to 
 obtain the benefit of the drawback of the duties thereupon, six hours shall 
 be sufficient. 
 
 Section 7. That there be an abatement for leakage at the rate of two 
 per cent, in every case in which the duty shall be payable by the gallon of 
 the spirits distilled, to be allowed at the distillery where such spirits shall 
 be made. 
 
 Section 8. That the officer of inspection within whose survey any still 
 shall be, the duty whereupon is payable according to the capacity of the 
 still, shall identify by progressive numbers and other proper marks, every 
 Buch still within his survey, and the duty thereupon shall operate as a spe- 
 cific lien upon the said still. 
 
 Section 9. That every distiller of and dealer in spirits, who may have 
 in his or her possession, distilled spirits not marked or certified, pursuant 
 to the act, intituled " An Act repealing after the last day of June next, the 
 duties heretofore laid upon distilled spirits imported from abroad, and lay- 
 ing others in their stead, and also upon spirits distilled within the United 
 States and for appropriating the same," shall, prior to the last day of Septem- 
 ber next, report the spirits in his or her possession in writing, at some office 
 of inspection, to the end that such spirits may be marked and certified as 
 old stock. And that from and after the said last day of September next.
 
 82 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 casks and vessels of the capacity of twenty gallons and upwards, contain- 
 ing distilled spirits, which shall be found in the possession of any distiller or 
 dealer in spirits, except at a distillery were the same were made, or in tran- 
 sit from one place to another, without being marked according to law, or 
 without having a certificate from some proper oiiicer, shall be liable to seizure 
 and forfeiture, and that it shall be the duty of the several officers of in- 
 spection, upon request of any dealer or distiller, to take measures for the 
 marking of casks, vessels and packages containing distilled spirits, and to 
 furnish such dealer or distiller, free from expense, with certificates to accom- 
 pany the same. Provided, That it shall not be incumbent upon any such 
 officer to mark or certify any cask, vessel or package which ought to have 
 been before marked or certified according to any law of the United States. 
 
 Section 10. That from and after the last day of April, one *tkou- 
 sand seven hundred and ninety-three, no distilled spirits except 
 arrack and sweet cordials, shall be brought into the United States 
 from any foreign port or place, except in casks or vessels of the capacity of 
 ninety gallons and upwards. 
 
 Section 11. That no drawback of the duty on distilled spirits which 
 shall be exported after the last day of June next, shall be allowed upon any 
 quantity less than one hundred gallons. 
 
 Section 12. That after the last day of June next, no distilled spirits 
 shall be brought into the United States, from any foreign part or place, in 
 any cask or vessel, which shall have been marked pursuant to any law of 
 the United States concerning distilled spirits, on pain of forfeiture of the 
 spirits so brought, and of the ship or vessel in which they shall be brought. 
 
 Section 13. That if the owner or possessor of any still or stills shall 
 neglect to make entry thereof, within the time and in the manner prescribed 
 by the second section of this Act, such owner or possessor shall forfeit and 
 pay the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars : and if any distilled spirits, 
 except arrack and sweet cordials, shall, after the last day of April next, be 
 brought into the United States in casks or vessels of less capacity than 
 ninety gallons, all such spirits, and the casks and vessels coutaiuing the 
 same, shall be subject to seizure and forfeiture, and every such penalty or 
 forfeiture shall be one half to the use of the person who shall first discover 
 and make known the matter or thing whereby the same shall have been 
 incurred. 
 
 It appears somewhat difficult to determine how far Hamil- 
 ton's proposition to protect the domestic manufacture of dis- 
 tilled spirits would liave affected legislation, in the absence of
 
 CHAPTER m. 83 
 
 that combination of circumstances which necessitated an in- 
 crease of revenue and rendered expedient the reduction of 
 internal duties upon stills and ardent liquors. The increase of 
 the import duties, effected simultaneously with a reduction of 
 the internal taxes, certainly was intended as a protective 
 measure ; but it must remain a matter for conjecture, whether 
 its adoption was not due quite as much to a desire to re- 
 move the discontent manifested in consequence of the excise 
 law, as to considerations of a purely Protectionist character. 
 
 So far as malt liquors are concerned, the increased import 
 duty cannot fail to be regarded as a means for the encourage- 
 ment and protection of breweries, not only because there is 
 abundant direct evidence of a very decided purpose to foster 
 this manufacture ; but also because the additional revenue to be 
 derived from an increase of import duties, was not a matter 
 worthy of serious consideration. Out of a total of $523,000 
 to be raised by the additional taxes, malt liquors were estimated 
 to yield but $5,000, on the basis of the amount of importation 
 of the previous year. Considering that the increased rate 
 would diminish the quantity imported — as, indeed, it was in- 
 tended to do — it becomes evident that protection and encour- 
 agement were the sole factors in the increase of duties in 
 question.
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 the westeen or "whiskey insukrection : violent opposi- 
 tion to the establishment of excise offices. attack on 
 
 captain faulkner. meeting at pittsburgh. seditious 
 
 resolutions adopted. proclamation by the president. 
 
 reign of terror inaugurated by tom the tinker. 
 
 continuation of outrages upon officers and complying 
 
 distillers. attack on, and destruction of, general 
 
 Neville's house. — seven thousand armed rioters march 
 into pittsburgh. bradford's design to revolutionize 
 
 adjoining states and form an INDEPENDENT STATE. 
 
 MAILS ROBBED, SECOND PROCLAIMATION BY THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 MILITIA CALLED OUT. FRUITLESS EFFORTS OF A PEACE 
 
 COMMISSION. ADVANCE OF THE ARMY. FLIGHT OF THE 
 
 MORE VIOLENT LEADERS. RESOLUTIONS OF SUBI^HSSION. 
 
 ARRIVAL OF THE ARMY AT PARKISON'S FERRY. INSUR- 
 GENTS DISPERSED AND ORDER RE-ESTABLISHED. 
 
 Under the new law embracing, as has been seen, the more 
 important modifications suggested — some of them intended 
 to obviate, others calculated pacifically to overcome opposi- 
 tion — the revenue officers succeeded little better than before 
 in collecting the taxes from the recalcitrant distillers. A dis- 
 position to comply with the law was, indeed, sporadically 
 manifested in the localities least infected, but the opposition 
 soon found means to smother it. The menaces and outrages 
 by which the Federal officers had before been prevented from 
 the fulfillment of their duties, were now generally applied 
 against every person in any manner favoring the law or its 
 executors; and in a short time it became manifest, that to aid, 
 even indirectly, in facilitating the collection of duties must
 
 CHAPTER IV. 85 
 
 inevitably imperil the life and property of those doing so. 
 For a time the opposition's principal object was to prevent 
 the carrying out of the second section of the new law which 
 provided that there shall be one office of inspection in each 
 county ; the old law having left it to the discretion of the 
 supervisors (there being one for each State) to appoint these 
 officers. This object was first sought to be attained by threat- 
 ening the well-disposed citizens with destruction of life and 
 property in case they should give aid or comfort to the excise 
 officers. Too many horrible proofs of the determined char- 
 acter of the opposition had been given, to permit the people to 
 ignore these threats, and, in consequence of the state of fear 
 produced by them, it was for a time impossible to obtain suit- 
 able places for excise offices. Finally in August, 1792, an 
 army officer, Captain William Faulkner, gave permission for 
 the use of his house as an office of inspection in the county of 
 Washington, but was compelled by the rioters to rescind his 
 action. The occurrence is related in Hamilton's report to the 
 President * in these words : 
 
 " Captain Faulkner, being in pursuit of some deserters 
 from his troops, was encountered by a number of people in 
 the same neighborhood where Johnson had been ill-treated 
 the preceding year, who reproached him with letting his house 
 for an excise office, drew a knife upon him, threatened to 
 scalp, tar and feather him, and reduce his house and property 
 to ashes, if he did not solemnly promise to prevent tlie further 
 use of his house for an office. Faulkner, to save his life and 
 property, made the promise, and, in consequence of the cir- 
 cumstance, wrote a letter to the inspector, dated the 20th of 
 August, countermanding the permission for using his house." 
 
 In order to prevent others from letting their houses for 
 
 * Hamilton's Works. Cabinet Papers. Vol. IV., p. 585.
 
 86 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the purpose in question, Captain Faulkner was further com- 
 pelled to publish a letter in the Pittshwrgh Gazette, giving 
 notice that the office of inspection should no longer be kept in 
 his house. 
 
 A manifesto breathing the same spirit which dictated the 
 outrage upon Faulkner, was made public at about the same 
 time ; it was prepared in a meeting of a number of persons 
 from Washington, Fayette and Allegany counties, held at 
 Pittsburgh (August, 1792). Among other things the resolu- 
 tions set forth, that *'atax on spirituous liquors is unjust in 
 itself and oppressive upon the poor ; that internal taxes upon 
 consumption must, in the end, destroy the liberties of every 
 country in which they are introduced ; and that the law would 
 bring distress and ruin upon the western counties." The 
 meeting — of which Gallatin acted as secretary — also made 
 arrangements to enter into correspondence with opponents of 
 the Government in the four refractory counties and other 
 parts of the Union, the object of this being to effect concerted 
 action. It was further declared that the persons attending the 
 meeting will take all legal means to obstruct the operation of 
 the excise law, that they " will, in future, consider those who 
 hold offices for the collection of the duty as unworthy of their 
 friendship, that they will have no intercourse nor dealings 
 with them, will withdraw from them every assistance, with- 
 hold all the comforts of life which depend upon those duties, 
 and will upon all occasions treat them with contempt, earnestly 
 recommending to the people at large to treat them in the 
 same manner." 
 
 This public declaration, taken in connection with the out- 
 rages already committed in accordance and harmony with 
 previous manifestations of a like nature, certainly partook 
 of an insurrectionary character, and would have justified strong 
 measures for the vindication of the "majesty of the law." 
 Findley styled these resolutions censurable on the ground of
 
 CHAPTER IV. 87 
 
 discretion,* but deemed them entirely lawful ; and in support 
 of his opinion he refers *to the fact that the Attorney-General 
 of the United States, Edmund Randolph, failed to discover 
 anything actionable in the testimony procured against the 
 persons who had participated in the meeting. A most unfor- 
 tunate reference, in the light of subsequent events which 
 showed Randolph to have been in collusion with the leaders 
 of the Insurrection as well as with the French cabal of Genet. 
 Hamilton's view of the determination on the part of the 
 opponents to obstruct the operations of the law is given in 
 these words : 
 
 " The idea of pursuing legal measures to obstruct the 
 operation of a law needs little comment. Legal measures 
 may be pursued to procure the repeal of a law, but to 
 obstruct its operation presents a contradiction in terms. 
 The operation, or what is the same thing, the execution 
 of a law cannot be obstructed after it has been constitu- 
 tionally enacted, without illegality and crime." 
 
 On the 15th of September (1792) Washington issued a 
 proclamation " admonishing and exhorting all persons whom- 
 soever it might concern, to refrain from unlawful combina- 
 tions and proceedings whatsoever, having for object or tending 
 to obstruct the operation of the law, inasmuch as all lawful 
 means would be applied for bringing to justice the infractors 
 thereof and securing obedience thereto ; and, moreover, charg- 
 ing all courts, magistrates and officers, according to the duties 
 of their several offices, to exert the powers in them respec- 
 tively vested by law for the purpose aforesaid, and also 
 enjoining and requiring all persons loving the welfare of their 
 
 * History of the Insurrection, p. 44. It may not be amiss to place this 
 version of the Insurrection in a true light, seeing that it is even at the 
 present day treated with that confidence and deference which are due only 
 to impartiality and fairness.
 
 88 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 country, interested in the just authority of Government and 
 preservation of public peace, to be aiding therein ; likewise 
 directing that offenders be prosecuted in accordance with 
 
 law." 
 
 The efforts made under and by virtue of this proclama- 
 tion, to break the spirit of resistance, by employing the 
 judiciary machinery — to which end the supervisor of the 
 revenue for the district of Pennsylvania, George Clymer, had 
 been directed to proceed to the refractory surveys and to col- 
 lect testimony, whereon to base indictments — proved abortive, 
 partly in consequence of errors committed by the officer just 
 named, and partly by reason of the decision of the Attorney- 
 General of the United States, to the effect, as already stated, 
 that the resolutions adopted at the last Pittsburgh meeting 
 offered no ground for indictment. In the case of the Faulkner 
 riot prosecution was attempted against two persons ; but the 
 latter had to be set free, owing to mistaken identity. 
 
 In this perplexing state of affairs, a recourse to force being 
 feared by some officers of the Government as much as it was 
 openly deprecated, but secretly accelerated by others,* the Trea- 
 sury Department endeavored to conciliate the distillers by a 
 measure which had been proposed by Hamilton, but was not 
 embodied in the new law, namely : The purchase of spirits for 
 the use of the army from those distillers of the western coun- 
 ties who had complied with the law. In addition to this, an 
 attempt was made to intercept the markets for the surplus 
 produce of the distilleries in the western counties, and prose- 
 cute violators of the law. Some seizures were made of spirits 
 intended for market, occasional purchases were effected and 
 prosecutions instituted against non-complying distilleries. This 
 
 * While officially shielding the rioters from the employment of force 
 against them, Randolph seems to have secretly done all in his power to 
 accelerate the course of those events, which could not but ultimately lead 
 to what, as yet, he endeavored to avert by his decision.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 89 
 
 leniency of the Government was, however, variously construed. 
 While some took it at its real worth, and felt inclined to yield 
 obedience to the law, others— and by far the majority of citi- 
 zens — regarded it as a symptom of weakness of the Adminis- 
 tration, and as an earnest of the ultimate repeal of the law. 
 The willingness of some distillers to comply with the law only 
 tended to exasperate the delinquents, who again began to 
 practice their old m.ethods of intimidation. In spite of a law 
 passed in March, 1793, authorizing special sessions of the 
 United States Circuit to be held at convenient places within 
 the Judicial District, so as to afford protection to the well- 
 disposed, by a speedy course of justice against rioters, outrages 
 continued to occur quite frequently, only differing from 
 those which preceded them in their increased cruelty and 
 violence. 
 
 In April, 1793, the house of the revenue inspector of 
 Fayette County was attacked at night by a party of regula- 
 tors ; but, fortunately, the officer was absent from home. The 
 attack was, however, repeated on the 22d of November, and 
 the inspector was then compelled, at the muzzle of a pistol, to 
 surrender his commission and books, and to swear that he 
 would publish his resignation in the newspapers, on pain of 
 another attack and the total demolition of his property. The 
 stills, barns and houses of complying distillers were burned ; 
 persons who dared to testify against rioters fared no better. 
 Armed regulators patrolled through the four counties, sud- 
 denly appearing here, there and everywhere ; terrorizing every- 
 body, and compelling infractions of the law, where otherwise 
 the fullest submission might have been accorded to the fair 
 demands of the Government. "The threats of the rioters," 
 says Findley, " contained in letters signed by Tom the 
 Tinker, were directed to certain persons, with express orders 
 to have them published, and the editor of the Pittsburgh 
 Gazette did not think it prudent to refuse to admit them."
 
 90 LIQUOB LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Tom the Tinker is said to have first been suggested as a nom 
 de guerre by a rioter of the name of John Holcroffc. Destroy- 
 ing the stills of law-abiding citizens was termed " mending" ; 
 tinker being a synonym of mend, the former word, as a sub- 
 stantive, ultimately became the appellation for the destroyers 
 of stills. 
 
 Although the reign of terror maintained by Tom the 
 Tinker exceeded anything experienced before its inauguration, 
 there seemed to be, towards the close of 1793, and the begin- 
 ning of 1794, a more general disposition to comply with the 
 law. Many of those who had at first opposed excise duties 
 shrank from the consequences of the outrages committed by 
 the Tinker; and that feeling of insecurity which must inevit- 
 ably attend an anarchical state of things, told very perceptibly 
 on the material prosperity of the people. It was thought that 
 a general compliance with the law could be eifected if the fear 
 of Tinkerdom were counteracted by a swift course of retribu- 
 tive justice. In order to attain this object, and at the same 
 time still more efiectually to remove one of the objections to 
 the law, an act was passed on the fifth of June, 1794, confer- 
 ring on the State courts jurisdiction concurrent with the 
 courts of the United States. Among the many alleged griev- 
 ances of the rioters the mode of prosecuting violators of the 
 excise held a prominent place, and the substance of the act 
 just mentioned was virtually a compliance with one of their 
 demands. 
 
 Under this new law — the last of the many concessions made 
 to a seditions spirit, under stress of circumstances pregnant 
 with evil — the Government determined to enforce the entering 
 of stills and the collection of taxes at all hazards, and it was 
 now in a better condition to do so than ever before. All the 
 artifices and stratagems employed by the opposition to render 
 Washington's administration odious, had failed ; the investi- 
 gation into the conduct of the Treasury had resulted in a
 
 CHAPTER IV. 91 
 
 brilliant vin.lication of Hamilton's course ; the cabal of the 
 French faction had received a severe blow by Genet's recall, 
 and in the matter of foreign relations the Administration had 
 achieved a victory. 
 
 Immediately after the adjournment of Congress, June 9, 
 1T94, indictments were found and warrants issued against a 
 number of non-complying distillers in Western Pennsylvania. 
 The marshal, who was charged with the serving of these war- 
 rants, met with no resistance, until, having successfully served 
 twenty-nine papers, he reached the house of a delinquent dis- 
 tiller named Miller, near Peter's creek. On his way he was 
 accompanied by John Neville, revenue inspector of the dis- 
 trict. Both officers were attacked by a party of armed men, 
 fired upon and compelled to fly for their lives.* Neville re- 
 turned to his house, in the vicinity of Pittsburgh. On the 
 same day the " Mingo Creek Society," composed of a battalion 
 of militia, rendezvoused, as Findlej says, "in order to form a 
 select corps of militia, as their quota of the 80,000 men required 
 by Congress." It is not known whether the organization of 
 this select corps was perfected for the laudable purpose stated ; 
 it is a fact, however, that the next morning (July 16th, 1794), 
 led by John Holcroft, a party of about forty of those who had 
 
 * Findley states in his account : " A number of men were observed as 
 if in pursuit of them and one gun was discharged ; not however, with a 
 design to do execution. It is well known that if the design had been to 
 shoot one, or either of them, they could not have escaped. " p. 77. On the 
 the very next page Findley blames Neville for having accompanied the 
 marshal, in these words contradicting in toto the assertion, that the gun 
 was fired without design to do execution : " The inspector knew that there 
 were designs again-^t him, and he ought not to have involved the marshal 
 in the same risk with himself." The same author explains the animosity 
 of the people against Neville, by stating that, as the latter had formerly 
 opposed the State excise, and now accepted an excise office from the Fede- 
 ral Government, the people " looked on him as giving up his principles for 
 a bribe ; " the bribe being his salary as inspector, amounting to
 
 92 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE TNITED STATES. 
 
 attended the militia meeting, appeared with arms in their 
 hands, at the house of General jSTeville, and prepared foi- an 
 assault. The inspector, aware of the temper of his assailants 
 of the evening before, had, in anticipation of an attack, barri- 
 caded his house and armed his servants. On the approach 
 of the rioters, he opened a brisk fire, and drove back the 
 attacking party, with a loss to the latter of five men wounded 
 and one killed.* Conscious of the perilousness of his position, 
 Keville applied for protection to two magistrates, and the com- 
 mandants of the militia at Pittsburgh, and failing in this, he 
 asked for, and obtained, a detachment of eleven regulars from 
 the garrison of Fort Pitt, under the command of Major Fitz- 
 patrick, his kinsman. In the meantime the rioters made pre- 
 parations for a renewal of the attack and the gratification of 
 the spirit of vengeance, which had been aroused by the casual- 
 ties of the previous attack, and stimulated bj the incendiary 
 eloquence of John Holcroft. The next morning the Mingo 
 Creek battalion, fully armed and. equipped in militia style, 
 assembled at Couche's Fort and after holding a council of 
 war, appointed a committee of three, for the conduct of the 
 expedition. This committee placed McFarlane, formerly a 
 lieutenant in the Continental army, in command of the troops 
 numbering five hundred men. On seeing this body of despe- 
 rate men approaching his house, Keville, convinced that he 
 could not successfully defend his property against such odds^ 
 concluded to escape, leaving Major Fitzpatrick to make a 
 capitulation in favor of the property, if practicable, if not, to 
 defend it as long as possible. 
 
 Before begmning the assault, McFarlane, in accordance 
 
 * Findley describes tins episode as follows ; The party, on being asked 
 what their business was, and answering m a suspicious manner, were, icith- 
 out further provocation, fired on from the house, and after returning the fire, 
 they were fired on by the negroes from the adjoining buildings. Bemg 
 thus unexpectedly attacked m flank, they retired."
 
 CIIAl'TKR IV. 
 
 93 
 
 with instructions from the committee of three, opened a parlej 
 with the beleaguered regulars, demanding the surrender of 
 Neville ; being informed of the inspector's escape, he next 
 proposed that six of his men be admitted to the house for the 
 purpose of a search, the object of which was said to be Ne- 
 ville's commission and the documents relating to the prosecu- 
 tion of delinquent distillers. Upon Fitzpatrick's refusal to 
 accede to this demand, McFarlane sent notice for the women 
 of Neville's household to leave the premises. This having 
 been done, the insurgents at once began firing. The very un- 
 equal combat lasted but a short time ; McFarlane having been 
 killed, the mob became infuriated, and setting fire to the out- 
 houses, compelled the intrepid little garrison to surrender. 
 The eleven men, three of whom had been wounded during the 
 brief struggle, were dismissed. At this juncture the marshal 
 and Neville's son came upon the scene, and were immediately 
 seized by the mob ; the former would undoubtedly have been 
 killed, had he not promised to relinquish the task he had un- 
 dertaken and to refrain from serving processes west of the 
 mountains. The inspector's residence was entirely consumed 
 by fire. General Neville and the marshal, who had escaped to 
 Pittsburgh, found little safety there ; on the following day the 
 rioters demanded of the former that he resign his oflice, of the 
 latter, that he surrender all warrants in his possession. Un- 
 willing to comply with these requirements of their personal 
 safety, and aware of the consequences of a refusal, the two 
 ofiicers descended the Ohio river as far as Marietta, and thence 
 made their way to Philadelphia, the seat of Government. 
 
 Flushed with victory, the leaders of the riot at once took 
 steps for the raising of a still greater military force. A public 
 meeting, appointed, it is said, at the funeral of McP'arlane, 
 was held at Mingo Creek, July 23d'; Bradford, prosecuting 
 attorney for the District, the most violent of the excise rioters, 
 delivered a brutal speech in which he urged continued resist-
 
 94 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ance, and the arming of all able bodied men of the western coun- 
 ties, with the design of marching upon Philadelphia. Brack- 
 enridge, a prominent lawyer of Pittsburg, who has left us a 
 history of the insurrection, opposed Bradford's wild scheme ; 
 he succeeded in shaking the bitter determination of the 
 Bradford faction, and the result was that no definite 
 action was taken, save the calling of a convention of 
 delegates from the townships of the western counties 
 of Pennsylvania and the neighboring counties of Yirginia, 
 to meet on the IMh day of August, 1794, at Parkison's 
 Ferry, on the Monongahela, The object of the convention 
 was to have been " a consideration of the situation," and it may 
 be, as the apologists of the insurrection subsequently claimed, 
 that the submission of the revolting counties was contemplated 
 by many of the rioters. ♦ If such was the intention, Bradford 
 took unusual precaution to frustrate it. 
 
 By an arrogation of power he assumed the right vested in 
 the directoire, i. e., the committee of three, appointed on the 
 17th of July, and undertook to guide the movement. His first act 
 was the robbmg of the western mail on the post-road between 
 Greensburgh and Pittsburgh. Pretending to have discovered 
 secret plans detrimental to the interest of the good people of 
 western Pennsylvania, this self-created dictator sent to militia 
 officers the following circular, dated Cannonsburgh,and signed 
 by himself, A. Fulton, J. Cannon, B. Parkison, T. Speers, I. 
 Lowry and J. Marshall : " Having had suspicions that the 
 Pittsburgh post would carry with him the sentiments of some 
 of the people m the country, respecting our present alarming 
 situation ; and the letters by the post being now m our posses- 
 sion, by which certain secrets are discovered hostile to our 
 interest, it is therefore now come to that crisis, that every 
 citizen must express his sentiments not by his words but his 
 actions. You are then called on, as a citizen of the western 
 country, to render your personal service, with as many volun-
 
 CHAPTER IV. 95 
 
 teers as you can raise, to rendezvous at your usual place of 
 meeting on Wednesday next ; and from thence you will march 
 to the usual place of rendezvous at Braddock's Field, on the 
 Monongahela, on the first of August next, to be there at two 
 o'clock in the afternoon, with arms and accoutrements in good 
 order. Here, sir, an expedition is proposed, in which you will 
 have an opportunity of displaying your military talents, and of 
 rendering service to your country." 
 
 On the day appointed seven thousand armed men gathered 
 on Braddock's Field ; among the multitude were Ross, United 
 States Senator, Col. Cook, one of the judges of Fayette county, 
 and Albert Gallatin, who in 1793 was declared ineligible to a 
 seat in the United States Senate, to which he had been elected 
 by the Pennsylvania Legislature.* Bradford created himself 
 major-general, and in this capacity reviewed the troops. The 
 army, resolving itself into a deliberative body, of which Cook 
 was chairman and Gallatin secretary, appointed a committee 
 for the conduct of the enterprise, and this Direetory ordered 
 that, in addition to a number of men already banished because 
 their letters, which had been opened by Bradford, contained 
 expressions of loyal sentiments, two more citizens of Pitts- 
 burgh should be expelled. Bradford, idolized by his support- 
 ers and feared by all, marched his army to Pittsburgh, where 
 a seemingly hearty welcome was given to the rioters. After an 
 improvised repast a great number of men went to their homes, 
 but those bent upon mischief remained in town, under Brad- 
 ford's command, and during the night burned a bam belonging 
 to Major Fitzpatrick. 
 
 That the expulsion of two citizens could not have been the 
 real object of the march upon Pittsburg is obvious enough ; 
 
 * By a vote of fourteen to twelve, tlie Senate, sitting for the first time 
 with open doors, decided that Gallatin, a Swiss by birth, had not been a 
 citizen of the United Statics sufHcier, ;ly lonj? to entitle him to a seat.
 
 06 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 in reality, Bradford bad hoped that be could induce tbe mili- 
 tia officers to seize Fort Pitt by force of arms, and thus obtain 
 possession of tbe arms and munition stored in its arsenal. His 
 ulterior scbeme seems to bave been a secession of tbe western 
 counties. His immediate plan was frustrated, however, by the 
 good sense of a majority of the militia officers ; but he still 
 retained power over a large body of rioters, and coirtinued to 
 perpetrate horrible outrages ; driving from tlie counties not 
 only all Federal officers, save the military, but also all well-dis- 
 posed citizens. 
 
 It was a critical moment in Washington's administration, 
 when — seeing the authority of the Government successfully 
 defied in one part of the country, and a spirit of resistance, 
 rekindled by the French faction, spreading throughout the 
 land — he felt compelled to resort to an exercise of the powers 
 vested in him by the Militia Law.* Mifflin, governor of Penn- 
 sylvaniajhaving shown a disinclination to call out the militia of 
 his State, on the ground that such a course might increase the 
 opposition to such an extent as to necessitate the employment 
 of troops from the adjoining States — an event which he feared 
 would result in a general war — Washington resolved to make 
 use of his power. In accordance with the law providing for 
 the calling out of the militia, he submitted a statement of the 
 disturbances to a judge of the Supreme Court, who gave a cer- 
 tificate to the effect, that the execution of the laws of the 
 United States was obstructed by combinations too powerful to 
 be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings. 
 The question of issuing a proclamation was now discussed by 
 the cabinet, all the members, with the exception of Randolph, 
 
 * The perilousness of the situation was greater, in the eyes of the Pre- 
 sident and his cabinet, than would appear from the above narrative. In 
 Hildreth's history (vol. iv., p. 503) we read : With the arrival of news of 
 the great triumphs achieved by the French arms, and of the subsidence of 
 internal revolt under the terrible discipline of the Reign of Terror, the
 
 cnAPTr.R IV. 
 
 coinciding with the President in the conviction that "the 
 Government could no longer remain a passive spectator of the 
 contempt with which the laws were treated." Eandolph, who 
 had succeeded Jefferson in the office of Secretary of State, 
 opposed the calling out of the militia for various reasons. He 
 doubted the legality of the measure as well as its expediency; 
 among his reasons was the danger, if the insurgents accepted 
 the aid of the British, that the western army would he des- 
 troyed and that a severance of the Union and a British war 
 would be the consequence. The subsequent disclosure of 
 Randolph's intercourse with the French ambassador, Fauchet, 
 and the publication of the dispatches the latter sent to his 
 government, prove that the fear of a severance of the Union 
 was not without foundation. (See Appendix.) In a letter of 
 Brackenridge addressed under date of August 8, 1794, to Tench 
 Coxe, and by him submitted to the Cabinet, it was stated that 
 in case of a military force being sent against the insurgents, 
 the first measure of the latter would be the organization 
 
 Democratic societies, recovering from the temporary check growing out of 
 the conduct of Genet and the disasters of the French Kepublic, had become 
 more vigorous and violent than ever, and very unsparing in the attacks 
 upon the policy of the federal administration. The Charleston society, on 
 their own application had been recognized by the Jacobin Club of Paris as 
 an affiliated branch. The Democratic Society of Washington county, one 
 of those involved in the present disturbance (excise riots), had passed strong 
 resolutions, copied from those of Kentucky, on the subject of the naviga- 
 tion of the Mississippi. The French agents were still active in Kentucky, 
 and a secret understanding was suspected between all these parties. The 
 Democratic society of Philadelphia hastened indeed to pass resolutions, in 
 which, after execrating the excise law, they declared, however, their disap- 
 proval of \iolent resistance. But no great faith was placed in their sin- 
 cerity, or in the concurrence of the affiliated branches. In a contemporary 
 letter to Governor Lee, of Virginia, Washington speaks of the leaders of 
 these societies as artful and designing men, whose great object was, under a 
 display of popular and fascinating guises, to destroy all confidence in the 
 administration, and likely, if not counteracted and their character exposed, 
 to shake the government to its foundation.
 
 98 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 of a new government comprehending the three Virginia coun- 
 ties, and those of Pennsylvania to the westward. '' Should an 
 attempt be made," Brackenridge continued, " to suppress these 
 people, I am afraid the question will not be, whether you will 
 march to Pittsburgh, but tohether they will march to Phila- 
 delphia^ accumulating in their course, and swelling over the 
 banks of the Susquehanna like a torrent — irresistible and de- 
 vouring in its progress." As among the measures contem- 
 plated by the insurgents, Brackenridge mentions an applica- 
 tion for aid to the British. 
 
 Eandolph clearly misunderstood Washington's character if he 
 thought that these and similar considerations could change the 
 course of action proposed. Indeed it was to be expected that 
 these very reasons would confirm him in his purpose of using 
 the radical measures which a crisis of such a character impera- 
 tively demands. The President and his cabinet persevered in 
 their purpose, and accordingly on the 7th day of August, the 
 following proclamation was issued : 
 
 Whereas, combinations to defeat the execution of the laws laying 
 duties upon spirits distilled within the United States, and upon stills, 
 have, from the time of the commencement of these laws, existed in some 
 of the western Counties of Pennsylvania : and whereas, the said combi- 
 nations, proceeding in a manner subversive equally of the just authority of 
 government and of the rights of individuals, have hitherto effected their 
 dangerous and criminal purpose, by the influence of certain irregular meet- 
 ings whose proceedings have tended to encourage and uphold the spirit of 
 opposition by mis-representations of the law, calculated to render them 
 odious, by endeavors to deter those who might be so disposed from accept- 
 ing oflSce under them, through fear of public resentment, and of injury of 
 person and property ; and to compel those who had accepted such offices, by 
 actual violence to surrender or forbear the execution of them : by circulat- 
 ing vindictive menaces against all those who should otherwise directly or 
 indirectly aid in the execution of the said laws, or who, yielding to the dic- 
 tates of conscience and to a sense of obligation, should themselves comply 
 therewith ; by actually injuring and destroying the property of persons who 
 were understood to have complied ; by inflicting cruel and humiliating 
 punishment upon private citizens, for no other cause than that of appear-
 
 CHAPTER TV. 
 
 99 
 
 ing to be friends of the laws ; by intercepting tlie public officers on tbe 
 high wars, abusing, assaulting, and otherwise ill-treating them; by going 
 to their houses in the night, gaining admittance by force, taking away their 
 papers, and committing other outrages ■ employing for these unwarrantable 
 purposes the agency of armed banditti, disguised in such manner as for the 
 most part to escape discovery ; and whereas, the endeavors of the legisla- 
 ture to obviate objections to said laws, by lowering the duties, and by other 
 alterations conducive to the convenience of those whom they immediately 
 affect (though they have given satisfaction in other quarters), and the en- 
 deavors of the executive officers to conciliate a compliance with the laws, 
 by explanations, forbearance, and even by particular accommodations, 
 founded on the suggestions of local considerations, have been disappointed 
 of their effect by the machinations of persons, whose industry to excite 
 resistance has increased with every appearance of a disposition among the 
 people to relax their opposition and to acquiesce in the laws, inasmuch that 
 many persons in said western part of Pennsylvania have at length been 
 hardy enough to perpetrate acts which I am advised amount to treason, 
 being overt acts of levying war against the United States, the said persons 
 having on the 16th and 17th of July last, proceeded in arms (on the second 
 day amounting to several hundred) to the house of John Neville, inspector 
 of the revenue for the fourth survey of the district of Pennsylvania, hav- 
 ing repeatedly attacked the said house, with the persons therein, wounding 
 some of them ; having seized David Lenox, marshal of ihe district of 
 Pennsylvania, who previous thereto had been fired upon while in the execu- 
 tion of his duty by a party of armed men, detaining him for some time pri- 
 soner, till, for the preservation of his life, and the obtaining of his liberty, 
 he found it necessary to enter into stipulations to forbear the execution of 
 certain official duties touching processes issuing out of a court of the United 
 States ; and having finally obliged the said inspector of revenue and the 
 said marshal, from considerations of personal safety, to fly from that part 
 of the country, in order, by a circuitous route, to proceed to the seat of 
 government; avowing, as the motives of these outrageous proceedings, an 
 intention to prevent by force of arms the execution of the said laws ; to 
 withstand by open violence, the lawful authority of the government of 
 the United States ; and to compel thereby an alteration in the measures of 
 the legislature, and a repeal of the laws aforesaid. [Here the President 
 quoted the act to provide for calling forth the militia.] And whereas it is 
 in my judgment necessary, under the circumstances of the case, to take 
 measures for calling forth the militia — in order to suppress the combinations 
 aforesaid, and to cause the laws to be duly executed, I have accordingly 
 determined to do so, feeling the deepest regret for the occasion, but withal 
 the most solemn conviction that the essential interests of the Union demand
 
 100 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 it, that tlie verj- existence of government and the fundamental principles of 
 gocial order are materially involved in the issue, and that the patriotism 
 and firmness of all good citizens are seriously called upon, as occasions 
 may require, to aid in the effectual suppression of so fatal a spirit. 
 
 Wherefoke, I, George Washington, President of the United States, 
 do hereby command all persons, being insurgents as aforesaid, and all others 
 whom it may concern, on or before the first day of September next, to dis- 
 perse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes. And I do moreover 
 warn all persons whatsoever against aiding, abetting or comforting the 
 perpetrators of the aforesaid treasonable acts ; and do require all officers 
 and other citizens, according to their respective duties, and the laws of the 
 laud, to exert their utmost endeavors to prevent and suppress such danger- 
 ous proceedings. 
 
 As Governor Mifflin had officially expressed the opinion 
 that the Pennsylvania militia alone would not be able to cope 
 with the insurgents (Randolph opined that the four counties 
 could easily muster fifteen thousand men) it was resolved to 
 call out thirteen thousand men (afterwards raised to fifteen 
 thousand) ; and a requisition was accordingly made upon 
 Pennsylvania, Yirginia, Maryland aud New Jersey for their 
 quota of this force. On the first day of September (1794) the 
 troops were to be ready for marching orders. 
 
 Alarmed at the turn affairs had taken, Governor Mifflin, 
 after a previous interview with the President, addressed to the 
 latter a letter deprecating the measures contemplated and sug- 
 gesting others in their stead. In reply to this, Washington 
 directed Hamilton to write a letter expressing the President's 
 regret at the possible necessity of an appeal to arms and his 
 willingness to make one more attempt to avert that necessity, 
 "To manifest his attention to the principle that a firm and 
 energetic conduct does not preclude the exercise of a prudent 
 and humane policy, he [the President] concluded upon 
 the measure of sending Commissioners to the discontented 
 counties, to make one more experiment of a conciliatory appeal 
 to the reason, virtue and patriotism of their inhabitants, and 
 has also signified to you how agreeable would be to him your
 
 cnAPTE:R IV. 101 
 
 co-operation in the same expedient." Upon this, Mifflin issued 
 two proclamations, one calling out the militia, and the other 
 commanding the insurgents to disperse; he also appointed 
 Chief Justice McKean and General Irving commissioners to 
 act jointly, with the peace commission appointed by the Presi- 
 dent, which consisted of three Pennsylvanians, viz : Senator 
 Ross, U. S. Attorney General Bradford, and Yates, one of the 
 judges of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. 
 
 While these pacific measures were carried out and the pre- 
 parations for the employment of force were being pushed by 
 the government with energy, and soon responded to, with un- 
 looked for enthusiasm, by the loyal population, the insurgents 
 remained not idle. They made repeated expeditions into the 
 adjacent counties of Virginia and Maryland, spreading discon- 
 tent and kindling a martial spirit far and near. On the day 
 appointed for the meeting at Parkison's Ferry [Aug. 14,] 
 two hundred delegates met, representing the four disaffected 
 Pennsylvania counties, and two counties of Yirginia. The de- 
 legates assembled in a grove on an eminence commanding a 
 view of the Monongahela river. In the morning an organiza- 
 tion was effected by the election of Cook as chairman and Gal- 
 latin as secretary. Two resolutions were offered and discussed 
 — one appointing a " Committee of Public Safety," to consist 
 of sixty member , whose proposed duty was defined in these 
 words : " to call forth the resources of the western country, 
 to repel any attempts that might be made against the rights 
 of the citizens, or of the body of the people ; " the other de- 
 clared against the taking of citizens from the vicinity for trial. 
 At this juncture the arrival of the two commissions, and 
 the object of their coming were announced, and it seems 
 that this event changed the drift of affairs. Gallatin exerted 
 what influence he possessed in order to avoid an open conflict ; 
 he argued in favor of more moderate language than that pro- 
 posed, and endeavored, successfully, to have all utterances of a
 
 102 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 revolutionar}^ character stricken out of the resolutions, and a 
 promise inserted to submit to municipal laws.* It was finally 
 agreed to appoint a committee of sixty, with power to call 
 another meeting, and a second committee of fifteen to meet and 
 negotiate with the two commissions. 
 
 A meeting of the latter committee with the commissioners 
 took place at Pittsburgh, on the 21st of August, when the com- 
 missioners, at the request of the insurgents' representatives, for- 
 mulated an ultimatum to the effect that the committee on behalf 
 of their constituents explicitly declare their determination to 
 submit to the laws of the United States, and neither directly nor 
 indirectly to oppose the execution of the excise law ; that they 
 recommend entire obedience to the law and a discontinuation 
 of all violence ; that they take measures to ascertain the sense 
 of the people, and furnish on or before the 14th of Septem- 
 ber satisfactory assurance of a pacific disposition of the inhab- 
 itants of the disaffected counties. The commissioners on their 
 part promised that in the event of a ready compliance with 
 these stipulations a term of probation, extending to the 10th 
 of July, 1795, would be granted, during which no prosecutions 
 would be commenced ; and in the case of entire obedience to 
 the laws during this probationary term, a general pardon would 
 be given. Willing to accept these terms, the committee to 
 which belonged Gallatin, Marshal, Bradford, Brackenridge and 
 Cook— all of whom, excepting Bradford, were disposed to adopt 
 conciliatory means — requested time to consult the committee of 
 
 * J. C. Hamilton says : " Gallatin now felt that they were on the verge 
 of an abyss. Resolves would not stand the test of resolution. The oppres- 
 sion of the poor by excises was no more thought of. ' Legal measures for 
 obstructing the operation of the law,' it was feared would not stand the 
 test of justice— sternly pointing to a prison and the gibbet." (Vol. vi., p. 94) 
 Hildreth says : " There were many persons present whose object, like Gal- 
 latin's, it was to extricate the people from the disastrous consequences of a 
 violent opposition to the law, which they themselves had done much to 
 stimulate." History of the United States, vol iv., p. 506.
 
 CHAPTEK IV 103 
 
 sixty. But their ready acquiescence only irritated the Brad- 
 ford wing, now impatient of delay and sanguine of the success 
 of open resistance. A letter signed by Tom the Tinker and 
 accusing the committee of having sold out the insurgents, was 
 published in the Pittsburgh Gazette, and made a very deep im- 
 ])ression on the insurgents. The result was that, vt^hen the 
 Committee of Public Safety met at Red Stone Old Fort, to 
 discuss the stipulations of the ultmiatuTn^ a party of armed 
 rioters, displaying a menacing front, entered the town, and so 
 intimidated those who were disposed to submit, that Gallatin, 
 justly fearing the miscarriage of his good intentions, thought 
 it wise to move an adjournment till the next day. In spite of 
 Bradford's opposition, he succeeded in this as well as in his 
 and his friends' efforts to induce the armed party to return to 
 their homes. 
 
 When the Committee of Public Safety re-assembled on the 
 next day, Bradford in opposing Gallatin's arguments in favor 
 of submission, openly declared his conviction that the insur- 
 gents only wanted fire-arms to enable them to defeat the mili- 
 tia, and establish an independent state. His harangue filled the 
 minds of the submissive with grave apprehensions as to the 
 prevalence of such treasonable ideas, and a feeling of distrust 
 naturally rendered the wary still njore cautions. 
 
 A viva voce vote on the proposed terms seemed too hazard- 
 ous, and a vote by ballot was accordingly determined upon. It 
 resulted in a majority of eleven votes for submission, out of a 
 total of lifty-seven. 
 
 Thus far the Committee of Safety proceeded, and no fur- 
 ther ; the principal part of the stij)ulations they had not the 
 courage to comply with. They, however, appointed a sub- 
 committee of nine, to test the sense of the people and obtain 
 individual pledges of submission. 
 
 On the first of September this sub-committee, meeting the 
 two commissions, asked for delay until the 10th of October —
 
 104 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 a proposal which was peremptorily rejected, the original terms 
 being earnestly insisted upon by the Commissioners. On the 
 following day the conf A-ees acceded to the proposition of tak- 
 ing the sense of the people and rendering a return of tlie votes 
 on the 16th of September. While in a few localities the out- 
 come of this arrangement gave promise of a subsidence of the 
 revolutionary disposition, in others, and by far the majority 
 of them, a direct expression of sentiments was either entirely 
 avoided or assumed a most threatening character. In some 
 cases a discussion of the proposed tei*ms was forbidden under 
 threat of burning the houses of the loyal dissenters ; in others 
 the declarations of submission were torn and trampled upon, 
 and again in others resolutions of defiance took the place of 
 the proposed vote. So violent was the spirit manifested by 
 the obdurate rioters, that in some of the disaffected parts those 
 who signified their submission felt constrained to form asso- 
 ciations for common protection. To the latter the interven- 
 tion of the militia seemed quite as requisite for their personal 
 safety as for the vindication of the authority of government. 
 Under such circumstances the Commissioners could not but 
 conclude that their mission of peace had completely failed, 
 and that force of arms must be resorted to. On their way home 
 the two State Commissioners, Judges McKean and Yates, had 
 further opportunities of tesfing the correctness of this conclu- 
 sion. At Greensburg, in Westmoreland County, the house in 
 which they lodged was attacked by a mob, who were only pre- 
 vented from forcibly gaining access by a well-directed f usilade. 
 At Carlisle, where the judges administered justice in the cases 
 of a number of persons who, late in August, had made sedi- 
 tious attempts to frustrate the enrolment of the militia, they 
 narrowly escaped capture by a mob of two hundred rioters. 
 Arriving in town after the departure of the Commissioners, the 
 insurgents burnt the judges in effigy. A riot in the neighbor- 
 hood of Hagerstown was quickly suppressed by a detachment
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 105 
 
 of cavalry. Upon receiving the Commissioners' report, Wash- 
 ington, on the 24th day of September, issued his third proclama- 
 tion, commanding submission to the law and admonishing the 
 law-breakers of the consequences of their revolt. At the same 
 time the preliminaries for an advance upon the rebel districts 
 were perfected. The call for the militia had brought out a much 
 larger body of soldiers than the requisitions demanded. The 
 troops of Maryland and Yirginia, led respectively by Morgan 
 and Smith, rendezvoused at Cumberland ; those of New Jersey 
 and Pennsylvania, under command of the governors of their 
 States [Howell and Mifflin], at Carlisle. Forming respectively 
 the left and right wings of the army, the former marched 
 across the mountains by Braddock's road, the latter by the 
 northern or Pennsylvania road. The fact that a large part of 
 the troops was composed of volunteers, served materially to 
 change the aspect of things, since it proved that whatever the 
 designs and desires of the secret societies may have been, 
 they had not succeeded in bringing about the calamities pre- 
 dicted by Eandolph and others.* 
 
 On the 30th of September, Washington, accompanied by 
 Hamilton, proceeded to Carlisle, where he reviewed the troops 
 and was received with unusual enthusiasm by the citizens, 
 whom he addressed on the dangers of the situation. While 
 there he was called upon by Findley and Eeddick who, as the 
 delegates of a convention of citizens held at Parkison's Ferry, 
 on the 2d of October, submitted to him resolutions of submission, 
 and endeavored to dissuade him from a continuance of military 
 
 * Mifflin's lukewarmness suddenly changed into an almost suspicious 
 eagerness to aid the government, when the Legislature of his State, con- 
 vened in special session, denounced the insurgents, and, to obviate difficul- 
 ties said to have arisen in drafting the militia, authorized the enlistment of 
 volunteers, at the same time authorizing the offer of a bounty, if needed. 
 Upon this Mifflin made a tour of the most populous counties of the State to 
 raise volunteers displaying a degree of zeal truly astounding in the light 
 of his former attitude.
 
 106 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 operations. This conveiition marks the beginning of the dis- 
 solution of the rebellious movement ; it was called after Brad- 
 ford and other equally violent leaders, as cowardly as they 
 were treacherous and disloyal, had fled from the counties, and 
 when the rapid approach of two powerful columns of loyal 
 soldiers, the determined attitude of the Administration and the 
 enthusiasm of a vast majority of the population, had destroyed 
 the last hope of the insurgents. From Hamilton's version of 
 Findley's interview with the President it would seem, that 
 doubts were entertained as to whether the resolutions of sub- 
 mission represented the sentiments of the mass of insurgents ; 
 at all events, Washington, though he treated Findley and Red- 
 dick courteously, did not allow himself to be moved from his 
 purpose. Findley, who like Gallatin had but a short time 
 before been elected to Congress, essayed in various ways to 
 impress the President with his popular influence and his ability 
 to make good his promises, and failing in this, he went so far as 
 to offer his services in capturing offenders. N^o wonder that his 
 importunate conduct aroused suspicion. lie was finally told 
 that the advance of the troops would not be interrupted, un- 
 less more trustworthy evidences of submission were offered. 
 He and Reddick thereupon returned to their homes, intending 
 to procure the required evidences. 
 
 At a third meeting held at Parkison's Ferry, on the 24th 
 of October, and of which Gallatin again acted as secretary, 
 resolutions were passed fully in accord with, and in some 
 points even exceeding, the terms proposed by the joint com- 
 mission, before the movement of the troops. It was declared 
 that '' the civil authority was competent to enforce laws and 
 to punish both past and present offences, as the people were 
 determined to support every description of civil officers in the 
 discharge of their duty ; and that the offices of inspection 
 might immediately be opened." Summoning all delinquents, 
 who had not secured impunity by timely submission, to sur-
 
 CHAPTER rv. 107 
 
 render for trial, the delegates to the meeting further pledged 
 themselves " to unite in giving assistance to bring to justice 
 such offenders as shall not surrender." When Findley and his 
 brother delegates, Ecddick, Douglass and Morgan, empowered 
 to present these resolutions, reached Uniontown, in Fayette 
 county, where a junction of the two wings of the army had 
 been effected, Washington had already returned to Phila- 
 delphia, after having again reviewed the troops — the Virginia 
 and Maryland militia at Cumberland, the Pennsylvania and 
 New Jersey quota at Bedford. Governor Lee was now in chief 
 command of the troops, and Hamilton represented the President 
 on the held of action. Both received the delegates of the Park- 
 ison's Ferry convention courteously, and Lee issued a friendly 
 address to the people, in reply to pacific assurances, urging 
 the well-disposed to persevere in their laudable course. How- 
 ever o-ratifying these symptoms of a re-awakened sense of duty 
 may have been, they could not bring the advancing columns 
 to a halt. According to the admission of one of Findley 's 
 colleagues, there were still many " young headstrong boys who 
 had got arms in their hands, unwilling to give assurance of 
 submission," and that they probably would remain recalcitrant 
 " until convinced the army was approaching," Accordingly, 
 Governor Lee marched further into the disaffected survey, 
 reaching Parkison's Ferry, on the 8th of November, without 
 having encountered armed opjposition at any stage of his 
 aggressive movement. Forsaken by those leaders who had 
 urged them to take up arms, the misguided rioters fled to their 
 homes at the approach of the army — and thus order and peace 
 were re-established, ere a blow had been struck. On the day of 
 his arrival at Parkison's Ferry, Lee issued a proclamation 
 granting the amnesty previously offered to those who had 
 accepted the terms of the peace commissions, and calling upon 
 the people to take the oath of allegiance to the United States, 
 which was m the form of tlie pledge exacted by the ultimatum^
 
 108 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 being a solemn promise, henceforth to submit to the laws of 
 the United States; to abstain from directly or indirectly oppos- 
 ing the execution of the act for raising a revenue on distilled 
 spirits and stills ; to support the civil authorities, and to afford 
 protection to all officers and other citizens. Under instruc- 
 tions from Governor Lee, a number of arrests were then made 
 in the four counties, the prisoners being turned over to the 
 civil authorities for trial. After a few days, tranquility hav- 
 ing been entirely restored, the troops, excepting a corps of 
 observation ot 250C men under Morgan, were sent to their 
 homes, and thus the Whiskey Insurrection ended.
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 PERFECTING THE REVENUE SERVICE ; NUMBER AND COMPENSATION 
 
 OF OFFICERS. LICENSES TO RETAILERS OF SPIRITS AND WINES. 
 
 MODIFICATIONS OF THE EXCISE LAW IN FAVOR OF COUNTRY 
 
 DISTILLERS. REPEAL OF INTERNAL DUTIES ; ITS CAUSES. 
 
 EFFECTS OF THE VARIOUS LAWS ON THE INTERNAL TAXATION 
 OF DISTILLED SPIRITS. COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PRO- 
 DUCTION, IMPORTS, EXPORTS AND CONSUMPTION OF SPIRITS 
 DURING THE OPERATION OF THE EXCISE LAW, AND AFTER FTS 
 REPEAL, UP TO 1810. EFFECT OF IMPORT DUTIES UPON FER- 
 MENTED LIQUORS. STATE OF VINE-CULTURE. THE BREWING 
 
 INDUSTRY IN 1810; DIFFICULTIES RETARDING ITS PROGRESS. 
 
 It remains to be stated that before the bloodless suppres- 
 sion of the Whiskey Insurrection had been effected, a number 
 of circumstances, other than the popular prejudice, and the 
 timidity and reluctance of excise-officers, conspired to render 
 the collection of taxes extremely difficult, even in States where 
 tlie Federal administration generally iopnd hearty support. 
 Prominent among these were: the inevitable imperfections of 
 the system, growing out of the experimental character of the 
 institution ; the insufficiency of the number of officers, and the 
 want of adequate compensation for excise-services. When 
 Congress, intent upon avoiding the imposition of direct taxes,* 
 by the Act of June 5, 1794, still further extended the system 
 of internal taxation, by imposing duties upon carriages for the 
 conveyance of persons, upon auction sales, snuff and snuff- 
 mills, refined sugar, and upon the retailing of wine and foreign 
 
 * In 1794, the special committee on public credit recommended the rais- 
 ing of $750,000 by direct taxation— a recommendation wliicli was promptly 
 rejected.
 
 110 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 spirituous liquors, it became absolutely necessary to adopt 
 measures calculated to remove the difficulties before mentioned; 
 and this was accomplished by an act, approved June 5, 1794, 
 making further provisions for the collecting of duties on foreign 
 and domestic distilled spirits, wines and teas. This act author- 
 ized the President to establish new districts and surveys, make 
 such alterations in, and additions to, those already existing, and 
 appoint as many additional officers as to him appeared expe- 
 dient and necessary. By virtue of this law the President, un- 
 der date of April 9th, 1Y95, re-organized and perfected the 
 revenue-establishment by forming new, and altering old, sur- 
 veys ; by appointing additional officers and increasing their 
 compensation. The annual salaries of supervisors, of whom 
 there still was one in each State and Territory, were fixed at 
 from five hundred to thirteen hundred and fifty dollars ; in 
 addition to which sums, these officers were allowed a commis- 
 sion at a certain per cent, of the gross revenue in their several 
 districts, and a fee for certain duties connected with their offi- 
 ces. Inspectors were allowed an annual salary of from four 
 hundred and fifty to five hundred dollars in addition to certain 
 commissions and fees ; while the compensation of collectors 
 consisted entirely of such commissions and fees.* The entire 
 service, in 1796, consisted of sixteen supervisors,t twenty-two 
 inspectors of surveys, two hundred and thirty-six collectors, 
 and sixty-three auxiliary officers; the total compensation 
 amounted to a little less than seventy-eight thousand dollars. 
 
 After the re-organization of the service the collection of 
 internal taxes went on smoothly, ij: The tax imposed upon the 
 
 * Subsequently an increase of compensation became necessary, and was 
 again effected. 
 
 f Vermont bad been admitted, and Obio and Tennessee, constituted as 
 territories, were given one supervisor eacb. 
 
 jj. Tbe tax upon conveyances was assailed on tbe ground of inconstitu- 
 tionality, but by tbe decision of tbe Supreme Court in tbe case of Hylton vs. 
 tbe United States (3 Dall., 171), was declared constitutional.
 
 CHAPTER V. Ill 
 
 retailing of wines and si3iritnous liquors was in the form of a 
 yearly license of five dollars, issued by the supervisors of reve- 
 nue to retail merchants, *'. 6. to every person engaged in selling 
 wine and foreign spirits (to be sent out of his place of busi- 
 ness), in a less quantity, at one time, than thirty gallons of the 
 former, and twenty gallons of the latter liquid. The law did 
 not apply to keepers of taverns, inns, or places of entertain- 
 ment, licensed and authorized under the law of a State. 
 
 Before considering the effect of internal and import taxes 
 upon the domestic manufacture of distilled and fermented 
 liquors, mention must be made of a number of laws, enacted 
 subsequent to the organization of the revenue service. They 
 were generally in favor of the so-called country distillers. To 
 them the mode prescribed for entering stills, and the manner of 
 paying taxes, were sources of some inconvenience and loss. In 
 cases, for example, where the owners of stills were liable, by 
 their entries, to pay the duty of fifty-four cents upon the 
 capacity of the stills, it frequently happened that the destruc- 
 tion or failure of crops, whether of grain or fruit, either pre- 
 vented distillation entirely, or considerably reduced the quan- 
 tity intended to be distilled, at the time the entries were 
 made. Special relief was provided in these cases by an act 
 approved June 1, 1796. By an act approved March 3, 1797, 
 owners of country stills, that is to say, of stills operated in 
 places other than a city, town or village, and of a capacity of 
 less than four hundred gallons, were given the privilege to pay 
 the following licenses, in place of the former taxes, viz : 
 
 For a license for the employment of every still during the 
 term of two weeks, six cents per gallon, according to the 
 capacity or contents of every such still ; for a license for a 
 term of one month, ten cents per gallon ; for three months, 
 twenty-four cents per gallon ; for four months, thirty cents 
 per gallon ; for five months, thirty-six cents per gallon, and for 
 six months, forty-two cents per gallon.
 
 112 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Not yet satisfied with these modifications of the law in their 
 favor, a certain class of conntry distillers sought to obtain a 
 further concession in the form of weekly licenses, and, accord- 
 ingly, in the second session of the fifth Congress, a recommend- 
 ation to that effect was made by the House Committee of 
 Ways and Means. Southern farmers, who mostly distilled fruit, 
 — principally peaches — were to be benefited by this arrange- 
 ment. It was contended that the preceding law, which fixed 
 the minimum duration of a license at two weeks, leaving un- 
 changed the requirement of entering stills at stated times, 
 excluded four out of five of the owners of orchards in the 
 Southern States from distilling their early fruit at all ; that 
 peaches ripened and rotted hastily ; and that persons who had 
 not enough fruit to employ their stills more than three or four 
 days, would sufier their fruit to rot, rather than take a license 
 for a fortnight. The obligation, under the existing law, of 
 taking out separate licenses for distilling the fruit harvested at 
 three different periods of the year, was represented as another 
 hardship, involving expense and loss of time in going to and 
 from the excise offices, which latter in many cases were situated 
 at considerable distances from the homes of distilling farmers. 
 The annual entry of stills, prescribed by law in all cases, whe- 
 ther or not the owners intended to work them, was also com- 
 plained of, and led to the proposition that stills once entered 
 should not require a renewal of entry, save when their owners 
 intended to work them. None of these proposed alterations 
 had the approval of Walcott (Hamilton's successor), and were 
 consequently rejected. The only further concession made to 
 country distillers was the act of January 29th, 1798, which 
 provided " that it shall be lawful for all owners of stills which 
 shall have been duly entered according to law, to make their 
 election, at any time of the year, both as to the rate of duty 
 which they may choose to pay for the employment of their 
 said stills, whether for a year or such other shorter period, as
 
 CHAPTER V. 113 
 
 may be allowed by law ; and also as to the time of commencing 
 such eniploynient." 
 
 The laM^s on the internal taxation of distilled spirits 
 remained in this state to tlie date of their revocation, in 1802 ; 
 while the rate of imposts on distilled and fermented liquors, 
 excepting certain wines imported into the United States, were 
 not changed until the war of 1812, although the exigencies of 
 part of Adams' administration (1797-1801), joroduced by the 
 disquieting aspect of foreign affairs, led to the development of 
 new sources of revenue — among them one still less popular 
 than excises, viz : direct taxation.* As it is intended to bring 
 under consideration, in this chapter, the general results of the 
 external and internal taxation of liquors during the last decade 
 of the past, and the first decade of the present century, it 
 seems appropriate, in order to preserve the chronological order 
 of events, briefly to narrate under what circumstances the 
 excise law was repealed. 
 
 The origin of the opposition to the Federalist administra- 
 tion dates back, as has been seen, to Hamilton's fiscal system, 
 beginning with the assumption of the State debts, and grow- 
 ing stronger under every subsequent measure of taxation — 
 from the imposition of excise duties to the system of direct 
 taxation introduced under Wolcott's administration of the 
 Treasury Department. Other causes arose, it is true, to solid- 
 ify and strengthen the opposition, but the fiscal questions 
 remained landmarks of party division throughout Washing- 
 ton's and Adams' administrations, and formed an essential part 
 of the credo to which Jefferson owed his accession to the pre- 
 sidential chair. Under these circumstances it was but natural 
 
 * For augmenting the army and perfecting coast defences tlie act of 
 July 14, 1798, imposed a direct tax of $3,000,000 on houses, lands and slaves. 
 Singularly enough this law also met with open resistance in Pennsylvania ; 
 in this case however, the riot — dignified in history with the appellation of 
 the Pries Insurrection — was quelled almost before it was begun.
 
 114 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UIOTED STATES. 
 
 that the Democrats (pre\nously called the Republicans) should, 
 on assuming control of the government, hasten to abolish tlie 
 systems they had so vigorously and ably assailed. The aus- 
 picious state of affairs under which they came into power * 
 necessarily confirmed their resolution and accelerated their 
 action. On the 30th of December, 1801, twelve days after 
 Jefferson had, in his inaugural address, recommended the 
 abolition of all internal taxes, the House Committee of Ways 
 and Means were instructed to inquire into the expediency of 
 repealing duties on stills and distilled spirits, and other internal 
 duties. In their report, submitted March 8,1802, the commit- 
 tee, after dwelling upon the difficulty and expense of collecting 
 the tax on twenty-two thousand country stills, scattered over 
 an immense, but thinly settled territory ; and recounting the 
 popular objections to excises, viz : the oppressive and vexatious 
 character of the taxes, their hostility to the genius of a free 
 people and their tendency to multiply offices, recommended the 
 revocation of the laws relating to internal duties. In the dis- 
 cussion which attended the resolution calling for an inquiry 
 into the expediency of abolishing these taxes, the expense of 
 collection formed the principal source of acrimonious wrang- 
 lings, and led to some very inaccurate statements on the part 
 of the supporters of the new administration. The truth is, 
 that, compared with the cost of collecting imposts and tonnage 
 duties, the expense of securing excise taxes seemed dispropor- 
 tionately large. The reasons are too obvious to require more 
 than passing notice. The amount ofinternal taxes, imposed upon 
 but a few articles, was comparatively small ; the objects taxed 
 were widely dispersed over the entire Union ; and the tax-payers 
 
 * Hildretli writes of this period : " The treasury was fuller, the reve- 
 nue more abundant than at any previous period. Commerce was flourishing, 
 and the pecuniary prosperity of the country was very great. All the res- 
 ponsibility of framing institutions, laying taxes, and providing for debts, 
 had fallen on the ousted administration." (Vol. iv., p. 419.)
 
 CHAPTER V. 115 
 
 were not inclined to aid the collectors. In proportion as the 
 amount ot" taxes increased and the opposition to excises sub- 
 sided, the cost of collection decreased. Thus in 1795, when th6 
 internal revenues from all sources amounted to but $528,481 
 the cost of collection was twenty-five per cent. ; while in 1801, 
 the total revenue being double the former amount, the expense 
 of collection only amounted to twelve per cent. The difi*er- 
 ence between the cost of collecting the taxes on distilled spir- 
 its in the country, and in cities, towns or villages, amounted to 
 almost fifty per cent., a fact which in itself sufficiently explains 
 the causes of the expensiveness of internal taxes at the time 
 in question. An attempt on the part of the minority, to have 
 only the taxes on country stills revoked, leaving the excise on 
 spirits distilled in towns and villages intact, proved abortive, 
 and the entire system was finally abolished. The question of 
 temperance was remotely hinted at, but failed to receive any 
 consideration whatever. 
 
 As to the efi*ect, upon the respective manufactures, of 
 internal and external taxes upon distilled, and import duties 
 upon fermented liquors, during the four years from 1791 to 
 1795, it goes without saying, that no reliable conclusions can 
 be deduced from the reports of the Treasury Department, in- 
 asmuch as, before the suppression of the Whiskey Insurrection 
 the collection of taxes, save in the New England States, was 
 so irregular as to afford no index to the quantity of spirits 
 actually distilled. In Pennsylvania, for instance, where about 
 five thousand public and private stills were in operation, in 
 1790, only eight hundred stills, producing 250,380 gallons of 
 spirits, had been entered from July 1, 1791 to July 1, 1792. 
 Yirginia paid but $12,000 on distilled spirits during the same 
 period ; whereas in 1795, with decreased rates, she paid 
 $G5,990. It does not follow in either case that less whiskey 
 was manufactured during the fiscal year 1791-1792; but it 
 does follow, from what has been related before, that the law
 
 116 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 was evaded. The changes made in the rates before and after 
 the Insurrection, and the mode of computing taxes according 
 to the capacities of stills, in any event precluded accurate 
 statements of quantities distilled, and the only guide in res- 
 pect to a comparison must be the amount of duties paid. In 
 order to give as clear a statement as possible of the operation 
 of the laws, it seems ^idvisable to follow the various official 
 reports on the subject. 
 
 The amounts of duties on spirits distilled in the United 
 States to 1795, inclusive, were: 
 
 1792 $208,942 
 
 1793 ... 337,705 
 
 1794 274,089 
 
 1795 337,775 
 
 The estimated quantity of spirits distilled in 1791-92 from 
 foreign material, in stills entered according to law, was 2,210,559 
 gallons, and from domestic material 944,004: gallons. For the 
 year ended June, 1795, the quantity distilled from foreign 
 material, in stills which were entered according to law, may be 
 estimated at 1,500,000 gallons, yielding a gross amount of revenue 
 of $141,989; whereas the gross income from spirits distilled from 
 domestic material amounted to $218,036. It will be seen at a 
 glance, that the state of things of 1792 was reversed in 1795 ; 
 during this brief period the manufacture of rum decreased as 
 considerably as that of whiskey and spirits from domestic 
 fruit increased. The war in the West Indies explains the for- 
 mer fact. The importation of molasses in the year 1794 was 
 less than in 1791, by 3,700,000 gallons ; and, owing to the high 
 price of sugar, a greater proportion of the quantity of molasses 
 imported was consumed in the raw state. The manufacture 
 of spirits from domestic products yielded a much greater sum 
 in 1795, than either in 1792, in 1793 or in 1794; yet the quan- 
 tity for which taxes were paid remained far behind the quan- 
 tity distilled. The principal causes of this discrepancy are known
 
 CHAPTEK V. 
 
 117 
 
 to the reader. There may, however, have been, and no doubt 
 there was, an actual decrease in the manufacture. The Commis- 
 sioner of Internal Revenue, in his report of the 5th of March, 
 1796, points out some reasons for this. " The excessive prices,'* 
 he says, " of grain, of marketable and exportable fruits, and 
 of cider, have deprived the distillers of avery large portion of 
 the means to employ their stills. In all places the induce- 
 ments to distil have been greatly diminished by the increased 
 competition of the miller and merchant of every species of 
 grain." Although no accurate data can possibly be obtained 
 at this late day, yet it may readily be taken for granted, that 
 a part of the decrease was due to the abandonment of distil- 
 lation by a large portion of the farmers. From speeches 
 made in Congress it appears, that many Southern farmers let 
 theu' fruit rot, rather than pay taxes for a longer period 
 than they intended to work their stills; and Findley states 
 in his History of the Insurrection, that many country distil- 
 lers, who were too conscientious to evade the law, abandoned 
 distilling altogether. In 1796 the manufacture of rum 
 amounted to 2,296,300 gallons, that of spirits distilled from 
 domestic products to 1,009,797 gallons. The importation 
 of molasses in 1795 had been much greater than in the pre- 
 vious year, which fact explains the increase in the production 
 of rum. For the succeeding years, up to 1802, the total reve- 
 nues from all internal duties on distilled spirits were: 
 
 1797, $565,984, of whicli amount licenses to retailers yielded,* $63,861 
 
 1798, 584,923, " " 64,823 
 
 1799, 573,086, " " 66,434 
 
 1800, 580.508, " " 65,159 
 
 1801, 593,000, " " 69,173 
 
 * In 1795 and 1796 the retail licenses yielded $54,731 and $63,763 respect- 
 ively. In 1795, tliere were 3,203 licensed retailers of wine and 7,461 licensed 
 retailers oi foreign spirits ; in 1801 the former numbered 3,556 ; the latter 
 10,283.
 
 118 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The quantity of spirits annually distilled from foreign ma- 
 terial remained nearly the same throughout this period, rang- 
 ing from 1,500,000 to 2,000,000 gallons ; the average annual 
 revenue from this source being $160,000 ; hence the increase 
 of revenue, as shown in the above table, is attributable 
 to an augmentation of spirits distilled from grain and fruit of 
 the growth of the United States. With the relaxations of the 
 law up to 1795, country distilling rapidly recuperated, or to be 
 more concise, the amounts of taxes paid on spirits distilled in 
 the country approached the actual quantity distilled far more 
 nearly than in preceding years. Hamilton, in 1791, estimated 
 the annual domestic production of ardent liquors of both kinds 
 at 6,500,000 gallons ; but it was not before the year 1775 that 
 the amount of revenue from this source approximately corres- 
 ponded with this estimate. During the ten years, from 1792 
 to 1802, the importation of spirits of all kinds increased from 
 4,679,993 in the former, to 8,396,738 gallons in the latter 
 year ; the exportation increased but very slightly, viz : from 
 1,032,050 to 1,313,728 gallons. 
 
 Of the incidental objects sought to be attained by the va- 
 rious laws on the liquor traffic, one was the protection of the 
 home products against the competition of the foreign article ; 
 the other a diminution of the consumption of ardent spirits. 
 Neither aim was fully realized. The protection of spirits from 
 the products of American husbandry was effected ; but it re- 
 quired higher duties, to enable American distillers of foreign 
 material to compete with foreign manufacturers ; besides, the 
 former labored under mechanical difficulties, which rendered 
 their product of a quality inferior to that of foreign countries. 
 In a petition submitted to Congress in 1798, a number of dis- 
 tillers of Rhode Island asked for an increase of the duties upon 
 imported spirits, on the ground that they had invested consid- 
 erable sums in the erection of distilleries for the distillation 
 of rye and molasses ; but owing to the great cheapness of rye
 
 CHAPTER V. 119 
 
 in Holland, and the hazard and difficulty which attended the 
 obtaining of molasses, found themselves imable to compete 
 with foreign manufacturers of rum and gin. The Ilonse Com- 
 mittee of Ways and Means, to whom this petition was re- 
 ferred, reported adversely thereon in the following words: 
 " The petition seeks to secure a preference to the domestic 
 manufacture, which would have the effect of taxing the con- 
 sumer of imported spirits, for the benefit of the home distil- 
 lers. From this view of the subject, the Committee are of 
 the opinion that the petition ought not to be granted." What a 
 departure from the original purpose of the law-makers ! A still 
 higher duty might have answered the moral purpose contem- 
 plated, had the government had the means to enforce the ex- 
 cise law of 1791, or even that of 1792, in spite of popular 
 opposition, and notwithstanding the many obstacles, which the 
 great extent of teriitory and the widely dispersed population 
 threw in the way of such a system of taxation. In that case 
 consumption would surely have been decreased, as a high im- 
 port duty would have diminished importation, and a moderate 
 tax on domestic spirits would inevitably have restricted country 
 distilling. In view of the habits of the people, and of the de- 
 cisive importance which the liquor question had assumed in 
 the political agitations of the day, these hypotheses seem chi- 
 merical. But even unfavorably as matters stood, there is in- 
 controvertible evidence, that the legal restrictions laid upon the 
 manufacture of ardent spirits, though they did not positively 
 diminish consumption, at least had a very strcmg tendency to 
 'prevent a dilatation of that ratio of increase which occasioned 
 so much anxiety hefore 1790. This can easily and effectively 
 be demonstrated. The following table, compiled from official 
 reports, and showing population, production, imports, exports 
 and consumption, needs some explanation in order to be rightly 
 understood. In the third column is given the production 
 of domestic spirits, as estimated by the Treasury De-
 
 120 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 partment for the years set opposite the quantities pro- 
 duced ; in the sixth and succeeding columns the period 
 from 1790 to 1800, although consisting of eleven years, was 
 treated as a decade, so as to obtain a basis of calculation cor- 
 responding with the official enumeration of the inhabitants of 
 the United States. The excise system remained in force until 
 1802, and for this reason .the years 1801 and 1802 should 
 properly have been included in the first period, but from the 
 nature of the official data obtainable, such a division of the 
 two decades would have occasioned erroneous conclusions. 
 The statements of the average quantities annually imported 
 and exported during the two periods are based entirely upon 
 official returns ; the quantity of domestic spirits produced in 
 1810 is stated in the Digest of Manufactures^ submitted by 
 President Madison to the Senate on the 5th of January, 1814. 
 (Am. State Papers ; Finance, vol. i., p. 763.)
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 121 
 
 
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 122 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Taking Hamilton's estimate of the consumption of ardent 
 epirits in the United States before the year 1790 (Am. St. P., 
 vol. vii. p. 156), and the showing of the foregoing table, we 
 obtain the following : 
 
 Per capita consumption before 1790 11.20 quarts. 
 
 Average annual per capita consumption 1790-1800. . 11.57 " 
 
 1800-1810.. 18.08 " 
 
 Another incidental object of the laws in question was the 
 encouragement and protection of the manufacture of malt 
 liquors. Any one acquainted with the results of taxation in 
 more recent years will incline to the opinion, that the rate of 
 import duties imposed upon malt and malt liquors by the Act 
 of May 8, 1792, was not of a strongly protective nature ; yet, 
 in view of the many impediments which retarded the develop- 
 ment of the brewing industry, it must be admitted that a 
 higher duty upon these articles might, without accelerating 
 the progress of brewing, have injured the cause of temperance 
 by restricting importation. It was surely not anticipated, 
 and could not reasonably be expected, that such a change of 
 habits and tastes, as seemed necessary to popularize the use of 
 fermented liquors, could be effected within one or two decades ; 
 furthermore, it must have been foreseen, that the manufacture 
 of these beverages would at first be confined to certain locali- 
 ties, and depend for its prosperity upon the character and 
 composition of the population. That the brewing industry 
 progressed considerably in those localities where it was intro- 
 duced, shortly before and after the Revolution, is evidenced by 
 a number of circumstances. As early as 1807 the production 
 of malt liquors, according to Gallatin's statement, was nearly 
 equal to the consumption, yet the importation of malt into 
 Pennsylvania had already ceased in 1793 ;* thus showing that 
 the adjuncts of brewing in the large establishments were rap- 
 
 * Coxe's View of the United States ; p. 4a.
 
 CHAPTEK V. 
 
 123 
 
 idly being perfected. In Philadelphia, where the agitation in 
 favor of the substitution of fermented liquors for ardent spirits 
 had found most favor, the use of beer had become very gen- 
 eral,* and soon extended into the larger cities of adjoining 
 States. The state of the brewing industry in 1809-10 appears 
 from the following table, taken from the Digest of Manu- 
 factures already quoted : 
 
 states and Territories. 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 New York 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 Delaware 
 
 Maryland 
 
 Virginia 
 
 Ohio 
 
 Georgia 
 
 District of Columbia 
 
 Population. 
 
 700,745 
 959,049 
 245,562 
 810,091 
 
 72.674 
 380,546 
 979,622 
 230,760 
 252,433 
 
 24,023 
 
 Number 
 of 
 Brew- 
 eries. 
 
 Beer, Ale 
 and Por- 
 ter in 
 Barrels 
 of3U 
 Gallons. 
 
 42 
 
 48 
 
 7 
 
 13 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 22,400 
 
 66,896 
 
 2,170 
 
 71,273 
 
 476 
 
 9,330 
 
 4,251 
 
 1,116 
 
 1,878 
 
 2,900 
 
 Value. 
 
 $86,450 
 
 340,766 
 
 17,229 
 
 376,072 
 
 7,616 
 
 69,880 
 
 23,898 
 
 5,712 
 
 11,268 
 
 17,400 
 
 4,655,505 129 182,690 $955,791 
 
 * Beer was brewed in Philadelphia for several years before the revolu- 
 tionary war, and soon after peace the more substantial porter was made by 
 Kobert Hare. Until within three or four years (1810), the consumption of 
 that article had greatly increased, and is now the common table drink of 
 every family in easy circumstances. The quality of it is truly excellent : 
 to say that it is equal to any of London, the usual standard for excellence, 
 would undervalue it, because as it regards either wholesome qualities or 
 palatableness, it is much superior ; no other ingredient entering into the 
 composition than malt, hops and pure water ; and yet to a foreign porter 
 palate, accustomed to the impression left by the combination of the hetero- 
 genous compounds called English malt liquors, our home-brewed stuff will.
 
 124: LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 The per capita production of malt liquors in the States 
 named (the total amount produced being 5,754,737 gallons), 
 amounted to almost one and one-fourth gallon, or, to be pre- 
 cise, to 4.98 quarts. This does not include what in the digest 
 is stjled ancient fermented liquors, made of honey — the old 
 German meth, here called metheglin and mead — of which 
 considerable quantities are said to have been produced and 
 consumed by private families. Surely, this is a gratifying 
 development of a new industry within so brief a period, and 
 under difficulties of which the present followers of the trade 
 can scarcely form an adequate idea. That part of the 
 Digest of Manufactures which treats of these difficulties 
 deserves particular mention. It is stated therein that 
 
 " The moralizing tendency and salubrious nature of fer- 
 mented liquors — beer, ale, porter and cider* — recommend 
 them to a serious consideration, a^id particularly in our 
 country. The difficulty and expense of procuring a sup- 
 ply of strong bottles, and a peculiar taste for lively or 
 foaming beer, which our summers do not favor, have been 
 the principal causes of the inconsiderable progress of the 
 manufacture of malt liquors, compared with distilled 
 spirits. The absence, or the infrequency of malting, as 
 a separate trade, has also operated against brewing in a 
 
 no doubt, appear insipid. Within a few years pale ale of the finest quality 
 is brewed and justly esteemed, being light, sprightly and free from that 
 bitterness which distinguishes porter. The quantity of each particular 
 malt liquor brewed in Philadelphia cannot be given, as there is no excise 
 nor duty upon hops or malt, and if there be no other mode of ascertainii^g 
 the point, it is to be Jioped we shall ever remain ignorant on the subject. 
 Great quantities of beer are exported to other States. The hops are almost 
 entirely brought from New England ; much of the barley comes from 
 Rhode Island.— (Picture of Philadelphia in 1810, by Mease.) 
 
 * For the full text of the observations on the advantages of vine-culture 
 Bee Appendix.
 
 CHAPTER V. 125 
 
 small way and in families. The great facility of making 
 and preserving distilled spirits has occasioned them ex- 
 ceedingly to interfere with the brewerj-. The liquor of 
 peaches, hitherto deemed incapable of use without distil- 
 lation, greatly prevents the use of beer in a very extensive 
 region of our country, where the peach tree grows with 
 the freedom of a weed, and where its fruit is of the best 
 quality. Cider, which is abundantly produced in another 
 very extensive region, rivals fermented malt liquors as a 
 common drink, and as a material for a customary concoction 
 (the cider royal) and for distillation." 
 
 The want of bottles, it will be remembered, was pointed out 
 during the discussions in the first Congress, as an impediment 
 to brewing ; but the brewer of the present day will scarcely 
 appreciate the stress laid upon this want, unless a full account 
 could be given him of the character of the malt liquors 
 brewed in those days. Unfortunately, no such account can 
 be obtained ; yet a conclusion may be ventured from the 
 statement that, until a Philadelphia brewer, of the name of 
 Robert Hare, invented, in 1809, a peculiarly constructed cask 
 and faucet, no method was known of preserving beer, on tap, 
 in partly filled vessels. What the word ^''^n^eserving means in 
 this connection will appear from the following passage of the 
 Digest : 
 
 " The want of a head, or top of foam, is now observable 
 in the tap beers of Europe, and it is presumable that this 
 object of fancy or taste will not, therefore, be in future 
 deemed indispensable in American tap houses and families. 
 We have been used to consider the want of this foam as an 
 evidence of badness." 
 
 That the use of the liquor of peaches prevented the intro- 
 duction of the brewing industry into the Southern States, is an 
 observation of as much force to-day as it was seventy years
 
 126 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ago ; but later experiences have demonstrated the fact, that 
 the influence of climatic conditions, coupled with the high 
 price of ice, is quite as unfavorable to the industry as the 
 abundance of fruit and the taste of the people. In addition 
 to a scarcity of bottles there also was a want of cork and 
 wire for bottling purposes. Establishments for manufacturing 
 these three articles were just beginning to grow into some 
 importance, and, of course, demanded protection, which was 
 granted at least to one of them. By the Act of March 27, 
 1804, quart bottles, which, in order to foster the brewing 
 industry, had theretofore been exempt from the duty upon 
 glass-ware, were taxed sixty cents per gross; yet the home 
 supply remained behind the demand. 
 
 All these impediments, however, would not so materially 
 have retarded the progress of brewing, if laws tending to 
 restrict country distilling could have been maintained ; and, 
 from the standpoint of true temperance, nothing could have 
 appeared so desirable as a judicious restraint upon what might 
 be styled rural distillation. All authorities concur in the 
 opinion — recently confirmed by the voluminous report of the 
 Statistical Bureau of Switzerland* — that in Sweden unre- 
 stricted distillation in the rural districts rendered intemper- 
 ance a national vice of consequences all the more pernicious 
 as, owing to the unavoidable deficiencies of a primitive mode of 
 distillation, the spirituous liquors produced were of an ex- 
 tremely ardent nature. But it was precisely in respect to 
 country distilling, that our first restrictive laws were only 
 partially successful. Those persons who distilled for the 
 trade, cheerfully obeyed the laws from the very beginning ; 
 and had they not elected to do so, little difficulty could have 
 been experienced in controlling and coercing them. It was 
 not the trade distiller, if this term may be allowed, but the 
 
 * Zur Alcoliolfrage. Vergleichende Darstellung der Gesetze und 
 Erfahrungen, &c. (Bern, 1884) ; p. 68.
 
 CHAPTER V. 127 
 
 distilling farmer from whom the opposition to excises eman- 
 ated, and with him, as we have seen, the question resolved 
 itself into one of personal rights, on the one hand, and of a 
 limitation of the taxing power of the Federal Government, 
 on the other. 
 
 Insufficient, both as to time and mode, as has been the 
 test to which the excise system was subjected, it was, never- 
 theless, proved beyond question that, coupled with a suffi- 
 ciently high import duty, it could have fully realized the 
 ethical objects of its framers, if the Government had been 
 able to execute it rigorously, and the people had been willing 
 to live up to it. From the foregoing tabular exhibit it is 
 manifest, that after the internal duties had been abolished, 
 the import duties remaining virtually intact, the people 
 quickly relapsed into their former habits, growing more and 
 more addicted to the use of ardent spirits from year to year. 
 The growth of domestic distillation from materials of home 
 production furthermore received, as that of all domestic 
 manufactures did, an additional impetus from the suspen- 
 sion of foreign commerce, brought about by the decrees of 
 Berlin, Milan and Bayonne, tlie British orders in council, and 
 the consequent cis- Atlantic Embargo, Eon-importation and 
 Non-intercourse Acts.
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 FISCAL POLICY trNDER JEFFERSOn's AND MADISON's ADMINISTEA- 
 
 TioNS. — Gallatin's financial views. — protection of 
 
 DOMESTIC MAJSrUFACTURES GALLATIn's PROPOSITIONS ON 
 
 THE SUBJECT. SUPPOSITION THAT IN CASE OF WAR THE 
 
 DOUBLING OF EXTERNAL DUTIES WOULD MEET ALL EXI- 
 GENCIES. SPIRITS SINGLED OUT AS CAPABLE OF BEARING 
 
 HEAVIEST EXTERNAL TAX. — TIMID POLICY IN RELATION TO 
 
 INTERNAL LIQUOR TRAFFIC. EFFECT OF IMPENDING WAR 
 
 WITH GREAT BRITAIN. CHANGE OF FISCAL POLICY ; RETURN 
 
 TO HAMILTONIAN PRINCIPLES. EXCISE SYSTEM PROPOSED 
 
 AND IGNORED. IMPORT TAXES DOUBLED. REVERSES OF 
 
 WAR. MADISON URGES IMPOSITION OF INTERNAL TAXES. — 
 
 CONGRESS ACTS ON RECOMMENDATION. INTERNAL REVENUE 
 
 SYSTEM ENLARGED ; ADDITIONAL EXCISE DUTIES ON SPIRITS. 
 
 TERMINATION OF WAR.— GRADUAL REDUCTION OF EXTERNAL 
 AND INTERNAL TAXES, AND FINAL ABOLITION OF THE LATTER 
 
 DUTIES. — Monroe's policy ; forecast of high protective 
 
 MEASURES. RETROSPECT ; EFFECTS OF PRECEDING LAWS. 
 
 The fiscal policy inaugurated under Jefferson's, and sought 
 to be maintained under Madison's administration was the 
 natural outcome of a plethoric exchequer ; its basis was the 
 principle of external taxation. In case of war loans were to 
 be relied on for defraying extraordinary expenses. This poli- 
 cy is best characterized in the following passage of one of Gal- 
 latin's annual treasury reports :* 
 
 The geographical situation of the United States, their history since 
 the Revolution, and, above all, present events remove every apprehension 
 
 * Annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury of December 10th, 
 1808.
 
 CHAPTEIl VI. 129 
 
 •of frequent wars. It may, therefore, be confidently esiJected that a reve- 
 nue derived solely from duties on importations, though necessarily impaired 
 by war, will always be amply sufficient, during long intervals of peace, not 
 only to defray current expenses, but also to reimburse the debt contracted 
 during the few periods of war. 
 
 During the whole of Jefferson's first and half of his second 
 term of office the revenues derived from specific and ad valo- 
 rem duties exceeded bj two millions the amounts necessary 
 for the maintenance of government, and the payment of the 
 interest, and part of the principal, of the debt. Although 
 various modifications of the tariff laws were effected during 
 that time, the general productiveness of the duties was not 
 disturbed ; the transfer to the free-list of a number of articles, 
 hitherto taxed ad valorem, being counter-balanced by the im- 
 position (by the Act of March 26th, 1804) of an additional 
 duty of 2|- per cent, on the value of goods then paying an ad 
 'oalorein duty, and by the augmentation of the list of articles 
 paying specific duties, effected by Act of March 27th, 1804. 
 The increase of the rate per cent, ad valorem was intended, as 
 the act states, for the protection of the commerce and sea- 
 men of the United States against the Barbary Powers ; whereas 
 the increase of the number of specific duties was a purely 
 protective measure, adopted in conformity with a report of 
 the House Committee of Commerce and ISTavio-ation, dated 
 February 21, 1803. In this report, occasioned by a great 
 number of petitions from the manufacturers of over a dozen 
 articles, the statement that the existing imposts did " not 
 operate as protecting duties to our infant manufactures," 
 was coupled with the recommendation, that a plan be sub- 
 mitted for laying new and more specific duties on im- 
 ported goods, wares and merchandise, in such manner as 
 neither to increase nor diminish the revenue. Accordingly, 
 a number of raw materials, among them the bark of the 
 cork tree, were declared free of duty, and the list of articles,
 
 130 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 paying specific duties was so extended as to include most 
 of the manufactures of tlie petitioners.* From tliese changes 
 of the law it will readily be inferred that the new fiscal policy, 
 though apparently aiming at a tariff for rev^enue only, did not 
 exclude considerations of a Protectionist character ; in fact, in 
 his report relative to the above proposition for laying new 
 specific duties, Gallatin expressed the opinion that the legisla- 
 ture should introduce, from time to time, such modifications as 
 might appear most favorable to the agricultural and manufactur- 
 ing interests of the country. Petitions for the protection of 
 manufactures continued to be presented in great numbers, even 
 after the suspension of foreign commerce had considerably 
 decreased importation, and contributed no little to the develop- 
 ment of our industries.f In 1809 Gallatin was instructed 
 to report a specific plan for the encouragement of manufac- 
 tures ; but he failed to do so for the want, as he claimed, of 
 sufficient information. In 1810, however, he proposed, in a 
 general way, the alternative of increasing the import duties or 
 granting loans to manufacturers, for which latter expedient, as 
 we have seen, the first Congress had established a few prece- 
 dents. At about the same time — the danger of a war with 
 either England or France becoming more and more imminent 
 — he reiterated the opinion formerly expressed, that no other 
 sources of revenue save increased import duties and loans 
 would be required in case of a conflict with a foreign nation. 
 He thought that these duties might be doubled without 
 inconvenience or danger. A more suggestive intimation could 
 not have been given to the domestic manufacturers; in conse- 
 quence of it, petitions poured in from all quarters, and received 
 favorable consideration on the part of the Congressional com- 
 
 * This additional list included the duty on black quart bottles, men- 
 tioned in the preceding chapter. 
 
 f In the " Digest of Manufactures of 1810," the total value of domestic 
 products is estimated at $120,000,000.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 131 
 
 mittees to whom they were referred. The protection of the 
 domestic maimfactnre of ardent spirits from foreign materials 
 was not again prayed for since the rejection of the petition 
 mentioned in the last chapter ; but the Secretary of the Treasury, 
 who, unlike his predecessors, ignored the moral side of the ques- 
 tion, and, unless forced to do otherwise, treated the internal liquor 
 traffic as a sort of political touch-me-not, repeatedly expressed 
 the opinion, that these articles could well bear additional duties. 
 Thus when, on the 18th of January, 1811, he was asked to 
 give his opinion as to what particular articles could, without 
 injury, be taxed more heavily than they were at the time — the 
 object being to make good the deficiency likely to grow out of 
 a proposed inhibition of the importation of articles coming 
 from Great Britain and her colonies — he stated that spirits, 
 wines, teas, sugar and coffee would under any circumstances 
 continue to be imported, and that therefore an increase of 
 duties on these articles would be most productive. 
 
 Seeing that the liquor question had proved such a danger- 
 ous stumbling-block to former administrations, it is not much 
 to be wondered at that, by a tacit understanding on the part 
 of the executive officers, a noli-me-tangere policy was pursued 
 in all matters relating to country distilling. Yet it must not 
 be concluded from this, that the temperance movement was 
 entirely lost sight of. While no one seemed sufficiently coura- 
 geous to take up the gauntlet thrown down by the distilling 
 farmers of the country, the idea of diverting popular taste 
 from distilled to fermented liquors continued to be agitated, as 
 has been seen from the Digest of Manufactures of 1810. 
 That the manufacturers of malt liquors were fully conscious of 
 this favorable side-current of opinion, appears from a petition 
 of a number of New York brewers, submitted to the House 
 of Kepresentatives on the 3rd of February, 1812, in which 
 the prayer for protection was justified in the following 
 words :
 
 132 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE mSTTED STATES. 
 
 It is not for us to expatiate on tlie benefits wliicli may result to the 
 community, as to tlie preference, in point of liealth, wliicli malt liquor may 
 Lave to that of ardent spirits, or of the policy of encouraging the one, and 
 of discouraging the other, in a moral point of view ; these are considera- 
 tions, so connected with individual and general good, and so according with 
 the system adopted by Congress promoting the manufactories of our coun- 
 try, and so congenial with the spirit of the nation, that we shall forbear 
 expressing much on the subject." 
 
 The impending declaration of war against Great Britain 
 furnished a temporary solution of the mooted question of Pro- 
 tection in all its far-reaching and multiform ramifications. 
 What to Gallatin threatened to become a Gordian knot was 
 now cut asunder by the sword of war. The same calamitous 
 occurrence completely subverted that financier's fiscal policy 
 and induced a qualified return to Hamiltonian principles of 
 taxation. "When the means for the preparations for war were 
 being discussed, a very extensive armament having already 
 been decided upon, Gallatin, on the 9th of January, 1812, in 
 answer to an inquiry made by the House, proposed among 
 other means of revenue, the imposition of a stamp duty ; a 
 direct tax; duties on carriages, auction-sales, refined sugar, 
 and spirits ; duties on licenses to distillers and to retailers of 
 wines, spirits, and any other species of merchandise. Com- 
 pelled by the inflexible logic of events to accommodate himself 
 to a public recantation of nearly all his strictures and criticisms 
 on the official acts of his first predecessor ; forced to recom- 
 mend the very measures the application of which he had erst- 
 while characterized as unjust, vexations and oppressive — he 
 naturally strove to present plausible excuses for his sudden 
 conversion to the fiscal creed of his former opponents, and to 
 show that, in his case, circumstances, difiering essentially from 
 those of the Hamiltonian era, rendered necessary and proper 
 what formerly was unnecessary and improper. In this attempt 
 he was least successful so far as his recommendation relative 
 to duties on domestic spirits was concerned ; — in truth, in his
 
 CHAPTER VI. 133 
 
 argnmeT?"/ in fnvor of such taxes he, unconsciously perhaps, 
 adopted Hamilton's language, introducing his remarks with 
 this sentence : 
 
 There is not any more elegible object of internal taxation than ardent 
 Ipirits. 
 
 It was the mode of such taxation to which he now confined 
 his objections, and here a touching solicitude for the welfare of 
 country distillers — a powerful body of voters — was again per- 
 mitted to shape the guide for legislation. He deemed objec- 
 tions to an excise on sjjirits particularly strong with respect to 
 persons who were not professional manufacturers, and who, 
 only occasionally, distilled the produce of their farms ; and 
 even as to them he wished to have a distinction made between 
 farmers who distilled fruit, and those who used grain or other 
 material. His proposition in relation to this subject was 
 couched in the following words : 
 
 " That duties on the quantity of spirits distilled should be levied only 
 on spirits distilled from foreign materials, at the rate of ten cents per gal- 
 lon, distilled, and on other distilleries employing stills, the aggregate of 
 which shall contain more than four hundred gallons, at the rate of three 
 cents per gallon, distilled ; and that, instead of a duty on spirits or of licen- 
 ses in proportion to the time employed, all other distilleries should only pay 
 an annual tax of five dollars for each still solely employed in the distillation 
 of fruit, and of fifteen dollars for each still otherwise employed." 
 
 Excepting the rates, his proposed license-system corres- 
 ponded with that introduced during Washington's adminis- 
 tration. Ketailers of wine and of spirits generally were to 
 pay twenty dollars annually, and retailers of domestic spirits 
 fifteen dollars. The amount of revenue to be derived from 
 the manufacture of spirits was estimated at $400,000 ; that 
 from licenses at $50,000, including those which were to be 
 granted to retailers of foreign merchandise. The timid, al- 
 most apologetic manner in which the taxing of country stills 
 was proposed is easily traceable to the occurrences described
 
 134 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 in previous chapters ; it is so much in the sense of a political 
 captatio henevolentiae that a search for other motives seems 
 superfluous. Yet, in justice to truth, it must be stated that 
 there was at the time a general inclination, felt alike in many 
 countries of Europe and in the United States, to take it for 
 granted that unrestricted country distilling was an indispen- 
 sable adjunct of husbandry, enhancing or depreciating the 
 value of agricultural labor in proportion to the greater or les- 
 ser degree in which it was practised. This opinion prevailed 
 to an alarming extent in the Scandinavian countries and the 
 northern parts of Germany, and in no small degree in our 
 country. Among the advantages attributed to this primitive 
 manufacture was — to quote but one more in addition to the 
 many already cited — the security it was said to afford against 
 the desolation of possible famines, inasmuch as the cereals used 
 for distillation, in times of plenty, would form a surplus of 
 agricultural produce available for milling purposes, in times of 
 want. It is a matter for conjecture, however, whether Galla- 
 tin would have allowed such considerations to determine his 
 propositions, if his antecedents had not placed him in the 
 foremost ranks of those who held a restriction of country dis- 
 tilling to be unrepublican in theory, and oppressive in practice. 
 As was to be foreseen, the legislative majority, which in mat- 
 ters of finance had been accustomed to follow Gallatin's lead, 
 could not, at such short notice, be induced to reconcile what was 
 now asked of them with what they had been taught to regard as 
 the only proper and popular course. Even after war had been 
 declared, and when the prospects of raising suflicient revenue for 
 the defrayal of extraordinary expenses seemed anything but 
 brilliant, this plan of imposing direct and internal taxes failed 
 to find favor. It was reserved for a future day, when the exi- 
 gencies of war, arousing the patriotism of the people, might 
 be expected to so operate on popular disposition as to win its 
 approval for any measure deemed essential to the achievement
 
 CHAPTER VI. - 135 
 
 of victory. Increased import duties were the only source of 
 _ revenue applied immediately after the declaration of war. 
 The tariff Act of July 1, 1812, imposed an addition of 100 per 
 cent, on all duties hitherto levied upon goods, wares and mer- 
 chandise imported into the United States, with a further 
 addition of 10 per cent, upon goods imported in foreign vessels. 
 The authorizing of new loans to the amount of twenty-seven 
 millions, and the issuance of treasury notes to the amount of 
 five millions were depended upon for the discharge of immediate 
 obligations necessarily contracted in the prosecution of the 
 war which, meanwhile, had been declared and carried on with 
 varying success on land and sea. When the thirteenth Congress 
 convened, in its first session (May 24, 1813), Madison in his 
 annual message represented the financial condition of the 
 government to be such, as to require the development of new 
 sources of revenue; unless this was done, the revenues for 
 1814, accruing under existing provisions, would prove insufii- 
 cient to cover the ordinary expenses, and the increased interest 
 on the public debt. As to the nature of these additional reve- 
 nues, Madison stated that the object in view could be best 
 attained by a well-digested system of internal taxes, " which 
 will have the effect, both of abridging the amount of neces- 
 sary loans, and of placing the public credit on a more satis- 
 factory basis." The Committee of Ways and Means of the 
 House, in reporting favorably on this part of the President's 
 message, recommended the re-introduction of the former in- 
 ternal revenue system, on the ground, that its principle had 
 before been sanctioned b^ a vote of the House of Eepresen- 
 tatives, and was therefore preferable to a new system, the prin- 
 ciples and details of which could not, under the pressure of 
 circumstances, receive that mature co7isideration which should 
 precede its adoption. Their proposition was, that a direct tax 
 amounting to $3,000,000 be levied, and internal duties be laid on 
 stills, refined sugar, retailer's licenses, sales of auction, carriages,
 
 136 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 bank notes, negotiaible paper and salt, amounting in the aggre- 
 gate to $5,465,000. A.t the same time the committee submitted 
 a separate bill for each of the objects of taxation named. By 
 an act " for the assessment and collection of direct taxes 
 and internal duties," approved July 22, 1813, the old system of 
 internal revenue, on a larger scale, of course, was re-introduced 
 with some modifications ; and on the 21:th of the same month 
 the act laying duties on hcenses to distillers of spirituous li- 
 quors received the President's approval. The first section of 
 this law provides that every owner of a still or other imple- 
 ment used for distilling spirits shall take out a licence, and, if 
 the amount of duties to be paid exceed the sum of five dol- 
 lars, shall execute a bond conditioned for the payment of said 
 duties at the end of four months after the expiration of the 
 term for which the licenses were granted. The second section 
 provides " that the licenses aforesaid shall and may be granted 
 for and during the following terms or periods, and on the pay- 
 ment or securing of payment as aforesaid of the duties under- 
 mentioned, namely : For a still or stills employed in distilling 
 spirits from domestic materials, for a license for the employ- 
 ment thereof for and during the term of two weeks, nine cents 
 for every gallon of the capacity of every such still, including 
 the head thereof; for one month, eighteen cents; for two 
 months, forty-two cents ; for four months, fifty-two cents ; for 
 six months, seventy cents ; for one year, one dollar and eight 
 cents. Half these rates of duty were to be paid upon stills 
 employed wholly in the distillation of roots. For stills used 
 in distilling spirits from foreign material the licenses were 
 as follows : for the employment of every still or stills during 
 one month, twenty-five cents for each gallon of the capacity , 
 for tln-ee months, sixty cents ; for six months, one dollar and 
 five cents ; for one year, one dollar and thirty-five cents. For 
 every boiler, however constructed, employed for the purpose 
 of generating steam in distilleries, double the amount on each
 
 CHAPTEK VI. 137 
 
 gallon of its capacity, which would be payable for said license 
 if granted for the same terms and to employ the same materials 
 for a still. 
 
 Shortly after the passage of this law,* the following taxes 
 were imposed on licenses to retailers of spirits, wines, and mer- 
 chandise " in citieS; towns or villages, containing 300 inhabi- 
 tants within the limits of one mile square, viz : to retailers of 
 wines alone, twenty dollars ; of spirits alone, twenty dollars ; of 
 domestic spirits, fifteen dollars ; of merchandise other than wine 
 and spirits, ten dollars ; of merchandise including both intoxi- 
 cants twenty-five dollars. 
 
 The vote of the House on the final passage of the bill imposing 
 duties on licenses and distillers stood eighty-five to forty-nine. 
 The time for remonstrances on the part of the majority against 
 such measures of revenue, had passed. A preponderance of re- 
 verses over successes; the rapid progress of Indian hostilities, the 
 partial blockade of the coast, and, before that, the operations 
 of the Embargo and Non-importation Acts, by which the exter- 
 nal revenue was reduced to a minimum, and lastly the dispro- 
 portion between the amounts of the loans and the provisions 
 made for their ultimate liquidation, — all these things combined 
 to render an exercise of party discipline indispensable. Even 
 with the increase of revenue from internal and direct taxes, 
 the collection of which was not to commence until the year 
 after the passage of the law, the expenses of carrying on the 
 war could not be covered, and it was to be foreseen that, simul- 
 taneously with the authorization for new loans, an extension of 
 the new system of taxation would have to be effected. Both 
 Campbell, who succeeded Gallatin in the Treasury Depart- 
 ment, and his successor, Dallas, soon became convinced that 
 the only safety of the country lay in taxing the wealth of the 
 nation, in all its available forms, to whatever degree the exi- 
 
 * Act of August 2, 1813.
 
 138 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 o-eiicies of war might dictate. One of the schemes of the 
 latter financier, submitted to Congress on the 17th of October, 
 1814, included the taxing of a great number of articles of 
 domestic manufacture, among them ale, 'porter and strong 
 'beer / and another extended to silverware, household furniture, 
 gold and silver watches ; to incomes, and legal documents of 
 diverse descriptions. 
 
 When these suggestions were made, the fortunes of war 
 had turned against the Union : The entire coast had been block- 
 aded — encircled, as it were, by a " wooden wall ;" Maryland 
 and Massachusetts had been invaded ; the city of "Washington, 
 fallen into the hands of the enemy, was ransacked and partly 
 destroyed by fire ; Baltimore had been attacked ; a British war- 
 ship had ascended the Potomac as far as Alexandria, Ya. ; and 
 the financial condition of the country had become extremely 
 precarious, indeed, the Union was practically bankrupt. These 
 reverses were slightly offset, it is true, by the victory at Platts- 
 burg, the brave defense of Baltimore and the comparatively 
 successful operations against the British in the South ; yet, all in 
 all, the Union never was in narrower straits than at that time. 
 Under such circumstances, the state of affairs appealing power- 
 fully to the patriotism of the people and exacting, in self- 
 defense, unusual sacrifices, it was but natural that the old claim 
 of the domestic distillers, formerly magnified and dignified 
 into a so-called question of principle, became completely sub- 
 merged in the flood of great events. It was for this reason that 
 the recommendation of Dallas, to increase, far beyond existing 
 precedents, the internal duties on spirits, was accepted as a mat- 
 ter of course and encountered not a single challenge that might 
 have reminded one of the inveterate prejudice so often referred 
 to in these pages. It was contemplated by Dallas to tax spirits, 
 alike from domestic and foreign materials, at 25 cents per gal- 
 lon in addition to the duties already levied under the previous 
 law ; and in his computation of the probable income from this
 
 CHAPTER VI. 139 
 
 additional duty he assumed 24,000,000 gallons to be the annual 
 production of spirits, excepting the products of stills of a 
 capacity of fifty gallons. The tax vrhich he had also proposed 
 to levy on ale, porter and strong beer was estimated to yield 
 a revenue of $120,000, at 2 cents per gallon, on a domestic pro- 
 duction of 6,000,000 gallons, annnually. 
 
 A new excise law was passed and approved before the end 
 of the year 1814, which provided that, after the 1st of Feb- 
 ruary, 1815, 
 
 There shall be paid upon all spirits, unless specifically excepted, which 
 after said day shall be distilled within the United States in any still or stills, 
 or in any other vessel, or by aid of any boilers, as defined in the Act of July 
 24th, 1813, in addition to the duties payable for licenses therefor, the duties 
 following, that is to say : For every gallon of such spirits distilled wholly or 
 in part from foreign material, twenty cents ; and for every gallon of such 
 spirits distilled from domestic materials, twenty cents. 
 
 In many respects this new law was far more rigorous than 
 its immediate predecessor, embodying many of the provisions 
 originally framed by Hamilton in his endeavor to prevent fraud. 
 Indeed, in the matter of entries under oath, and the giving of 
 security for the payment of the taxes as well as in regard to 
 the penalties imposed for evasions and violations of the act, 
 false swearing, etc., the law fully merited all the well-known 
 objections urged against the first Federal excise laws ; while, 
 in other respects, it relaxed somewhat the restrictions placed 
 upon distillers, by diminishing the minimum terms for which 
 licenses were to be granted, from a fortnight to one week, and 
 by providing for a corresponding decrease of duties to be paid 
 on the capacity of the stills so employed. Country distillers, 
 that is to say : owners of one still only, whose capacity did 
 not exceed one hundred gallons, and owners of boilers, whose 
 capacity did not exceed fifty gallons, had the option to pay 
 according to the old law, or twenty cents for every gallon dis- 
 tilled. Distillers of domestic spirits were accorded the right
 
 140 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 to sell their product in any cjuantitj, not less than one gallon, 
 thus making them, if they elected to avail themselves of the 
 privilege, distillers and retailers at the same time. A few days 
 after the passage of this act,* the duties on licenses to retailers 
 of wines and spirits were increased firty per cent. Although the 
 levying of an internal tax upon malt liquors had been recom- 
 mended simultaneously with the increase of taxes on ardent 
 spirits, it was not until the following January — when house- 
 hold furniture, watches and a great number of articles of 
 domestic manufacture were taxed — that the proposition was 
 acted upon. An ad valorem duty of six per cent, was then 
 imj^osed on ale, porter and strong beer, being a very low rate 
 compared with the taxes imposed on some articles of luxury — 
 on manufactured tobacco, for instance, the duty on which was 
 fixed at twenty per cent, ad valorem. 
 
 It is needless to narrate how, in the midst of multiply- 
 ing fiscal troubles, just at a time when changeable Bel- 
 lona began to smile upon our colors, the treaty of peace 
 was promulgated (February ITth), and put a period to the 
 lateral and upward movement of taxes and tax-rates. The 
 legislative minds, who, but four weeks ago had been occu- 
 pied in devising new sources of revenue, were now turned 
 to the task of reducing the income. A strong disposition 
 was manifested to at once abolish all internal taxes ; but 
 that would have robbed the Secretary of the Treasury of the 
 ability to bring order out of the chaos into which the war had 
 thrown the financial affairs of the country. The doubling of 
 import duties had been adopted as a war measure, and must 
 therefore be discontinued with the cessation of hostilities ; the 
 law in relation to it became inoperative by limitation, except 
 so far as it referred to ardent spirits. In view of this decrease 
 of revenues, from a source which was again beginning to flow 
 
 * December 31, 1814.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 141 
 
 freely, the total abolition of internal taxes could not be thought 
 of. In order to facilitate a gradual reduction of these taxes, 
 however, it was proposed to retain the war tariff until the 30th 
 of June, 1816.* This income secured, Dallas would have re- 
 modelled the fiscal system on the basis of certain permanent 
 internal taxes and a comprehensive customs tariff, the latter to 
 be determined upon in accordance with the requirements of a 
 protective policy. It is worthy of note that Dallas, while 
 recommending the retention, among others, of the inter- 
 nal taxes on refined sugar, proposed to abolish entirely the 
 duties on distilled spirits, continuing in force only, at double 
 rates however, the duties imposed by the Act of July 21:th, 
 1813, on licenses to distillers. The abolition of internal duties 
 on all other articles of domestic manufacture, including fer- 
 mented liquors, and the reduction of taxes on licenses to 
 retailers were also recommended. Most of the proposed re- 
 ductions were speedily effected,t some of the new rates 
 remaining in force until the 23rd of December, 1817, when the 
 fifteenth Congress abolished all internal duties. 
 
 At the opening of the first session of this Congress, 
 Monroe, who had in the meantime succeeded Madison in the 
 
 * Report of the Secretary of tlie Treasury, Am. State Papers ; Finance, 
 vol. Ill, p. 16. 
 
 f By the Act of April 19, 1816, the duties on distillers' licenses were 
 fixed as follows, the tax being on every gallon of the capacity of each still 
 or boiler. 
 
 DOMESTIC MATERIALS. FOBEIGN MATERIAL. 
 
 For one week, 4^ cents. For one month 23 cents. 
 
 " two " 9 " " two months 46 •' 
 
 " one month 18 " " three " 68 " 
 
 two 
 
 three 
 
 four 
 
 five 
 
 six 
 
 one year, 
 
 ..36 " " four " 90 
 
 ..54 " " sis " 1.34 
 
 ..73 " " eight " 1.86 
 
 ..90 " " one year, 2.70 
 
 ,1.08 
 
 .2.16 "
 
 142 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Presidency, urged the discontinuance of the internal revenue 
 system in these words : 
 
 It appearing that tlie revenue arising from imposts and tonnage, and 
 from the sale of public lands, will be fully adequate to the support of the 
 Civil Government, of the present Military and Naval Establishments, in- 
 cluding the annual augmentation of the latter to the extent provided for, to 
 the payment of the interest of the public debt, and to the extinguishment 
 of it at the times authorized, without the aid of internal taxes, I consider 
 my duty to recommend to Congress their repeal. 
 
 From the tenor of the rest of that part of the message 
 which relates to this subject, it is evident that Monroe approved 
 of internal taxes only in so far as their introduction was exacted 
 by the insufficiency of external duties to meet the demands 
 upon the treasury. This view evidently bore a causal relation 
 to Monroe's desire, expressed in the same message, of seeing 
 domestic manufactures protected and developed. In this con- 
 nection he wrote : 
 
 Our manufactures will require the continued attention of Congress. 
 The capital employed in them is considerable, and the knowledge acquired 
 in the machinery and fabric of all the most useful manufactures is of great 
 value. Their preservation, wMcJi depends on due encouragement, is coimected 
 with the highest interests of the nation. 
 
 The two quotations may be taken as an epitome of the 
 policy which shaped the laws of taxation during the succeeding 
 thirty years. It remains to be stated, that in the year previous to 
 Monroe's inauguration, when the limitation of the prolonged 
 war tariff necessitated a re-arrangement of imposts, Dallas 
 submitted a report on manufactures, in which he advocated the • 
 encouragement and protection of domestic industries in much 
 the same spirit, though not in the same brilliant manner, as 
 Hamilton had done before him. Dividing the products of 
 skilled labor into three classes, according to their ability or 
 rather inability to compete with foreign products, he proposed 
 as many grades of duties, so constituted as to give greatest 
 advantages to those manufactures which seemed least capable of
 
 CHAPTER VI. 143 
 
 witlistanding competition from without. In their arguments 
 and votes upon these propositions the majority of the House, — 
 a very small one, it is true — recorded themselves as Protection- 
 ists pure and simple. Clay even went so far as to reverse the 
 maxims hitherto enunciated, by asserting that in imposing im- 
 port duties, revenue was merely an incidental consideration, and 
 that the primary object was, to give the necessary support to 
 agriculture, manufactures and commerce. The Senate to a 
 certain extent curbed the high protective tendency of the 
 House, and the result was a compromise, by which an exten- 
 sion, at least, of the protective system was hindered. As far as 
 spirits were concerned, however, the new tariff was decidedly of 
 a protective character ; for in this instance, as before, the articles 
 which commended themselves to the greatest share of protec- 
 tion were those whose manufacture called into requisition the 
 products of domestic husbandry ; and among these none had 
 attained to such importance as the spirits distilled from grain 
 and fruit. It may therefore be safely asserted that the change 
 in the rates of import duties effected at that time, grew out of 
 the predominance of Protectionist predilections, kept within 
 bounds by the determined efforts of the minority in Congress. 
 Spirits from grain were taxed at from forty -two to seventy-five 
 cents per gallon,* according to strength ; all other spirits, from 
 thirty-eight to seventy cents per gallon, according to the same 
 test ; the lowest being ten per cent, below, the highest over 
 
 * Spirits, from grain 3d proof, 48 cents. 
 
 " 4tli " 53 " 
 
 " 5tli " 60 '- 
 
 " " " above 5tli " 75 " 
 
 Spirits, from material other than grain 1st and 2d proof, 38 ' 
 
 " 3d " 43 " 
 
 " 4th " 48 " 
 
 " 5th " 57 " 
 
 " " " " " " above 5th " 75 " 
 
 (Statutes at Large, vol. iii. , chap. cvii. )
 
 144 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 forty per cent, above proof, as determined by a particular hydro- 
 meter. Ale, porter, and beer, in bottles, paid fifteen cents ; in 
 casks ten cents per gallon. The duties on wines, specially 
 named, varied between $1.00 and 40 cents per gallon, according 
 to the quality of the article ; all other wines imported in casks 
 were taxed 25 cents per gallon. 
 
 The period, brief though it was, during which the excise 
 law remained in force would in every way be excellently suited 
 for a test of the effects of internal restrictions upon the manu- 
 facture of the articles in question ; all the more suited, in fact, 
 because, in consequence of double import duties, of the Em- 
 bargo and Non-importation Acts, and, after their repeal, of the 
 unsafety of ocean traffic — the domestic manufacturers for a 
 time had an unobstructed field of operation. Unfortunately, 
 however, neither the rej^orts of the Treasury Department nor 
 the census of 1820, afford anything like adequate material for 
 a comprehensive comparison. To begin with, it cannot be 
 ascertained, save by an approximation, based on a few vague 
 and unreliable factors, what quantity of spirits was produced 
 in the country ; although it is to be presumed that when the 
 importation of the article had dwindled from nearly five 
 millions in 1812, io half of one million gallons in 1814, the 
 growth of domestic distillation must have been materially 
 enhanced. There is no way of ascertaining the proportions 
 of this growth. It is reasonable, furthermore, to assume that, 
 when the restraints upon importation were removed, the 
 internal taxes operated restrictively upon domestic production ; 
 but here again the revenue returns of the Treasury Depart- 
 ment are very unsatisfactory as to these and the preceding 
 years. Taking, however, the figures whose correctness can 
 be relied on, it will be found that the higher excise duties 
 imposed by the later law considerably diminished the produc- 
 tion of ardent spirits. The estimate submitted by Dallas 
 was premised on an annual production of 24,000,000 gal-
 
 CHAPTER Vr. 
 
 145 
 
 Ions of such spirits as were contemplated to be taxed accord- 
 ing to quantit}^ — an estimate which, taking the census of 1810 
 as a standard, evidently fell below the actual figure. When 
 the income from internal duties was highest, it exhibited but 
 a little over 10,000,000 gallons as the quantity of such spirits 
 distilled during the year. The following exhibit bears out 
 this statement : 
 
 1815. 
 
 On licenses for stills and boilers employed on 
 
 Domestic materials $750,503 
 
 Foreign materials 91,616 
 
 843,119 
 
 On spirits distilled from domestic material 
 
 At 20 cents per gallon $1,305,160 
 
 At25 " " '^42,398 
 
 On spirits distilled from foreign materials 
 
 At 20 cents per gallon 159,229 
 
 2,206,787 
 $3,048,906 
 
 18 16. 
 
 On licenses for stills and boilers employed on 
 
 Domestic materials, $S24,443 
 
 Foreign materials 123,990 
 
 $948,434 
 
 On spirits distilled from domestic materials. 
 
 At 20 cents per gallon $732,644 
 
 At25 " " 262,649 
 
 On spirits distilled from foreign materials 
 
 At 20 cents per gallon 59,035 
 
 $1,054,328 
 $2,002,762
 
 146 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The quantity of spirits for which taxes were paid on the 
 capacity of stills cannot be correctly stated ; it was estimated, 
 however, at 4,000,000 gallons.* 
 
 Making allowance for the unpopularity of excises, the con- 
 sequent proneness of distillers to evade the taxes, the deroga- 
 tory influence of the anti-war party upon all Administration 
 measures, the comparative novelty of the revenue system and 
 the imperfect mode of collection growing out of this and many 
 other untoward circumstances — it must nevertheless be inferred 
 from the foregoing exhibits, that the production of domestic 
 spirits was considerably diminished by reason of the excise 
 law. From all available official documents it becomes manifest 
 that the difference between Dallas' estimate, and the amounts of 
 taxes paid in 1815 and 1816 (when imports had risen again to 
 4,030,470 and 6,910,807 gallons, respectively) is due to the 
 working of the law imposing internal duties. Nowhere is 
 there to be found any indication of an open opposition, or 
 of evasions, on a grand scale, of the excise law ; had there been 
 either, the official reports on the subject of internal taxes would 
 surely have treated of them in detail and at length. The 
 absence of such indications, coupled with various experiences 
 — between which and the present observations there exist 
 some points of analogy — leads to the presumption, that, now as 
 before, the excise duties had precisely that restrictive effect 
 which was universally predicted for them in Hamilton's days, 
 and which the period from 1791 to 1801, compared with 1810, 
 showed them to have had. If no figures could be produced 
 at all for tiie periods under consideration, the conclusion 
 would nevertheless be self-evident that the consumption of the 
 article must have diminislied in proportion to the increase of 
 its cost, provided that the laws occasioning the rise of prices 
 were, on the whole, faithfully executed and obeyed, as seems 
 to have been the case from 3 813 to 1818. 
 
 * Am. State Papers ; Finance, vol. VI., p. 37.
 
 147 
 
 CHAPTEK YI. ^*' 
 
 Had a dispassionate treatment of the question, unhampered 
 by prejudices on the one hand, and Protectionist proclivities 
 on the other, been possible, the proposition of Dallas, to retam 
 permanently part of the internal revenues, would surely have 
 been adopted, at least so far as distilled spirits were concerned. 
 As it was, the logical consequences of the idea of protection, 
 operating as auxiliaries to the repugnance against excises, 
 contributed in no small degree to the intensifying of those 
 drinking habits, against which the efforts of true temperance 
 advocates have from the beginning been directed. Lest mis- 
 apprehensions arise as to the purport of this averment, the 
 next chapter will be devoted to a brief exposition of the inter- 
 relations subsisting between the cause of temperance on the 
 one hand, and Protection, combined with the aversion to 
 internal taxes, on the other.
 
 CHAPTEK YII. 
 
 THE RELATION WHICH THE KEPUGNAXCE TO EXCISES AND THE 
 PROTECTIVE IDEA BORE TO THE QUESTION OF TEMPERANCE. 
 WHAT THE PROTECTION OF SPIRITS WAS INTENDED TO AC- 
 COMPLISH FOR AGRICULTURE. — THE WISDOM OF PROTECTING 
 SPIRITS, AND THE DESIRABILITY OF PREVENTING THEIR EX- 
 CESSIVE CONSUMPTION. WHY EXCISES WERE NOT PERMA- 
 NENTLY APPLIED TO ACCOMPLISH THE LATTER. IF IT BE 
 
 PROPER TO USE THE TAXING POWER IN ONE FORM IN ORDER 
 TO CREATE ANT) EXTEND MANUFACTURES, IT OUGHT TO BE 
 PROPER TO USE IT IN ANOTHER FORM FOR RESTRICTING THOSE 
 INDUSTRIES WHICH MILITATE AGAINST SUCH ECONOMIC POL- 
 ICY. — REASONS FOR ASSUUHNG THAT UNDER CERTAIN CIR- 
 CUMSTANCES A PERMANENT EXCISE ON SPIRITS WOULD HAVE 
 BEEN FEASIBLE. — RESULTS OF ABSENCE OF INTERNAL TAXES. 
 
 EXCESSIVE DRINKING HABITS OF THE RURAL POPULATION 
 
 AND CONSEQUENT REACTION, LEADING TO THE OPPOSITE EX- 
 TREME. 
 
 No attempt will be made to enquire into the expediency of 
 Protection or of its opposite. Facts must be taken as they pre- 
 sent themselves, and for the present purposes it is quite suffi- 
 cient to know that the majority of statesmen of the intellect- 
 ual caliber of Hamilton, of Monroe, of Dallas and others, 
 familiar with the resources and wants of the country, the con- 
 dition, abihty and requirements of labor and capital — coincided 
 in the opinion, that to foster and further the nascent manufac- 
 tories would ultimately re'dound to the advantage of agricul- 
 ture and commerce, and thereby enhance the welfare and pros- 
 perity of tlie entire Union. This conviction gave rise to the 
 protective tariffs reviewed in the preceding chapters — a con-
 
 CHAPTER vn. 149 
 
 victioii which the authority of so eminent a Free Trader as 
 John Stuart Mill seems to sustain conditionally, inasmuch as 
 this economist admitted that in young countries, and under 
 certain circumstances and environments, Protection might be 
 more expedient than any other economic policy. In examinino- 
 the arguments produced in favor of Protection, it will appear that 
 there is nothing so patent to the least acute perception than the 
 theory, that if manufactures were to be protected at all, none 
 deserved more consideration than those which for their raw 
 materials depended upon the products of domestic husbandry. 
 Applying this argument to grain and fruit it seemed perfectly 
 consistent to tax foreign spirits to such an extent as to afford 
 to the domestic manufacture a decided preponderance of com- 
 petitive advantages over the foreign product. But what valid 
 reasons were there why the article so protected should not, by 
 the agency of an internal tax— much lower, of course, than the 
 import duty — be restricted within reasonable bounds ? It has 
 been seen that in Congress but 07ie opinion prevailed as to the 
 desirability — under all conceivable aspects — of diminishing 
 the consumption of ardent spirits, and that all legislators were 
 in accord, either in their zealous advocacy, or their unqualified 
 approval of the only measure which popular sentiment ap- 
 peared to permit them to apply against the evil effects of ex- 
 cessive drinking habits, namely, the protection and encourage-, 
 ment of breweries. Under the circumstances existing at the 
 time it must have been foreseen, that this measure could at 
 first only have the effect of a feeble palliative ; that it required 
 long time and great care to make it answer its purpose ; that 
 above all things, it required the very reverse of that policy 
 which tended to cheapen ardent spirits in proportion as it fur- 
 nished inducements for the production of the raw materials used 
 in their manufacture. To apply this means to such an end, 
 when a perfectly legitimate and effective agency was at hand, 
 may be likened to the act of the drowning man, who grasps at
 
 150 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 a straw, while a boat, offering the surest means of rescue, is 
 within his reach. Internal taxes would certainly have accom- 
 plished what every man in Congress wished to see realized. 
 Why were they not applied ? The repugnance to excises is 
 mentioned as the principal reason ; yet whenever the product- 
 iveness of the import duties failed to correspond with the de- 
 mands upon the treasury, an excise on spirits was at once 
 resorted to without any hesitation, and long before internal 
 duties were imposed upon any other article ; and when, with 
 multiplying exigencies, the latter became necessary, they were 
 invariably accompanied, if not preceded, by an increase of 
 existing internal taxes on spirits; thus showing that, on account of 
 their general consumption, no less than by reason of the results 
 of their excessive use, these articles were regarded as the first 
 and fittest objects of extraordinary tax burdens. Public exi- 
 gencies, then, have always proved stronger than the aversion 
 to internal taxes — an aversion which, by the way, had lost 
 much of its power after the suppression of the first attempt to 
 resist such taxation. It must be clear that, had not the pro- 
 tective policy been carried to such an extent as effectually to 
 predominate over all other considerations, the internal taxation 
 of spirits would have been accepted as a matter of fiscal ne- 
 cessity at first, as a matter of course in the end. 
 
 The repugnance to excises was of English origin, as we have 
 seen; to make its prevalence in our coun try appear reasonable, one 
 would have to assume that its causes were the same in America 
 as in England. But such an assumption would have no foun- 
 dation in fact. Consulting Blackstone's Commentaries * — an 
 authority which our legislators invariably invoked when they 
 inveighed against excises — it will be found that the eminent 
 jurist based two of his principal objections to this mode of tax- 
 
 * Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England ; Vol. I, p. 317; 
 
 American reprint, Chicago, 1871.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 161 
 
 ation on tlie fact, that in order to prevent fraud, it was neces- 
 sary (in England) " to give the officers a power of entering and 
 searching the houses of such as deal in excisable commodities 
 at any hour of the day, and, in many cases, of the night like- 
 wise," and upon the further fact, that the proceedings in case 
 of transgressions were so summary and sudden, " that a man may 
 be convicted in two days' time in the penalty of many thou- 
 sand pounds by two commissioners, to the total exclusion of 
 the trial by jury and disregard of the common law." The 
 reader need but be reminded of Hamilton's masterly exposi- 
 tion of the American excise system to be convinced, that in 
 these two points there was a wide disparity between English 
 and American methods. 
 
 The English excises were first laid upon the venders of beer, 
 ale,cidcr and perry — spirits were not then (1643) generally used — 
 and in all probability they would not have caused much discon- 
 tent, if they had been confined to these articles, at moderate rates. 
 But that was not the case. Already at the beginning of the last 
 century we find as to the single article of fermented liquor a triple 
 tax, each at a very high rate, viz : an excise on malt, an excise 
 on hops, and an excise on malt liquors ; and the latter tax was 
 all the more obnoxious as it was levied upon the heer hrewed 
 hyprivate families for their oiun use, thus exposing the private 
 dwelling of nearly every well-to-do English citizen to that vexa- 
 tious scrutiny, which Blackstone condemned and which Hamil- 
 ton successfully avoided. JSIo wonder, under such circumstances, 
 that the very name of excises became obnoxious in England ! 
 Such excessive taxation could not but destroy any industry upon 
 which it was imposed, while a moderate tax could in no manner 
 have injured it. In fact, in our time and country the same indus- 
 try has been seen to attain an almost marvelous growth under the 
 operation of a moderate excise, aided by high taxes on spirits. 
 In addition to the exorbitant rates of taxes, there was the 
 further objection to English excises, that in the course of
 
 152 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 time they were extended to a long list of occupations and 
 articles, and that among the latter were absolute necessaries 
 of life, as meat for example. No system hke this was ever 
 contemplated here, save in time of war. An excise upon 
 spirits was all that was proposed by those who understood the 
 necessity, morally and economically, of restricting the use of 
 the article. 
 
 That it is wise to refrain from the application of internal 
 taxation so long as import duties suffice to cover the necessary 
 expenditures of government, can not successfully be disputed. 
 But when the tariff was made to reach beyond the mere mat- 
 ter of revenue, when it was purposely so constituted as to in- 
 fluence the energies of the people and the resources of the 
 country, so arranged as to create and extend manufactures, to 
 guide labor and capital into new, and divert them from old 
 channels ; when, in short, it was used as a direct regulator of 
 one of the three wealth-producing agencies — and all this on the 
 ground that the general welfare, material and political, exacted 
 such a course — it is difficult to see why the same taxing power, 
 exerted in another form, could not on the same ground (greatly 
 fortified by moral considerations) be made to restrict a given 
 manufacture. At the time under review it was universally 
 thought that distilleries of grain, if kept within certain 
 bounds, operated more beneficially upon trade balances than 
 any other manufacture ; for this reason it deserved to be pro- 
 tected. When given unlimited scope, it proved, as Hamilton 
 expresses it, a source of impoverishment and the cause of great 
 demoralization ; and for these reasons it should have been re- 
 stricted by internal taxation. Protected against competition 
 from without, and reasonably restricted from within, it would 
 not only have answered the fiscal and economic purposes, but 
 also the moral objects which all agreed in desiring to see at- 
 tained. 
 
 Although, fully in harmony with the usual character of
 
 CHAPTER VII. 153 
 
 popular errors, the prejudices against excises in general were 
 as tenacious as they could easily be shown to be untenable, yet 
 they were evidently less strong against the taxing of ardent 
 spirits than against the burdening of any other article, so that, as 
 far as spirits were concerned, an exception from the ordinaiy rule 
 of non-imposition of internal taxes could have been effected, with- 
 out any greater risk than that which aspiring politicians might 
 have feared from their moving counter to a popular prejudice, 
 which they themselves had artfully helped to stimulate. To claim 
 that such a restraint upon the consumption of ardent spirits would 
 have been wise and beneficial is not saying anything against 
 the proper use of intoxicants ; indeed, nothing could be further 
 from the truth than such an interpretation. In spite of ad- 
 verse criticism the writer still adheres to the opinion, expressed 
 on a former occasion, that in some climes ardent spirits may be 
 a necessity, and that the people using them there may, in every 
 way, be the better for it. He holds to this view just as firmly 
 as to the opinion, that the moderate use of milder stim. 
 ulants, with their exhilarating, energy-inspiring effect on 
 the brain, their tendency to render man communicative 
 and companionable, to loosen the tongue and quicken 
 thought — proved a blessing to many civilized nations ; * 
 
 * This opinion is expressed by the writer in a statistical sketch on 
 " Keal and Imaginary Effects of Intemperance." Many newspapers, among 
 them that most eminent representative of high-toned journalism, 
 the Neio York Times, who generally approved of the expositions and 
 conclusions of the essay, unqualifiedly condemned the opinion in 
 question. Since then the London Spectator published an article (Sept. 
 24, 1884,) on the "Morality of Diet," in which, much in the spirit of the 
 authorities quoted in the above-named sketch, some of the fallacies of tee- 
 totallers are effectively exposed. The following pertinent sentences are 
 taken from this article : " As a drunken man does immoral acts, it is natu- 
 ral that a practice which, if carried to excess, makes men drunk, should be 
 held in se unholy, and total abstinence be raised by the exaggeration char- 
 acteristic of recoil into a moral obligation. Nevertheless the effect of ex- 
 cess in wine is no more a reason against wine in moderation, than the effect
 
 154 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 that wine and beer have, in fact, been eivilizers of races. 
 It is the excess against which all arguments are directed, 
 not the proper use. Hamilton has shown clearly enough, 
 what economic advantages he looked for from the consump- 
 tion of ardent spirits, and we know that the author of the 
 "• Digest of Manufactures " saw in distillation a safeguard 
 against famines ; but it has also been demonstrated that an ex- 
 cess of distillation tended to impoverishment and fairly in- 
 vited the danger of scarcity of food. The Pennsylvania law 
 of 1779, entirely prohibiting the distilling of grain, owed its 
 enactment to the apprehension, that the general custom of 
 transforming that article into whiskey would ultimately so 
 reduce the quantity of cereals, available for milling purposes, 
 as to produce a famine. 
 
 There seemed all the more reason for preventing an 
 excess of production by internal taxes, as it was held by 
 
 of gluttony — which, is very demoralizing, though our northern world has 
 forgotten the facts, and hardly understands the Biblical denunciations of 
 the vice — is a reason against taking a daily dinner, and in raising absti- 
 nence into morality teetotallers are conceited. Wine is not wicked in se, and 
 the theories they raise on that basis are fallacies contradicted by a glance 
 at the facts of the world. So far from the use of alcohol destroying the races 
 that tise it, the icine-iibbing races are the conquering races, and civilization 
 owes everything, not to the Hindoo, toho abstains, like Sir Wm. Lawson, or to 
 the Mussulman, who abstains like a convict in prison, but to the wine-tast- 
 ing Greek, and the hard-drinking Koman, and the beer-swilling varieties 
 of the Teutonic race. The Hebrew who drinks, and always has drunk from 
 Noah downward, has done five times as much for the world as his cousin 
 the Arab, who, even in Africa, is the most rigid abstainer. The single 
 Hindoo sect which has not renounced alcohol, but demands regular rations 
 of rum — the Sikh — is the one which, were we away from India, would 
 conquer and probably reinvigorate all the others. Nor is the teetotaller's 
 dogma as to the moral efEect of total abstinence, especially in regard to vio- 
 lent crime, one whit more irrefutable. The Turks who committed the atro- 
 cities of Batouk were hereditary total abstainers ; the authors of the mas- 
 sacres of Cawnpore had never seen liquor ; and the Bedouin who will kill 
 you for your buttons, would kill you al.so, if he could, for drinking Bass."
 
 CHAPTER VII. 155 
 
 tlie ablest financiers of the time, that a more reliable, pro- 
 ductive, safe and legitimate source of revenue could not be 
 conceived than a tax upon a consumable article, which, though 
 not a necessary of life, was almost as common a part of diet as 
 bread or meat, and yet deserved to be classed as a luxury more 
 than anything else, especially because its excessive consump- 
 tion was usually accompanied by many social evils. In Ba- 
 varia, where people would as soon think of living without 
 bread as without beer, excises on the latter article have 
 always been the most popular mode of obtaining revenue ; 
 and great public works, like the Heller Bridge — which 
 took its name from the fact that to pay for it a tax of one 
 Tieller {-^ cent) was levied on each gallon of beer — were 
 often accomplished exclusively by this means. Hamilton, 
 it will be recollected, strongly urged the substitution of 
 malt beverages for ardent liquors, and he shared the opinion 
 of the majority of law-makers, that malt liquors would answer 
 a great moral purpose; yet he distinctly stated that, in advo- 
 cating the encouragement and protection of breweries, he had 
 in view, among other things, the ulterior object of making 
 these manufactories a lucrative source of revenue, to be re- 
 sorted to whenever public exigencies required it. With the 
 prophetic eye of genius he no doubt foresaw what his policy 
 would lead to, and contemplated with satisfaction the favorable 
 prospect offered to his country. The experience of the pres- 
 ent generation has verified his hopes and predictions, and 
 has at the same time furnished ample evidence that, avoiding 
 the cause of the prejudice against excises — a thing which even 
 in Hamilton's time had outlived its reality, — the Government 
 would encounter no difficulty in levying and collecting internal 
 taxes on the commodities in question. 
 
 If it had not been for the ulterior object of protection, what 
 sound reason would there have been in a policy which taxed (by 
 imposts) articles of absolute necessity (as salt for instance), while
 
 156 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 it left completely tax-fi'ee a quasi luxury, the excessive indul- 
 gence of which was pregnant with evil ? The very article which 
 in nearly all countries bears the heaviest burden of taxation, 
 was here completely exempt from any duties, and it is surely 
 an unwarranted imputation to claim that the American people 
 would not soon have comprehended the inexpediency of this 
 immunity. What was practicable in 1862, and is still a reality 
 in the " piping times of peace," of which the year 1885 forms a 
 part, would certainly have been feasible from 1820 to the first 
 named year, had it not been for the singular interrelation sub- 
 sisting between a more or less popular prejudice and party- 
 politics on the one hand, and the protective idea on the other. 
 Against a strong current of popular opinion a law could not 
 have prevailed ; but it is a fact — and that is precisely what was 
 sought to be demonstrated — that unaided by party considera- 
 tions and the fiscal outcome of Protection, popular opinion, 
 though very powerful as to internal taxes in general, would 
 not have proved strong enough to forbid the levying of an 
 excise on spirits exclusively. The professional distillers at all 
 times cheerfully submitted to the law. As to the consumers, it 
 may safely be asserted, that, as they did not find fault with the 
 tariff, which in fact made them pay the duties on foreign 
 spirits, they would not have grumbled at the slight increase 
 of price which an excise on domestic spirits would have occa- 
 sioned. The opposition was almost entirely confined to dis- 
 tilling farmers ; but had not their cause been made a party 
 issue, they would undoubtedly in a very short time have 
 learned that their own interests demanded a moderate restraint 
 upon distillation, and, accordingly, rather than pay the tax, 
 many of them would have discontinued distilling, as great 
 numbers did during the operation of the first excise laws. As 
 it was, they were educated to the belief that to advocate 
 unrestricted country distilling was equivalent to displaying a 
 zealous solicitude for the security of individual rights, and
 
 CHAPTER VII. • 157 
 
 that the political party who did so deserved their support. 
 Under the dominion of this political creed, country distillino- 
 became the fountain-head of that degree of intemperance 
 which, during four or five decades preceding the Southern 
 Rebellion, called into existence a great variety of associations 
 (good and bad, excellent and execrable), striving for the sup- 
 pression of excessive indulgence. 
 
 Incidentally it is worthy of note, that the rural districts, 
 which, according to all authorities, were- then the homes of 
 drunkenness, the scenes of all the evils of intemperance, are 
 to-day the strongholds of that zealous advocacy of total abstin- 
 ence, which scoffs at personal liberty, sneers at the rights of man, 
 contemptuously scouts statistical arguments, and out-laughs all 
 claims based .on experience and sober reasoning. In this pas- 
 sage from one extreme to the other, one will without difficulty 
 recognize the characteristics of that reaction which invariably 
 follows undue tension; in history one finds its analogue in 
 many shapes — in the relapse from unbridled licentiousness to 
 Puritan ascetism ; from extreme ungodliness to mysticism or 
 pietism ; from the abject servility, that cringed before absurd 
 dogmas and empty forms, to that fanatical love of liberty which 
 found its end in the sea of French blood, shed in its name. 
 Fortunately, all such reactions are of a transitory character, 
 passing away more or less rapidly, to give room to a normal 
 state of things, holding the middle-ground between the two 
 extremes.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE ERA OF HIGH PROTECTIVE TARIFFS. PARTY DIVISION ON 
 
 THE SUBJECT. ATTITUDE OF CALHOUN BEFORE AND AFTER 
 
 THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. TARIFF OF 1824. TEMPERANCE 
 
 POLICY IN REGARD TO USE OF WINE. CONGRESS GRANTS 
 
 LAND TO FRENCH VINTERS. DUTIES ON WINES REDUCED 
 
 FOR MORAL REASONS. PROTECTIONIST EFFORTS IN FAVOR 
 
 OF WHISKEY. PENNSYLVANIA FARMERS ASK FOR PROHIBI- 
 TION OF IMPORTATION OF SPIRITS. FUTILE EFFORTS TO RE- 
 INTRODUCE AN EXCISE ON SPIRITS. — THE STRUGGLE FOR 
 
 THE PROTECTION OF WHISKEY IN 1828. l^IIXED STATE OF 
 
 AFFAIRS : " YANKEE " RUM OSTRACISED ; WHISKEY DE- 
 SCRIBED AS PALATABLE AND FASHIONABLE. WRANGLE 
 
 OVER THE DUTY ON MOLASSES. YANKEEDOM AND ITS 
 
 ALLEGED FRAUDS ARRAIGNED. INTERESTING DEBATE ON 
 
 THE EXPEDIENCY OF CREATING NEW MARKETS FOR WHIS- 
 KEY. TARIFF OF 1828. INCREASE OF IMPOSTS ON SPIRITS 
 
 AND MOLASSES. REVOCATION OF UNJUST CLAUSE IN REGARD 
 
 TO LATTER ARTICLE IN 1830. REVISION OF DUTIES ON 
 
 WINES. EXTENSIVE FRAUDS UPON THE GOVERNMENT BY 
 
 IMPORTERS OF WINES. THE TARIFF ACTS OF 1830 AND 
 
 1832. — NULLIFICATION OF TARIFF. CALHOUN AND JACKSON. 
 
 COMPROMISE ACT OF 1833. REDUCTION OF DUTIES. — FI- 
 NANCIAL CRISIS UNDER VAN BUREn's ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 PRECARIOUS CONDITION OF TREASURY UNDER TYLEr's ADMIN- 
 ISTRATION. ANOTHER CONFLICT AND COMPROMISE. — INCREASE 
 
 OF DUTIES BY TARIFF ACT OF 1842. FILLMORE ON EXCISES. 
 
 FURTHER CHANGES OF THE LAWS.— CONCLUSIONS AS TO 
 
 SPIRIT AND EFFECT OF LAWS. 
 
 After the abolition of the second excise system the policy 
 pursued in relation to the liquor question virtually remained 
 unchanged up to 1857. Although there were changes in the 
 rates of import duties — mostly of an upward tendency — there 
 was no deviation from the old economic principle. It is for this 
 reason that the laws enacted during the period named, which
 
 CHAPTER Vin. 
 
 159 
 
 includes what may be styled the era of high protective 
 tariffs, may readily be reviewed in a single chapter. There 
 are, however, other reasons for this. From the year 1820, 
 when the Senate rejected a distinctively protective tariff, which 
 had been adopted by the House of Kepresentatives, the sec- 
 tional feeling developed during the far-reaching struggle over 
 the question of admitting Missouri into the Union, determined 
 to a great extent not only the agitation in favor of, and the 
 opposition to the protective system, but also the complexion 
 of old and the formation of new political parties. The 
 changed condition of affairs is best characterized in a concrete 
 case, namely, the attitude of the master-mind of the new op- 
 position. Before 1820 we find Calhoun working hand in hand 
 with Clay, the advocate of Protection pure and simple. Al- 
 though he did not ignore the fact, that the population of the 
 section of country represented by him had no direct interest 
 in a protective tariff, being chiefly, almost exclusively, en- 
 gaged in agriculture, he nevertheless held the opinion that 
 not only the prosperity, but also the security of the country 
 depended upon the encouragement and protection of manu- 
 factures. In his speech of the 4th of April, 1816, siding with 
 Clay in advocating high duties, he said, that " when our man- 
 ufactures had grown to a certain perfection, as soon they 
 would be under the fostering care of the Government, the farm- 
 er would find a ready market for his surplus produce, and a 
 certain and cheap supply of all his wants." With this object 
 in view, and an eye to the interests of his particular locality, he 
 especially commended cotton factories to the consideration of 
 Congress. In reference to the security of the country he held 
 the view, explained in the first chapter of this book, that in 
 order to be able to take care of itself, a country must be so 
 placed *as not to have to depend upon another for the means 
 of its defence. 
 
 After the Missouri Compromise Calhoun became the
 
 160 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 leader of that determined opposition to the protective 
 system, which culminated in the doctrine of nullification, 
 and subsequently, for a great number of years, shaped the 
 course of political events. The conflict now more and more 
 assumed a sectional character; the doctrine of states-rights; 
 the question of the authority of the National Government to 
 levy taxes for purposes other than revenue, and the question 
 of free labor and slave labor, as affected by a protective tariff, 
 entered into the contest. Old Parties became disrupted, and 
 new parties were organized.* In fact, from, this period the 
 history of the so-called American system is so closely inter- 
 linked with the history of the Union, that it is almost impossi- 
 ble to write of the former, without writing the whole of the 
 latter. Closely to follow the development of the question 
 from phase to phase would lead us much further away from 
 the subject under consideration, than the objects in view would 
 under any circumstances justify. The present inquiry must, 
 therefore, necessarily be confined to measures directly relating 
 to the liquor traffic ; while everything else pertaining to the 
 tariff can only receive passing notice. 
 
 The tariff of 1824, a protective measure in the full sense 
 of the term, did not affect distilled spirits, the decidedly pro- 
 tective duties imposed upon this article by the Act of 1816 
 remaining unchanged, and, excepting the claim of the Louisiana 
 sugar planters, that their product should be protected against 
 foreign competition, nothing new came to the surface during 
 the discussions on any of the bills offered from 1816 to 1825. 
 The duties on ale, porter and beer were, however, increased 
 from fifteen to twenty cents, when imported in bottles, and 
 from ten to fifteen cents, when imported in casks. The duty on 
 black quart bottles was raised to $2 per gross. The reduction 
 
 * The origin of tlie Whig or National Republican and the Democratic 
 parties date back to this period
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 161 
 
 of duties on wines, effected by the Act of Mareli 13, 1819, has 
 ah'eady been mentioned ; but it remains to be said, that this 
 redaction resulted from a desire to further temperance by 
 cheapening wines and thereby inviting an increase in their con- 
 sumption. Domestic wine-cultnre progressed so slowly, that 
 there was no telling when the domestic production would 
 cover any part of the market demand. And this very fact, 
 namely, the paucity of the domestic produce, no doubt facili- 
 tated the reduction of duties, for, in consequence of it, there 
 was not enough of' a basis for an ox3position on the favorite 
 plan of local interests. It is true. Foot, from Connecticut, 
 protested against a lowering of the duties, because, as he as- 
 serted, the first reduction after the war had already destroyed a 
 growing industry in his State, and because on moral princi- 
 ples he desired to see the production of wines cherished in the 
 United States. His protest availed nothing, because the same 
 moral consideration was also urged in favor of a measure, 
 which tended to enable the people to substitute cheaj) wines 
 for ardent spirits. That the desirabilit}' of this change was 
 generally admitted, appears from the enactment of a law, in 
 1817, authorizing the sale of four contiguous townships in 
 Mississippi to emigrants from France, on the express condition 
 that these French purchasers, who had associated together to 
 form cis- Atlantic settlements, cultivate grape-vine and olives. 
 During the period from 182-1 to 1828, the advocates of 
 protection worked incessantly for extending and perfecting 
 their system, and among the many objects of domestic manu- 
 factures recommended by them for additional protection against 
 foreign competition, distilled spirits occupied a prominent 
 place. The incentive to this effort again emanated from rural 
 districts. Pennsylvania farmers memorialized Congress on 
 the subject, praying that the importation of spirits be prohib- 
 ited, or the duties thereon so increased, as to amount to a pro- 
 hibition. The Senate Committee on Agriculture, of which
 
 162 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE TJNrrED STATES. 
 
 Findlay was at that time chairman, on the 21st of March, 
 1826, rendered an exhanstive report on the subject, in which 
 the opinion is expressed that a prohibition in fact, if not in 
 express terms, ought to be effected, as it would be " highly 
 beneficial to a very numerous class ol citizens, whose pursuits 
 have claims to the fostering care of the Government." Aware 
 that a bill of this kind could not originate in the Senate, the 
 Committee merely suggested that the revenue deficiency, 
 which a prohibitory import duty on foreign spirits would have 
 occasioned, might be made up by an internal tax on the do- 
 mestic article. Whether the Pennsylvania petitioners would 
 have been very eager to accept the fulfillment of their prayer 
 on this condition, that is to say, at the cost of the detested ex- 
 cise system, seems questionable ; but there can be no doubt 
 that had an appreciation of the principle which underlies the 
 senatorial suggestion been generally diffused, the people at 
 large would soon have perceived not only the justice of it in 
 such a case, but also its applicability under the circumstances 
 which form the subject of the preceding chapter. Unfortu- 
 nately, the matter was never placed before the people in a 
 proper light; the touch-it-not policy being still very powerful. 
 Another futile attempt to re-introduce the excise system was 
 made in the same year, the avowed object being to raise 
 money for internal improvements and public education. This 
 attempt — induced by pertinent memorials and petitions — was 
 in the form of a resolution, setting forth that " it was expedi- 
 ent to increase the duty on all imported spirits, and to levy an 
 excise on domestic liquors." A select committee of the House, 
 to whom this resolution was referred, refrained from making 
 any definite recommendations, on the ground that the infor- 
 mation, which could be obtained from the Treasury Depart- 
 partment as to the working of previous excises, was not sufii- 
 cient to warrant any final conclusions. As an expression of 
 sentiment and opinion, however, the report is of great value.
 
 CHAPTER vni. 1G3 
 
 "No fairer subject of taxation and revenue,'' the report reads, 
 "can be presented to the Government than ardent spirits, 
 whether foreign or domestic, and the committee would desire 
 to see a larger portion of our revenues derived from this 
 source, and that some of the immediate articles of prime ne- 
 cessity to the comfort of the poor and of the middle classes of 
 society might be free of duty. Foreign liquors are used to a 
 considerable extent as articles of luxury. Domestic liquors 
 are made from various materials, and in every section of the 
 country. They are used to an extent which many believe to 
 be incompatible with the public good, and perhaps the con- 
 sumption is increasing beyond the ratio of population. The 
 consequences are deeply felt, and are greatly deplored by 
 every friend of man. TJie question is not whether^ hy sump- 
 tuary laios, we vnll 'prohibit intoxication ' hut whether intox- 
 icating liquor is a fair and laiaful object of taxation^ from 
 which the Government may draw its revenues to pay the pub- 
 lic debt, to distribute widely the blessings of free schools, and 
 improve the internal condition of our country. And if by the 
 imposition of such tax, the consumption of ardent spirits is 
 diminished, will not the public morals, the comfort and happi- 
 ness of the community, the wealth and the character of the 
 nation be advanced ? " Here we have the essence of the ar- 
 guments used by Hamilton, a re-enunciation of that principle, 
 which, when put to the touch-stone of experience, demonstrated 
 the easy possibility of serving the interests of domestic hus- 
 bandry, of satisfying the fiscal requirements of the Government, 
 and at the same time advancing true temperance in the only 
 way compatible with the spirit of our institutions and the 
 welfare of the country. But precious as were these words, 
 they were wasted, like words hastily traced on the tide- 
 washed sands of the seashore, and as hastily effaced by the 
 in-rolling waves — the waves of selfishness of American agri- 
 culturists.
 
 164 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 While no attention was paid to such rational suggestions 
 as we have just quoted, the demand for increased protection 
 grew stronger from day to day, and with its growth the geo- 
 graphical line of division between Protectionist and Free 
 Trader became more and more marked, although Massa- 
 chusetts, Maine and New Hampshire in many respects stood, 
 as yet, on the same ground occupied by the Southern States. 
 When in 1828, under the administration of John Quincy 
 Adams, another change of the tariff, favoring protection, was 
 proposed in Congress, the discussions frequently disclosed the 
 development of the idea, that in the struggle for still higher 
 duties the interests of the Southern States were to be sacriliced 
 to the advantage of the N^orthern and Eastern States. In respect 
 to ardent liquors, however, the state of things was slightly 
 mixed. While the proposed increase of duties on these articles 
 themselves did not encounter much opposition, the proposition 
 to double the impost on molasses, then taxed at five cents per 
 gallon, furnished material for a series of extremely ludicrous 
 altercations. The wishes of the sugar planters of Louisiana 
 clashed with the interests of the distillers of New England 
 rum ; but the fisheries and navigation of the East, which as 
 has been shown before, depended in part upon the latter 
 manufacture, were supposed to be arrayed not only against the 
 agricultural interests of Louisiana, but also against those of 
 the grain-growing States ; and it is this view which occasioned 
 some very entertaining bits of parliamentary fencing. The 
 House Committee on Manufacture, whose report formed the 
 basis of argument, had broken a lance in favor of whiskey, 
 claiming that the liquor distilled from grain had become very 
 "palatable and fashionable," and deserved to be given prefer- 
 ence over New England rum, because it created a demand for 
 domestic cereals and thereby benefited domestic agriculture. 
 On the correct supposition that abundant grain would be pro- 
 duced in the Union to furnish a full supply of ardent spirits,
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 165 
 
 if the demand was not otherwise supplied, the committee re- 
 D-arded the distillation of rum as an undue interference with 
 the interests of domestic grain-growers, and for this reason 
 recommended higher duties both on foreign spirits and on 
 molasses. This was but a variation on an old tune ; but the 
 times had changed, the scenes were slightly shifted, the roles 
 partly exchanged. The very State, which in 1791 was repre- 
 sented as consuming ten times as much liquor as Connecticut, 
 and as considering the article a necessary of life — North Caro- 
 lina — now entered the lists in behalf of temperance. One of 
 her representatives in Congress, Bryan, took up the cause in 
 these words : 
 
 " It seems, then, sir, that we are iu the first place to create, by legisla- 
 tion, a demand for whiskey, and, by excluding foreign spirits and molasses, 
 to compel its use. Such a proposition seems to me monstrous, both in a 
 political and moral view. The materials and industry of numerous classes 
 of our citizens, by the operation of the West India trade, are exchanged for 
 many millions of gallons of molasses, which is largely used as an article of 
 diet by all classes, and especially by the poor, and is undoubtedly very nu- 
 tritious ; besides, it yields a large revenue to the Government. I would 
 ask, sir, why the fruits of their industry and capital is less worthy of pro- 
 tection because it appears in the shape of molasses, than if it appeared in 
 the more ' fashionable ' garb of whiskey? It is also a strong recommenda- 
 tion to molasses that it can be taxed by an impost duty ; whiskey can only be 
 taxed by an excise, and that, it seems, is a hazardous experiment. So far 
 from this Government attempting to create a demand for whiskey, I had 
 hoped that the proposition from the Committee on Commerce * to reduce 
 the duty on wines, would have met favorable reception ; it is strongly re- 
 commended by its tendency to substitute the use of pure and wholesome 
 liquors for that of obnoxious ardent spirits, thus promoting eminently the 
 moral and physical health of the nation." f 
 
 * Am. State Paper, Finance, Vol. V., page 775. 
 
 •f- On this occasion Bryan also vindicated his constituents' taste, by 
 jocosely protesting against the assertion that whiskey had become 
 fashionable and palatable. His constituents, he said, had not yet 
 become so fashionable as to discard Madeira (when they could get it) for 
 whiskey
 
 166 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Although evidently not meant to be such, this speech was 
 virtually one in favor of the rum distilleries of the New Eng- 
 land States, and on that account could not fail to bring upon 
 Brvan the blame of his Southern colleagues. Carson, also 
 from North Carolina, who abhorred the entire American sys- 
 tem, thought that the duty on molasses should be as high as 
 possible for the reason, among others, that " it is the material 
 from which is distilled a noxious spirit commonly called in 
 North Carolina Yankee rumy He asserted that this " poison- 
 ous stuff " had inundated the seaboard of his State and found 
 its way into as many parts of the interior as the wooden clocks 
 and wooden nutmegs of the same origin. The conclusion of 
 his harangue is too precious a bit of oratory to be omitted. 
 Here it is : 
 
 " My colleague (Bryan) has asked, wh ether we should sit here legis- 
 lating for the protection of a noxious liquor, which tends to degradation, 
 meaning whiskey. Now, Mr. Chairman, I appeal to the candid decision of 
 my colleague, which is the most noxious, poisonous, and degrading in its na- 
 ture, good rye whiskey or mean Yankee rum ? I will not do my colleague 
 the injustice to say, sir, that he is in favor of the American system ; but if 
 he should be, what is there that demands, in a more eminent degree, his 
 protecting care than the health of his constituents ? Nothing, sir. And to 
 that end I call upon him, in sober earnestness, to banish Yankee rum and 
 to substitute good whiskey. " 
 
 This opinion should not be construed as having been 
 uttered in a sense of jocular exaggeration, for in the Senate it 
 was given expression by no less a personage than Benton, who 
 claimed " that whiskey was the healthiest liquor that was 
 drunk, as men were known who had been drunk upon it for 
 forty or fifty years, while rum finished its victims in eight or 
 ten " — an averment in which Chandler, from Maine, in- 
 spired, it would seem, by that Christian charity which to this 
 day holds sway in his State, welcomed as an additional reason 
 for voting against the duty, confessing himself in favor of that 
 liquor, which would soonest dispatch the drunkard.
 
 CHAPTEK VIII. 167 
 
 A noteworthy argument in favor of doubling the duty on 
 molasses was, that the material served as a medium of fraud 
 upon the Government, inasmuch as by mixing four gallons of 
 whiskey with one gallon of molasses, and thus producing five 
 gallons of New England rum, the exporter of that article, 
 paying five cents duty on his molasses, and receiving twenty 
 cents drawback on his rum, made a clear gain of fifteen cents 
 on the five gallons. The inferential evidence adduced to sub- 
 stantiate this charge was not very strong, yet the argument 
 was eagerly seized upon as being in harmony with the inten- 
 tions of the majority of the law-makers. These intentions, it 
 has been seen, appealed to the selfishness of the grain-growers 
 and of the sugar-planters, while they militated disastrously 
 against the New England distillers. The current of opinion 
 in favor of increasing the duty on molasses from five to ten 
 cents proved too strong for any available resistance, but it is 
 difficult to determine which one of the factors forming this 
 opinion predominated : whether the irrepressible demands of 
 the grain-growers, or the claims of the sugar-planters, or the 
 Bentonian view of the superiority of whiskey over rum gen- 
 erally, or the abhorrence, tinged with sectionalism, of Yankee 
 rum in particular, or the fear of fraud upon the Government, 
 or the general tendency of the time, to promiscuously tax 
 everything and all things coming from abroad, or, finally, the 
 disposition, said to have prevailed, to insure the defeat of the 
 whole bill by making it totally inequitable. But whichever 
 may have had a preponderance, they all — excepting the last 
 factor — diverged toward one point, which was, that whatever 
 tended to augment the production of ardent spirits from 
 domestic materials, tended also to enhance the importance and 
 advantage of domestic agriculture, and, therefore, must needs 
 be advocated by every lover of his country. Wright (New 
 York) * put it in this way : " All the whiskey the country 
 
 * Benton's Debates of Congress, Vol. X., p. 90.
 
 168 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 can make and market, furnishes a market for just so mucli 
 of the grain of our farmers, which now will not sell, and 
 must remain upon their hands." In all the discussions upon 
 this subject but two allusions were made to excises ; namely, 
 the one already quoted characterizing the system, as a haz- 
 ardous experiment; the other (by Condict, of New Jersey), 
 favoring an excise on domestic spirits as a perfectly proper 
 tax. No further notice was taken of this important side 
 of the question. The protective idea ultimately triumphed 
 in the case of molasses and foreign spirits, as it did in 
 every other instance of this historically important struggle 
 — a struggle in which all the objections to the conversion of 
 the taxing power into a protective lever were most forcibly 
 urged upon the consideration of the majority. 
 
 By the law which was now enacted,* the duty on molasses 
 was fixed at ten cents per gallon, and, as if to aggravate the hard- 
 ship imposed upon the New England distillers, no drawback 
 was allowed on the exportation of spirits manufactured from 
 molasses, the ostensible reason for this being the charges of 
 fraud brought against the exporters of that article. The real 
 reason may have been, as was said, an intention of killing the 
 whole bill through the injustice of this clause. The duties on 
 all foreign spirits were increased by fifteen cents on each gal- 
 lon, raising the aggregate amount of duties, in each case, to 
 the following figures : 
 
 From grain, 1st proof, 57 cents per gallon. 
 2d " 60 " " 
 3d " 63 " " 
 4tli " 67 " 
 5th " 75 " " 
 " ' ' above 5th proof, 90 cents per gallon. 
 From material other than grain, 1st and 2d proofs, 53 cents per gallon. 
 
 3d " 57 " " " 
 
 4th " 63 ' 
 
 5th " 72 " " 
 
 " " " " " above 5th proof, 85 cents per gallon. 
 
 *May 19, 1828. Statutes at Large, Vol. IV., p. 270.
 
 CHAPTER vm. 169 
 
 The duty on molasses, amounting to over one hundred per 
 cent, of the vahie, was said to have been insisted upon by the 
 opponents of the protective system for tlie purpose of defeat- 
 ing the entire bilL Adverting to this circumstance, Ingersoll, 
 in the first session of the twenty-second Congress (1830), 
 moved to reduce this duty by one half, and to allow a draw- 
 back of four cents upon every gallon of rum exported from 
 the United States — a proposition which was at once acted 
 upon.* 
 
 In accordance with the report of the House Committee on 
 Commerce a revision of the duties on wines was effected during 
 the same session. The rates existing at the time — being 15 
 cents on wines not enumerated f and varying from $1.00 to 40 
 cents per gallon on wines specified by the names of the places 
 from which they were exported — were a standing temptation 
 to dealers in those articles to first import costly wines to ports 
 or places not enumerated in the American tarifi*, and thence 
 import them into the Union, in which case the articles were 
 treated as belonging to the category of " other wines," and 
 admitted at the lowest rate of impost. Thus, for example, 
 Sherry shipped to the United States from Cadiz would have 
 to pay sixty cents per gallon, but transported to Gibraltar or 
 Marseilles, and thence shipped to this country, it had to pay 
 but fifteen cents, if imported in casks ; thirty cents, if imported 
 in bottles or cases. Wines of Sicily, taxed at fifty cents, had 
 but to be carried to some Mediterranean port outside of the 
 Italian territories named in the tariff, in order to be admitted 
 into the Union at the rate of fifteen cents per gallon. With 
 the shrewdness characteristic of the votaries of Mercury, the 
 traders had spied out the weak points of our tariff, and utilized 
 them for a perfect system of evasions, alike easy of execution 
 
 * Statutes at Large, Vol. IV., p. 419. 
 f Fifteen cents, when imported in casks ; thirty cents, when imported in 
 bottles or cases.
 
 170 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 and exempt from any and all risks. JSTo doubts seemed to 
 exist as to the extent of this practice ; the importation of wines 
 of the better qiialitj, or rather the importation of wines 
 consigned under the names of the more valuable articles 
 decreased rapidly, whereas the importation of the bever- 
 ages classed as " other wines " increased in a corresponding 
 ratio. The consequences were the almost entire destruc- 
 tion of oar commerce with the Western Islands, the Canaries, 
 Portugal and the Atlantic Provinces of Spain, and a transfer 
 of trade to Mediterranean ports. With the former countries 
 our trade was supposed to be more profitable, by reason of an 
 exchange of goods, than with the latter. It was thought that 
 by the lowering of the higher duties on finer wines, and a change 
 in the classification of all, the evils could be remedied, and, ac- 
 cordingly, a law was passed * fixing the duty on wines of France, 
 Germany, Spain and the Mediterranean ports, unless specially 
 enumerated, at fifteen cents per gallon ; except red wines of 
 France and Spain, when not imported in bottles, which were 
 taxed only ten cents ; on wines of all countries, when imported 
 in bottles and cases, unless specified by name, on wines of 
 Sicily, and on all wines not enumerated, in whatever manner 
 imported, thirty cents, with the addition of the duty on the bot- 
 tles, if so imported ; on Sherry and Madeira fifty cents per 
 gallon, in addition to duty on bottles. This law had no 
 political or parliamentary connection with the high protective 
 tariff adopted a few days before. It stood isolated as a subject 
 of legislation in no way allied to the great economic question, 
 which again, and now more markedly than in 1824, divided 
 Congress into two great groups, each held together by a com- 
 mon bond of local interests, and a feeling of sectionalism. 
 
 Already in 1824 South Carolina had taken the lead in 
 endeavoring to bring about concerted action against the 
 
 f May 24, 1828, Statutes at Large, Vol. IV. p. 309.
 
 CHAPTER Vin. 171 
 
 tariff, even to the extreme of open defiance of the authority 
 of thb National Government ; I)ut the agitation had not yet 
 become uniformly sectional. All the so-called plantation 
 States were, it is true, against protection, and from the debates 
 in Congress the fact stands forth clearly, that to the minds of 
 some of the leaders, nothing seemed more feasible than to 
 make the Southern people believe, that the East and North 
 were profiting by the tariff at the expense of the South. But 
 the lines were not yet rigidly drawn. Some New England 
 States protested against indiscriminate protection quite as 
 loudly as the South, and "Webster, surely one of the most emi- 
 nent representatives of the Ibrmer states-group, still o])posed 
 protection. With the passage of the tariff law of 1828, and 
 the discussions which preceded it, the idea of nullifying the 
 tariff seems to have attained full maturity, and from this time 
 on the sectional character of the strife was sharply defined. 
 The South now " stood together in a solid phalanx," as Kan- 
 dolph expressed himself, and the New England States placed 
 their faith upon protection, which, according to Webster, they 
 now looked upon as the permanent policy of the Government, 
 and hence adjusted their industrial affairs accordingly. 
 
 It would be going beyond the limits v/hich the subject 
 of this work necessarily fixes to historical digression, to 
 relate how the beginning of Jackson's administration (1829- 
 1837) ushered in the great struggle between Calhoun and " Old 
 Hickory." It forms one of the most thrilling events of our 
 history — this memorable contest, which, after the adoption, by 
 South Carolina, of the Nullification-Ordinance of November 
 2'4th, 1832; after Jackson's proclamation to the effect that the 
 " Union must and shall be preserved ;" after all the perilous 
 moves and counter-moves for and against the doctrine of state- 
 rights — finally terminated in the famous Compromise Act of 
 March 2nd, 1833. There is all the less reason for such a di- 
 gression as, in all the protracted debates on the questions lead-
 
 172 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UKITED STATES. 
 
 ing up to the compromise, no allusion was made on either side 
 that would shed additional light on the status of the liquor 
 traffic. The tariff acts of May 20th and 29th, 1830, and July 
 13th and 14th, 1832, which preceded the compromise, did not 
 affect either distilled spirits or fermented liquors, wines excepted. 
 In the midst of the general upward movement of the tariff the 
 duties on the latter articles were again lowered — actually and 
 prospectively. By the act of July 11th, 1832, the red wines of 
 France were taxed at 6 cents per gallon, in casks ; white wines, 
 in casks, ten cents per gallon ; French wines of all sorts, in 
 bottles, twenty-two cents. From and after March, 1831, all 
 wines whether of France or other countries were to pay half 
 the rates existing at that time. 
 
 Under the operation of the Compromise Act of 1833, the 
 maximum rate of duties from and after the 31st of December^ 
 1812, was fixed at 20 per cent, on the value of the article 
 taxed ; and the amounts of duties in excess of that rate were 
 gradually reduced in such manner, that one-tenth of this excess 
 was deducted in 1833, another tenth in 1835, 1837 and 1839, 
 respectively : and one-half of the residue in 1811, the other half 
 in 1812. After the latter year ail imposts were to be collected 
 in ready money. The period of these biennial reductions of 
 the tariff, embraces two of the most critical epochs in the 
 financial history of the Union. Under Yan Buren's administra- 
 tion (1837-1811) occurred two financial crises, which brought 
 the country to the verge of ruin, and left many States abso- 
 lutely bankrupt. Harrison, on assuming the presidential chair 
 in 1811, found the country and the treasury in a deplorable 
 condition. During the first year of Tyler's administration 
 (1841-45) the revenues fell below the expenses of the Govern- 
 ment, while the debt of the Union rapidly increased; yet, 
 under the operation of the Compromise Act, a still further re- 
 duction of the income had to be effected. By another com- 
 promise m a different direction, consummated towards the close
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 173 
 
 of the year 1841, the omission of this last reduction of revenue 
 had been rendered next to impossible, without a renewal of the 
 parliamentary combats of 1832-33. This bargain was conclu- 
 ded between the friends of the so-called Distribution Act and 
 the friends of the Bankrupt Act. The former law provided 
 for the distribution of the proceeds from tlie sale of public 
 lands to the States, making the continuation of such distribu- 
 tion conditional upon the reduction of the tariff in accordance 
 with the law of 1833, inasmuch as it prescribed that the distri- 
 bution of the land money should cease, whenever the duties on 
 imports exceeded twenty per cent, on the value of the taxed 
 article. 
 
 Out of this state of affairs grew the historic conflict 
 between Tyler and Congress, the former having vetoed a bill 
 providing for a provisional tariff, which exceeded the rates pre- 
 determined by the Compromise Act, and disregarded the above- 
 cited provisions of the Distribution Act. Neither this nor the 
 subsequent controversy over the general tariff of August 30th, 
 1842, which signalizes a return to the first love of Protection- 
 ists, added anything new to the liquor question ; in fact, the 
 increased complications in which the subject of Protection be- 
 came entangled, scarcely permitted an exhaustive consideration 
 of the details of the tariff. The strife turned on a question of 
 principle; this being decided, it seemed to matter little how and 
 to what extent it was acted upon. The only noteworthy circum- 
 stance is the fact, that from the inquiries into sources of revenue 
 to which the Government might safely resort, that of an excise 
 on spirits was from the beginning excluded, and again for no 
 other reason than the odium which a preconceived notion 
 attached to the name of the thing. How very prone even 
 superior politicians were to pay tribute to this antiquated 
 prejudice, appears from the following extract from a speech by 
 Fillmore, of New York : 
 
 " The very name of excise is odious in Great Britain, where
 
 174 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 it is practised ; and though we find in the Constitution a power 
 to raise revenue by excise, I am surprised to find that the word 
 has not been used in this country. Aud why is it so ? A duty 
 in the shape of an excise was recommended during the two 
 first years of our Government, but the name was so odious that 
 the Administration that ventured to impose the duty, did not 
 venture to use the name. I find a report by Mr. Hamilton, in 
 which instead of excise, he called it internal revenue. There is 
 a great deal in changing a name." 
 
 The opinion that the imposing of excises would be a dangerous 
 experiment seems to have still prevailed to a very great extent, 
 and it was naturally again strengthened by the efforts for a pro- 
 tective tariff. It was contented that the Government needed 
 so much money, that a tariff for revenue only would practically 
 operate as a protective tariff, and this was the sign under 
 which the friends of Protection again conquered. 
 
 The new duties imposed on ardent spirits by the act of 
 1842, were as follows : 
 
 On brandy, one dollar per gallon ; on spirits manufactured 
 from grain and other materials, and 
 
 Of the first and second proof, sixty cents per gallon. 
 " " third proof, sixty-five cents per gallon. 
 
 " " fourth " seventy cents per gallon. 
 
 " " fifth " seventy-five cents per gallon. 
 
 Above " " ninety cents per gallon. 
 
 The duties on ale, beer and porter remained as before, 
 namely, twenty cents per gallon, when imported in bottles, 
 and fifteen cents, when imported in casks. Madeira, Sherry, 
 San Lucar and Canary wines were taxed at sixty cents per 
 gallon; Champagne, forty cents. Port, Burgundy, and all clarets, 
 in bottles, thirty-five cents ; the wines of France, Austria, Prus- 
 sia, Sardinia and Portugal, not enumerated, twenty cents per 
 gallon, when imported in bottles ; and red wines in casks, six 
 cents per gallon. Molasses was taxed at 4| mills per pound ;
 
 CHAPTEK VIII. 175 
 
 black quart bottles at $3.00 per gross. At the above rates the 
 duties on ardent liquors remained until 18-16, when an ad 
 valorem duty of one hundred per cent, was imposed on them. 
 
 In these laws, so far as they relate to intoxicants, there is no 
 essential departure from the spirit sought to be characterized 
 in the preceding chapter. If anything, the disposition to afford 
 protection to domestic agriculture at all hazards, was more 
 sharply defined, more pointedly formulated than ever before. 
 x\nd what seems most significant is the fact that, while, general- 
 ly speaking, the opposition to protection centered its forces 
 (whether justifiably or not, it is not our province to determine) 
 on the argument, that manufactures were fostered at the ex- 
 pense of agriculture — in the matter of ardent spirits the position 
 is found to be completely reversed. In order that the grain- 
 growers might find a market for their surplus produce, the dis- 
 tilleries of JS"ew England, closely interlinked with the most 
 important sources of wealth of those parts, were readily sacri- 
 ficed, by an exorbitant tax on molasses, notwithstanding the 
 fact, that about five-eighths of the entire quantity of this article 
 was consumed in the raw state, being, in reality, as much a 
 necessary of life, in some of the Eastern States, as any article 
 of diet, excepting bread. The tax of five cents on a gallon of 
 molasses, not to speak at all of the exorbitant double tax levied 
 during the years 1828-30, was an unjust burden placed upon the 
 poorer portion of the population, in order to foster whiskey dis- 
 tilleries ; and there could be little doubt about that. It was 
 conclusively proved that only three-eighths of the quantity of 
 molasses imported from the West Indies was manufactured 
 into rum ; the rest was consumed in the raw state by the people 
 who obtained it in exchange for their lumber or for the product 
 of their fisheries. They used it every day, as one of their 
 representatives said, in their humble fare, upon cakes and pud- 
 dings, as a cheap substitute for sugar, in all their cookery, 
 and for other domestic purposes. It entered copiously into the
 
 176 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 coTTiposition of heer^ and various hinds of driuTc, which formed 
 wholesome and valuable substitutes for ardent spirits.* It 
 was shown by way of an example of the importance of mo- 
 lasses, as a factor in the wealth-producing capacity of some of 
 the New England States, that in one single year (1827) the 
 district of Portland, Maine, shipped 26,000,000 feet of boards, 
 scantling, &c., to the West Indies, the return cargoes bringing 
 home 3,890,321 gallons of molasses. This comparatively exten- 
 sive trade, with which were associated a number of domestic 
 industries, and upon which depended the supply of a necessary 
 of life, was loaded with an uncommonly heavy and entirely 
 unjust burden, in order that the grain-growers might have a 
 monopoly of indirectly supplying the entire demand for ardent 
 spirits. Whereas whiskey, the very article which in all reason 
 should have been taxed to its utmost capacity of bearing tax- 
 burdens, was left entirely tax-free, a necessary article of food had 
 to bear a tax amounting to over sixty per cent, of its prime cost,t 
 and a number of domestic industries were placed in jeopardy. 
 Virtually, then, a luxury in all the word implies — and a luxury 
 too, the excessive indulgence of which formed a theme of 
 ethical lamentations and the subject of much corrective legis- 
 lation — was protected against the competition of an article 
 
 * Benton's Debates of Congress, Vol. X, p. 58. When tlie tariff of 1828 
 was being discussed, Hunt, in giving a summary of the objections to a high 
 duty on molasses, said, among other things, that Maine would suflPer most 
 under such a burden. " The fisheries," he said, " where are formed the 
 bone and sinew of the navy and which the vigilant policy of our Govern- 
 ment has ever delighted to encourage and protect, would wither at the loss 
 of any important branch of our trade with the West Indies. During the 
 five years from 1823 to 1826, the dried and pickled fish, fish and whale oil, 
 spermaceti candles, &c., which were sold in the West Indies, amounted, 
 upon an average to $989,770 per annum, being about twice the amount 
 which was exported to all the other parts of the globe. These islands are 
 the great foreign receptacles for our products of the sea." 
 
 \ The average prime cost of molasses in the West Indies was 8i cents.
 
 CHAPTER vni. 177 
 
 of food at the expense of sundry manufactures, merely to 
 please those agriculturists, who had conceived it to be their 
 inalienable right to have domestic grain distilleries forced into 
 existence for their special benefit, and who had taken singu- 
 larly effective precautions against an internal taxation on these 
 distilleries. 
 
 It would be an unwarrantable reflection on the intellect of 
 such men as Benton, to admit even a doubt as to whether they 
 understood to what this unrestricted distillation had already 
 led, and would still further lead to. The reasons why they 
 did not take preventive measures, although they understood 
 the necessity for them, need not be recounted. An abund- 
 ance of evidence is at hand, however, to prove that 
 whenever Congress had an opportunity of legitimately fur- 
 thering the cause of temperance, without displeasing the 
 farmers, they readily availed themselves of it. To the class 
 of laws enacted in that spirit belong all those acts, which 
 aim at the encouragement of the use of fermented drinks, as, 
 for instance, the sale of lands to French emigrants on the ex- 
 press condition that they cultivate grape-vine ; the reduction of 
 import duties on cheap table wines — the chances of a sufficient 
 domestic production being as yet too problematical — and, 
 finally, the increase of duties on ale, beer and porter, together 
 with the particular protection of materials, the want of 
 which seemed to retard the brewing industry. The adop- 
 tion of such measures, no less than the many reports and 
 speeches heretofore quoted, clearly prove that the law-makers 
 were fully aware of the moral agency which the mem- 
 bers of the first Congress assigned to fermented drinks, and 
 that they were willing to do all they could to encourage the 
 production of these wholesome beverages • but, on the other 
 hand, the evasive manner in which they treated the ques- 
 tion of temperance, whenever the interests of the grain-growers 
 were involved, proved that, mistaking a prejudice, artificially
 
 178 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE TNITED STATES. 
 
 Stimulated and sustained, for the just will of the people, they 
 were afraid to adopt the only means, by which, in the absence 
 oichecq) and palatable fermented liquors, the evil of intemper- 
 ance could have been lessened. Taking for granted the 
 sincerity of such utterances as those of Benton in reference to 
 the superiority of whiskey over rum, the taxing of molasses, 
 almost to the amount of its value, might be construed as having 
 a moral purpose ; but there is this fact in conflict with such 
 construction, that up to 1S42 the import duties on spirits 
 manufactured from molasses were lower by from four to 
 fifteen cents per gallon, than those upon spirits manufactured 
 from grain. Had a moral purpose prompted the tax on 
 molasses, it would, for the sake of consistency, have also 
 dictated an increase of duties on spirits made from this 
 article. The fact that it was not done, that, in truth, a differ- 
 ence in the protective duties existed in favor of spirits from 
 grain, reveals the true animus of the utterances alluded to. 
 
 The description of the state of affairs, contained in this 
 chapter, leaves no uncertainty as to the extent to which the 
 liquor question, in all its various aspects, was made a veritable 
 football of an intricate complication of conflicting interests, of 
 contradictory opinions and sentiments — all tending, however, to 
 the encouragement of agriculture, which, calling the thing by 
 its right name, meant the protection of the whiskey distilleries. 
 From 1818 to 1846, in fact to 1857, whiskey was thoroughly 
 protected against competition from without, while its manu- 
 facture was wholly unrestricted within the United States. 
 Under such circumstances, a miracle only could have shielded 
 the land from the results of excessive indulgence. 
 
 That these results were, nevertheless, not as disastrous as 
 in other countries, similarly situated in the matter of cheap- 
 ness of ardent spirits and facilities of obtaining them — as, 
 for instance, in Sweden and Denmark — is to be ascribed 
 first, to the counteracting agencies, whose genn the wis-
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 179 
 
 dom of patriotic statesmen liad sown in the early days of 
 the Eepublic ; secondly, to the large influx of emigrants of 
 moderate drinking habits ; thirdly, to the influence of civiliza- 
 tion and refinement, and, lastly, to that temperance agitation 
 which for its success depended entirely upon moral suasion 
 and the formative power of good example.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 RESULTS OF THE " FKEE WHISKEY " POLICY. INEBKIETY IN THE 
 
 RURAL districts; clergymen, WOMEN AND CHILDREN AD- 
 DICTED TO THE VICE. TESTIMONY OF TEMPERANCE AUTHORS. 
 
 WORK OF TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES ; THEIR MORAL EFFORTS 
 
 DIRECTED AGAINST ARDENT SPIRITS ; BENEFICENT INFLUENCE 
 
 OF THEIR AGITATION. STRUGGLE BETWEEN MODERATES AND 
 
 EXTREMISTS. SPLIT IN THE TEMPERANCE PARTY IN 1836. 
 
 THE AGITATION TRANSPLANTED FROM THE DOMAIN OF MORAL 
 
 SUASION TO THE LEGISLATIVE FIELD. FERMENTED DRINKS 
 
 CLASSED WITH ARDENT SPIRITS. ABSURDITY OF MEANS AND 
 
 ENDS. VARIOUS AGENCIES COUNTERACTING THE EVILS OF 
 
 DRUNKENNESS '. PROGRESS OF THE NATION ; INFLUX OF 
 EMIGRANTS ; GROWTH OF BREWING INDUSTRY AND WINE 
 
 CULTURE. WALKER, IN 1845, PROPOSES A TARIFF FOE 
 
 REVENUE ONLY ; MEXICAN WAR PREVENTS ADOPTION OF ALL 
 
 HIS PROPOSITIONS ; HIS PRINCIPLES ACTED ON. CONTINUFD 
 
 OPPOSITION TO EXCISE ON SPIRITS. REVENUE TARIFF OF 
 
 1857, SUPPLANTED BY MORRILL TARIFF. STATE OF THE 
 
 DRINK QUESTION IN 1860. 
 
 The condition of things which led to the agitation in favor 
 of temperate drinking usages has not yet found an impartial 
 historian, and it is questionable whether this generation, or 
 even the next, will produce that marvelous being who could 
 succeed in writing a history which one side or the other would 
 not indignantly reject as wholly unworthy of confidence and 
 belief. Yet a few facts there are, which neither master- 
 logician nor master-orator can possibly explain away or ar- 
 gue out of existence — facts whose repositories are the statute 
 books and legislative records of the country. One of these
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 181 
 
 facts is, that whatever misery our population had to endure in 
 consequence of drunkenness is due to the selfishness of a great 
 part of the rural population, in whose favor political opportun- 
 ism dictated those laws and revocations of laws which made 
 whiskey almost as free as water. Another fact, growing out 
 of the first, is, that from the beginning the rural districts were 
 the hot-beds of intemperance, the scenes of the wildest drunken 
 revelries as well as of the greatest demoralization, consequent 
 upon unbridled intemperance ; and a third fact is, that, by a 
 natural reaction, the same localities became the birthplace 
 and, subsequently, the strongholds of the temperance agitation. 
 "Where the evil was greatest, there the crisis must of necessity 
 have been most acute, the reaction most complete. Hence 
 we find the earliest traces of this agitation in the rural 
 districts, where the vice of drunkenness had fullest sway. It 
 is almost impossible to form a correct idea of the drinking 
 habits prevalent in those days, without knowing the manner 
 of life, the occupation and surroundings of the people living 
 in the most infected localities. Farm life was not then the 
 refined state of existence which the dweller in crowded cities 
 of to-day has so much reason enviously to admire ; it was a 
 life of continuous hardships, of few comforts and fewer recre- 
 ations — a condition calling forth all the aggressive qualities 
 of sturdy manhood, but in nowise appealing to, or cultivating, 
 the finer sensibilities of man. Even the few persons who, by 
 their education and calling, were enabled to lift themselves to 
 a higher level, succumbed to the force of their environment, 
 living up to the homely proverb, that being among wolves one 
 must howl with them. We have it on the authority of Leb- 
 beus Armstrong, of Coxe, of Eush, of John Marsh* and 
 others, that, in the country, clergymen drank as hard as their 
 
 * " The Temperance Reformation," by L.Armstrong. "Temperance 
 Recollections," by John Marsh.
 
 182 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 parishioners ; that women and children joined in the revels ; 
 and that it was no more uncommon to meet a tipsy clergyman 
 than to see a woman or a half-grown boy staggering under an 
 overload of spirits, or a farm-hand lying "blind-drunk" by 
 the road side. In his " Temperance Kecollections," Marsh, de- 
 scribing the mode of life of the people of Haddam, a little vil- 
 lage in Connecticut, where he had pastoral charge of the Con- 
 gregational Church, says that they were " a staunch, well-in- 
 formed, but plain people, whose labors were in ship-yards, 
 coasting, fishing, quarrying and farming ; labors in which ar- 
 dent spirits was a daily ration at elerven and four as regularly 
 as food was provided at other hours. A pitcher of water, as a 
 part of table furniture was unknown. No one, not the most 
 delicate female, used it." At his ordination, in 1818, the 
 council, composed of some thirty ministers and delegates, as- 
 sembled in a large tavern chamber ; among that respectable 
 number of good men there was just one " who had thrown off 
 the dominion of King Alcohol," and he, of course, with the 
 zeal characteristic of converts, delivered himself of a dreadful 
 admonition, as often as a glass of brandy was raised to the lips 
 of one of the company. " At length," says Marsh, " one of 
 the Fathers, provoked beyond measure, by this stop put to the 
 drinking custom, said, with a loud voice : ' Mr. C, do you let 
 Brother K. alone and let him have his drink ; you are a real 
 pest, a genuine blackguard.' " This forcible reprimand put 
 an end to Brother C.'s exhortations. As an illustration of the 
 prevalence of intemperance the same author cites the fact, 
 that in his church " seven-eighths of the cases of discipline were 
 for the sin of drunkenness." Not to drink and give drink was 
 deemed a violation of good manners, exposing the infractor to 
 the suspicion either of haughtiness or of unsoundness of mind. 
 Thus Marsh tells us that " two respectable members of the 
 church had planted themselves on the doctrine of abstinence, 
 and they would not give strong drink to those they employed;
 
 CHAPTER IX. 183 
 
 but their action was viewed as a singular freak," It must 
 iiave been viewed as worse than a freak, inasmuch as it was 
 supposed to militate against the prosperity of the small commu- 
 nity, for Marsh says, '' a large distillery was considered a 
 great blessing, and stores, kept by church members, freely 
 dealt out the poison without rejjroach or sense of wrong-do- 
 ing." In this small place, having a few hundred inhabitants, 
 fifty-two hogsheads of New England rum were consumed in a 
 single year (1818). 
 
 In the lumber regions of New York, the home of the 
 first American temperance society,* drunkenness prevailed 
 to as great an extent as in the lumber regions of Maine, 
 where economic considerations conspired with the mode 
 of life of the people to render drinking almost a neces- 
 sity. Armstrong, although his zeal frequently overreaches 
 its object whenever, in his readable work, he endeavors to 
 draw general conclusions from personal experiences, may yet 
 safely be relied on as a truthful narrator of episodes coming 
 under his observation ; and some of these serve as a good in- 
 dex to the state of affairs in the rural districts of New York. 
 He tells of the half-grown son of a laboring man, who, when 
 asked what would be his choice between a good education and 
 a hogshead of whiskey, decided in favor of the latter, in these 
 words: "I would take the whiskey if I could have it for a 
 wish rather than all the larnin in the world ; for dad loves 
 whiskey, and mam loves whiskey, and I love it, and if we 
 can only have anuf on it, who cares for anything else ! '■* 
 That women were addicted to hard drinking in this author's 
 rural home, is manifest from the fact that temperance exhor- 
 tations were sometimes especially addressed to them. Shortly 
 before the delivery of one of his lectures m East Line school- 
 
 * The " Temperance Society of Morean and Northumberland " was or, 
 ganized as early as 1808, m Morean, a town in Saratoga county, its mem. 
 bars pledged themselves to total abstinence from distilled spirits.
 
 184 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 house, in 1833, Armstrong had attended the funeral of a female 
 drunkard, who was burned to death, and this event, recaUing 
 to his memory many similar occurrences, formed part of 
 the subject of his discourse. He there spoke of the " awful 
 spectacle, when women have surmounted a sense of shame 
 and disgrace and every other obstruction to the gratification 
 of their appetite for strong drink, till they not only become 
 drunkards, but under the influence of their besotted habit, 
 have poisoned their husbands, killed their children, murdered 
 their souls and left the world in despair." 
 
 The illustrations here quoted are typical of the descriptions 
 fiirnished us by the temperance authors of the time, and no 
 good reason exists for doubting them. There was unquestion- 
 ably even then, though the evil was at its height, a good share 
 of exaggeration, a tendency to surcharge facts, horrible enough 
 in themselves, by blood-curdling hyperbolism ; but to all of it 
 there surely was a broad foundation of melancholy actuality, 
 scarcely understood at present. Unlike the counterfeit thing 
 of our days — counterfeit, because in the absence of any real 
 need for it, it serves selfish ends — the agitation of the past 
 has a ring of sincerity that cannot be mistaken. The agitators, 
 no doubt, made mistakes, often confounded cause and effect, 
 experimented with remedies more destructive in many in- 
 stances than the malady ; but they were sincere, and did what, 
 in the light that was given them, they thought would rescue 
 the country from a great social evil. More than foolhardy and 
 unjust would it be to assert that they have not accomplished 
 inestimable good, so long as they contented themselves with 
 moral suasion. One may, indeed, smile at the fiery, over, 
 wrought eloquence of a Gough,* but one cannot withhold from 
 
 * A popular lecturer of tlie cause, whose style of oratory will be under- 
 stood from the following extract from one of his discourses : 
 
 What brings yon trembling wretch upon the gallows ? It is drink. And 
 we might call upon the tomb to break forth. Ye mouldering victims 1 wipe
 
 CHAPTER IX. 185 
 
 the spirit that dictated it a tribute of sincere admiration, nor re- 
 frain from lauding the ends it achieved. It is said f that in 
 May, 1831, no less than nineteen State societies, embodying 
 3,000 local associations, were reported as having been foruied 
 on the basis of total abstinence from the use of ardent spirits 
 as a beverage. In the State of New York, $6,250,000 were 
 said to have been saved to the population in the same year in 
 the diminished use of ardent spirits; the societies claimed "to 
 have rescued 3,000 drunkards and more than 10,000 men who 
 had been on the road to habitual drunkeness. " More than a 
 thousand distilleries had been stopped," says Marsh, and to 
 consummate all this no other means were used than the power 
 which the eloquence and sincerity of good men are apt to exer- 
 cise over the masses. It must be remembered that the agita- 
 tion was not confined to this country ; in the British Isles and 
 some parts of the European continent, a veritable crusade had 
 been inaugurated against what the Germans called the Braiint- 
 wein-Pest. It was supported by eminent men of all classes. 
 It is not, then, to be wondered at, that in 1831 the so-called 
 Washingtonian Band found such men as Attorney-General 
 William Wirt, Daniel Webster, John Sargent, Theodore Fre- 
 linghuysen and others, willing to lend their cause moral aid, 
 
 tte grave dust crumbling from your brow ; stalk forth in your tattered 
 shrouds and bony whiteness to testify against the drink ! Come, come from 
 the gallows, you spirit-maddened man-slayer, give up your bloody knife, 
 and stalk forth to testify against it ! Crawl from the slimy ooze, ye drowned 
 drunkards, and with suffocation's blue and livid lips speak out against the 
 drink ! Unroll the record of the past, and let the Recording Angel read out 
 the murder indictments, written in God's book of remembrance ! aye ! let the 
 past be unfolded, and the shrieksof victims wailing be borne down upon the 
 night blast! Snap your burning chains, ye denizens of the pit, and come 
 up sheeted in the fire, dripping with the flames of hell, and with your 
 trumpet tongues testify against the damnation of the drink. 
 
 f By John Marsh, who as secretary and editor of the Temperance 
 Union, had good opportunities of knowing. See his " Recollections " p. 36.
 
 186 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 nor that, with such assistance and the help of the public press, 
 a deep impression was made on the public mind. No loftier 
 examples of Christian charity can 1)e conceived than the deeds 
 of those earlv temperance apostles, who, without any other 
 aim than the welfare of their fellow-beings, gave their time^ 
 their labor and means for the good cause. Would that their 
 wisdom had at all times been equal to their good intentions ! 
 Up to 183-i the movement generally remained within the 
 bounds prescribed by reason, sound judgment and the lessons 
 of experience ; at the first National Temperance Convention, 
 held in May, 1833, ardent liquor was still the only stimulant 
 against which the joint efibrts were directed ; " the sale of none 
 other," says Marsh, " was considered morally wrong." The 
 means contemplated to be employed appear from the following 
 extract from the resolutions adopted at that convention : 
 
 Resolved^ That the object of this Union shall he, hy the 
 diffusion of information, and the exertion of kind moral 
 influence, to promote the cause of Temperance throughout 
 the United States. 
 
 Unfortunately this spirit of moderation soon gave room to a 
 form of zeal which rapidly degenerated into zealotism of the 
 most dangerous order. The slow process of reforming the 
 habits of men by appealing to their reason, their pride and 
 manhood, no longer satisfied a great portion of the friends of 
 temperance. They conceived the idea of a legal enforcement 
 of their doctrine of abstinence, and in this they soon in- 
 cluded the very beverages which, here and elsewhere, men of 
 talent and experience had, from the beginning, relied on as a 
 means of eradicating the evils of intemperance. As early as 
 1835 Albany brewers felt constrained to sue for libel a wealthy 
 zealot, who, unable to contradict the assertion that beer was 
 virtually a temperance drink, published a statement to the 
 effect, that deleterious materials and filthy water were used in 
 the manufacture of beer. In the Saratoga Convention (1836)
 
 CHAPTER IX. 187 
 
 these allegations found a strong echo, and were hotlj discussed 
 and stubbonilj combatied, so stubbornly, indeed, that a re- 
 solution, classing fermented beverages with ardent spirits 
 and enjoining total abstinence from both, brought on a 
 rupture, which in a short time grew into a permanent 
 schism, dividing the society into two wings — one composed 
 of moderate, rational temperance advocates, and the other 
 composed of extremists, the precursors of the prohibitionists 
 of our day. The latter wing at once initiated a series of 
 movements favoring the enactment of laws prohibiting the 
 manufacture and sale of ardent spirits. In 1838 Maine took 
 the lead in this agitation, a committee of the Legislature of 
 this State recommending, " that the law giving the right to 
 sell ardent spirits should be repealed, and a law prohibiting, 
 except for the arts and medical use, be passed." Massachusetts 
 followed with the so-called Fifteen Gallon Law, which prohibi- 
 ted the sale of ardent spirits in less quantity than the name 
 indicates. Afterwards the question of licensing retailers of 
 Spirits was ventilated in various ways, and, singularly enough, 
 in some instances the retailers failed to see, that a license system 
 would have the effect of a dam against the torrent of pro- 
 hibitory efforts of their opponents. A body of Massachu- 
 setts spirit-venders appealed to the Supreme Court againstthe en- 
 forcement of a law of their State making it a criminal offense for 
 any person to sell without license. The action became a cause 
 ceUhre^ no less because of the constitutional question involved, 
 than on account of the prominence of the jurists engaged on 
 both sides — Webster and Choate for the appellants, Asabel 
 Huntington for the State. Enraged at the opposition thus 
 offered, the ultras at once agitated uniformly for : No License. 
 It was in the course of this movement, that the people of the 
 State of New York (in 1846) decided by a popular vote not to 
 license venders of intoxicating drinks. The succeeding year 
 brought the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States
 
 188 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE TNITED STATES. 
 
 in the Massachusetts case, acknowledging the right of the 
 States to regulate the liquor traffic. At about the same time 
 an event transpired which proved a serious blow to personal 
 liberty as well as to true temperance, viz : the enactment of 
 a prohibitory law by the Legislature of the State of Maine, 
 which was superseded in 1851 by Neal Dow's law. 
 
 As a detailed description of the liquor laws of the various 
 States, the spirit in which they were conceived and the manner 
 in which they operated, is to be given hereafter,* it is unneces- 
 sary to present more than the foregoing rough outline of the 
 temperance movement in the Union. From the time, when the 
 sound principles upon which the Wasliingtonian Band began 
 its operations, were abandoned, the cause of temperance was 
 endangered more seriously by its alleged friends than by its 
 enemies. The aim of the extremists was absurd ; necessarily, 
 their means were no better ; and if in the whole agitation for 
 prohibition there is anyone feature more strikingly absurd than 
 the others, it is the readiness with which the empiricism of ambi- 
 tious quidains was elevated to the dignity of scientific maxims. 
 Nothing was too ludicrous, too absurd, to be employed in fur- 
 therance of prohibition, and thus it became possible that men, 
 who under ordinary circumstances would have been declared 
 monomaniacs, became the guiding minds of the new departure. 
 Nothing could be more revolting to a true Christian mind than 
 the rautings of those extremists who had conceived the scheme 
 of clothing their teachings in a theological garb ; indeed, the 
 blasphemous spirit in which religious sentiment was profaned 
 throws a strong light on the character of the agitation. One 
 can scarcely believe what abominable nonsense the American 
 people — eminently practical and clear-headed as they are de. 
 servedly reputed to be the world over — were in those days sup. 
 posed to be accessible to. As a sample of the stuff that was 
 
 * See Preface.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 189 
 
 dished lip for them, the following may be quoted from J. 
 Root's The ho7'rors of deliTium tremens^' The author relates 
 how, a few days after a drunken revel, he loitered in his room, 
 'perfectly sober^ cogitating on the injuries he was doing him- 
 self and others by drinking to excess : 
 
 " While I was occupied there with these reilections, some being ap- 
 peared to address me in a very familiar manner, as if we were old acquaint, 
 ances. I could hear the language very distinctly, though it was uttered in a 
 low whisper, as if he were afraid some others might hear, and I soon found 
 that if I made any remarks in the same low voice, they were perfectly un- 
 derstood and a reply given immediately. A conversation was then com- 
 menced, and my strange visitor seemed to know many of the transactions 
 which had taken place during my life, with which I supposed no one but 
 myself acquainted. I did think it was very singular and strange that a 
 being whom I could not discern, should not only have the power to con- 
 verse with me, but also a better knowledge and recollection of some events 
 in my life than I had myself. But though I was at some loss to account 
 for the information which he so evidently possessed, yet I was not in the 
 least frightened ; my only feelings so far as I can now recollect, were won- 
 der, and a desire to find out who or what it was that addressed me. After 
 conversing with my mysterious visitant for some time on diflferent subjects, 
 all of which he appeared to understand remarkably well, I made some in- 
 quiry with a view to find out with whom I was conversing. He replied by 
 saying that he was one of a large company, that were going through the 
 country for the purpose of making some money, but by what means he did 
 not distinctly explain. He represented the business as being very lucra- 
 tive, and asked me if 1 would not like to join them and have a share in 
 whatever they made. My answer was, that I should not have the least ob- 
 jection, as I wanted to make some money, and should like to know in 
 what kind of business they were engaged. But he did not say what they 
 were doing, and only remarked that it was profitable. 
 
 Up to this time, our conversation had been carried on in the same 
 manner that any two persons would converse on ordinary topics or busi- 
 ness. Singular as it may appear, instead of being either annoyed or 
 frightened, I was perfectly at ease, or rather relieved ; my mind was taken 
 oflF from reflecting, and taken up with his conversation, which appeared 
 like that of a very well informed gentlemen, on all subjects about which 
 we conversed. His knowledge was indeed wonderful, for he appeared not 
 only to know everything but also everybody whom I had either heard of 
 
 * Published by Josiah Adams, New York, 1844.
 
 190 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UJflTED STATES. 
 
 or known ; some of the persons lie told me were dead, others were alive 
 and in such and such business, and he seemed to be quite as well ac- 
 quainted with them as he was with me. 
 
 I was much pleased with his address, which was easy and courteous, 
 for there was nothing rude or improper excepting his familiarity, and that 
 he seemed to be rather entitled to use, on account of his knowledge respect- 
 ing my affairs ; but both the address and the language soon changed, after 
 I professed my willingness to become one of the company ; he then re- 
 quested me to step into the next room, which I accordingly did, supposing 
 he would there disclose their business and let me know what they were 
 doing. 
 
 But I had no sooner entered the room, than there appeared to be quite 
 a number of them, just over my head, all talking at once, and addressing 
 me in the most opprobrious language, which was now as profane and vin- 
 dictive as can be conceived. Instead of that courteous treatment, and the 
 information which I expected to receive, they were now all upbraiding me 
 for my wickedness, calling me a damned fool and threatening to kill me 
 and put me in hell. 
 
 Perhaps, it would be entirely impossible to place a human being in a 
 situation on earth, where he could be more utterly confounded than I was, 
 when I heard those very devils, whose existence I had denied, arraign and 
 curse me with such bitter malignity. For a man who had believed only a 
 moment before, that there was neither a God, nor devil, nor hell, to have 
 all three demonstrated to him in an instant, and in such a manner too— was 
 certainly calculated to startle him some, as well as to change his faith. 
 
 As soon as I recovered from the shock of astonishment into which this 
 conduct and language threw me, so as to be able to speak, I said, " What? 
 Then there is a hell ? "— " Yes— you damned fool— and you will soon be in 
 it," was the reply. In an instant the thought rushed to my mind,— that, if 
 there was a hell, there must be a God, a heaven, a Savior, and the bible 
 was true. The thought had scarcely entered my mind, when they replied, 
 <« Yes— you damned fool— it is so. But you are going to hell with us. 
 You have lost heaven by your senseless and wicked conduct, when you 
 might have been saved, if you had not been such a damned fool. " So 
 great was their furious malice that they cursed, reviled and threatened, as 
 if it were impossible even to wait until my horror of mind should kill me, 
 and they seemed determined to crush out the spirit at once and have me m 
 their power immediately. 
 
 Let me here make a few remarks to those who dislike to hear so much 
 as they say about hell. When devils get human beings where they think 
 they are sure of them— they are not very delicate about using language, 
 and have no regard for ears polite. One devil can say more about hell in
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 191 
 
 three minutes tlian any human being can in three hours. They care nothing 
 about the dignity and standing of the man, who would not hesitate to knock 
 down his fellow-being, who should call him a fool, and tell him he was on 
 the road to hell. Let me tell those who reject and despise the gospel, that 
 if devils once get them into their power, they will hear something not only 
 about hell, but also about their own folly, in conducting themselves (that 
 is to say, in drinking), so as to be sent there. 
 
 This quotation was selected to show the reader what egre- 
 gious nonsense was thought necessary to frighten the people 
 into the adoption of an impracticable plan. Absurd in itself, 
 the project had to rely on absurdities for its consummation, 
 and here, evidently, the end was thought to justify the 
 means. All this does not, however, detract from the real 
 merits of the temperance movement, which unquestionably 
 helped to prevent, to some extent, the spreading of the 
 pernicious effects produced by the successful efforts to pro- 
 tect domestic distilleries in the interest of agriculture, and 
 to leave them entirely unburdened by taxation, for the same 
 reason. Of course, wherever the prohibitory idea was incor- 
 porated into a law, temperate drinking habits, which a sub- 
 stitution of fermented drinks might have produced — and in 
 our time has produced — became absolutely impossible;* in 
 fact, the evil grew more hideous than it ever was before. 
 But Prohibition was happily confined to but a few localities, 
 while in the rest of the Union moral suasion helped, m 
 its way, to work out the great problem. The fact that in 
 1840 the product of domestic spirits, as returned by the 
 census, amounted to no more than from 40,000,000 to 50,000,- 
 000 gallons, the population at that time being 17,069,000, 
 may be ascribed, in part, to the temperance agitation; without 
 it and without other countervailing agencies, the /^er caj.>ita 
 consumption in 1840, 1850 and 1860 would presumably have 
 been what it was in 1810, namely, eighteen quarts. During 
 the three decades named other factors helped to pave the way 
 
 * See " Real and Imaginary Effects of Intemperance, pp. 66-84.
 
 192 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE UI-flTED STATES. 
 
 to a reformation of the drinking usages of the people. Of 
 themselves these factors could not have accomplished such a 
 reformation, but they laid the foundation for that structure of 
 temperance, the erection of which was not rendered possible until 
 the deplorable war between the North and the South compelled 
 a change of the fiscal policy in regard to the liquor traflfic. 
 
 The progress of civilization, the difi'nsion of knowledge 
 among the laboring people, the general refinement of tastes 
 and inclinations form one of these factors. They grew out of 
 the general progress of the country, the development of 
 domestic manufactures creating not only opportunities for a 
 great diversity of in-door employments, but also a variety ot 
 new wants, tending to render life more comfortable, more re- 
 fined. In the older States the hardships of " pioneering it " 
 against the numerous obstacles of virgin wildernessess gave 
 room to the easy-going methods of improved agriculture. 
 The effect which this progress must have had upon the drink- 
 ing habits of the people will be better understood, when it is 
 remembered that intemperance was always most prevalent in 
 lumber regions and border localities, and that there, according 
 to reliable authorities, the primitive mode of life, the hard- 
 ships of out-of-door employment and the want of recreation 
 were regarded as among the prime causes of incontinence.* 
 The influx of emig-rants of moderate drinkino' habits occasioned 
 another great stride in the path of temperance. From 1810 to 
 1850 the number of breweries increased from one hundred and 
 twenty-nine to four hundred and thirty-one ; the quantity of 
 malt liquors produced in the Union increased during the same 
 period from 5,754,737 to 23,267,730 gallons, of which latter 
 
 * " There can be no doubt that drunkenness prevails more in a rude than 
 in a civilized state of society. This is so much the case, that as men get 
 more refined, the vice will gradually be found to soften down, and assume 
 a less revolting character." Robert Macnish's Anatomy of Drunkeness, (p. 
 2.) New York, 1835.
 
 CHAPTER LK. 
 
 193 
 
 quantity Pennsylvania produced 12,765,974:, New York, 
 6,059,122 gallons. In 1815 the manufacture of lager beer 
 was lirst introduced into the United States, and from this time 
 onward the brewing industry developed rapidly, though not 
 at a ratio to be in any manner compared with its astonishing 
 development since the war of the rebellion. The cultiva- 
 tion of the grape-vine also received a strong impetus through 
 the German immigration, particularly after 1848. The 
 climate and soil of Central New York, Southeastern New 
 Jersey, Yirginia, Northern Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, Texas 
 and California offered special inducements to wine-growers, 
 and some of these States are to-day in a fair way to rival the 
 Khenish countries. In spite of the many difficulties which 
 attend w^ine-culture, the home produce of wine in 1860 
 amounted to 1,627,192 gallons. In 1810 only 11,655 gallons 
 of wine were produced in the United States, of which 2,525 
 gallons were made of grapes, and 9,130 gallons of currants. 
 The reduction of import duties on wines, particularly those of 
 inferior quality, together with the extreme cheapness of ardent 
 spirits, unquestionably delayed the development of this highly 
 important branch of agriculture ; but at all events the foun- 
 dation laid during the period named facilitated the mar- 
 velous growth of later years. To a certain extent — not a 
 very considerable one, however — the light taxation of the 
 articles temporarily helped temperance, inasmuch as, under it, 
 the importation of cheap wines increased, averaging about 
 3,500,000 annually during the decade 1830-1810. Compared 
 with the earlier periods, 1801-1810, for instance, this state of 
 the imports indicates no advance, but compared with the status 
 shortly after the beginning of the era of high protective tariffs, 
 it marks an appreciable improvement. 
 
 Insignificant as each of these agencies may appear, when 
 separately considered, in their joint influence they surely 
 were of importance in preventing a still greater degree of
 
 194 LIQUOR LAWS OF, THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 misery, than the abuse of spirits had actually occasioned. The 
 good they accomplished by keeping bad from worse, eludes 
 every attempt at computation. 
 
 It will always be a matter for surprise and regret, that when 
 the temperance agitation was at its greatest height, and when 
 the protective idea had lost most of its force, not a single serious 
 proposition was made in reference to what every sane man knew 
 to be the only radical remedy against the evil of inebriety, 
 namely : the restriction of distillation by internal taxation. 
 When, in 1845, E. J. Walker, Secretary of the Treasury 
 under Polk's administration, promulgated his economic anti- 
 thesis * to Hamilton's report on manufactures, it was well 
 understood that under the proposed regime of a tariff for rev- 
 enue only, luxuries were to be taxed at the highest rate, so that 
 even then spirits would be most protected, because its rival 
 foreign product would be most heavily taxed ; yet no thought 
 was given to an excise on the article, save to scout the idea of 
 its practicability. Surely, the popular prejudice against it 
 should not then have had any more weight, seeing that the 
 leirislatures of some States went so far as to entirelv prohibit 
 distillation. 
 
 Walker's first tariff propositions, based on the new princi- 
 ples and adjusted to a peace-footing, would perhaps have be- 
 come law in 1846 (although, as a German proverb has it, 
 soups are rarely eaten as hot as they are brought from the 
 stove), had it not been for the war with Mexico. As it was, 
 
 * Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, December 3rd, 1845, in 
 which the following principles are enunciated, viz : that no more money 
 should be collected than is necessary for the wants of the Government ; 
 that duties should only be laid at the lowest rate yielding the largest rev- 
 enue ; that below such rates discrimination may be made, descending in the 
 scale of duties, or, for imperative reasons, the article may be exempt from 
 duty entirely ; that the maximum duties should be levied on luxuries ; that 
 specific duties be abolished, and that the duties be so equitably arranged 
 as to discriminate neither for nor against any class or section.
 
 CHAPTER IX 195 
 
 the elemental parts of his policy were adopted, but his imme- 
 diate propositions as to the rates of duties had to be so enlarged 
 as to answer the public exigencies of a war. Under the new 
 tariff law, approved July 30th, 1846, only ad valorem duties 
 were imposed, ranging, in eight gradations, from five to one 
 hundred per cent. Between the first grade of duties, viz: 
 100 per cent., imposed exclusively on spirituous liquors, and 
 the second grade there was a difference of sixty per cent. This 
 second class comprised spices, manufactures of tobacco, and 
 wines ; the next grade below this was a duty of 30 per cent, on 
 the value, and in this schedule we find, among very many 
 other articles, ale, beer and porter, in casks and bottles ; and 
 molasses. The rates were not again changed until the spring 
 of 1 857,* when the opponents of Protection found a potent 
 ally in the plethoric condition of the Treasury. The argu- 
 ments were not new on either side ; the friends of the system 
 claimed, that, in order to insure their prosperity, the American 
 people must manufacture more, import less, and keep their 
 specie at home; whereas the opponents of the American 
 system maintained that the glutting of the Treasury with sur- 
 plus revenues produced business stagnations, and that it was 
 unjust to make the consumer pay indirect taxes to the dom.estic 
 manuf acturer.f The latter opinions won the day, and a great 
 reduction of duties was effected by the tariff act of March 3rd, 
 1857, spirits and wines being taxed thirty per cent, on their 
 value; molasses, twenty-four per cent., and ale, beer and 
 porter at the same rate. 
 
 The interval of a low tariff lasted only four years, as the 
 outbreak of the Rebellion necessitated an unprecedented in- 
 crease of revenue ; it is a significant fact, however, that lefore 
 
 * Act approved March 3rd, 1857. 
 
 \ Boyce, of South Carolina, asserted that the indirect taxes thus paid 
 by the consumer to the manufacturer amounted, up to 1857, to $1,000,- 
 000.000.
 
 196 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 this increase of revenue bad become necessary, Mr. Morrill * 
 introduced tbe tariff bill which to this daj bears his name— a bill, 
 in the framing of which some of the fundamental propositions 
 of Walker's policy were entirely ignored ; while the general 
 ter.or of the discussions on the measure seemed to indicate, to 
 say the least, a leaning towards a protective tariff. At all 
 events, a strong inclination prevailed to make the insufficiency 
 of the tariff of 1857, as a revenue measure, serve as a cloak for 
 the protection of various manufactures.f 
 
 The duration ot the low tariff' regime was so short, then, 
 that in examining the general effects of the various fiscal and 
 economic policies of the Government, it deserves but a modi- 
 cum of consideration. Practically, the policy of protecting 
 domestic distilleries — in a manner sometimes amounting to an 
 inhibition of the importation of foreign spirits — lasted forty 
 years ; if the time be deducted during which, previous to 1820, 
 ihe excise system was in force, the protection of domestic 
 spirits and their absolute exemption from taxes may be said to 
 have lasted fifty-five years. This double encouragement, together 
 with the abundance of cereal produce, made whiskey so cheap, 
 that in no country of the civilized world could one indulge his 
 appetite for ardent spirits at a smaller cost than in the United 
 States.:}: The cheapness of the article necessarily invited ex- 
 cessive consumption ; there was no effectual preventive against 
 that, save in a change of policy. Tbe evil was inevitable • 
 but great as it was, the people of the United States have 
 ample cause to congratulate themselves, that it was not 
 greatei, as indeed, without the conjunction of the favorable 
 
 * In Marcli, 18G0. 
 
 •f On the part of the opponents of the Morrill tariff it was claimed that 
 the measure -nas in the nature of a political concession to Pennsylvania, 
 whose adhesion to the Republican party was alleged to have been condi 
 tioned on the partial rehabilitation of the American system. 
 
 i In 1860 the average reiaU price of whiskey was 30 cents per gallon.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 197 
 
 circumstances already mentioned, it would unavoidably liave 
 been. 
 
 The per capita consumption of ardent spirits in 1860 
 may be estimated at between eight and nine quarts. The total 
 product, as returned by the census of 1860, was over 90,000,000 
 gallons ; of this quantity at least 25,000,000 gallons were used 
 in the arts, sciences and manufactures — leaving for consump- 
 tion as drink and for export about 65,000,000 gallons. The 
 exports of spirits and cordials of all kinds amounted to 
 4,437,132 gallons, the imports to 6,448,362 gallons* — the ex- 
 cess of the latter over the former being 2,011,230. The 
 population was 31,443,321. 
 
 In connection with what has already been said concerning 
 the circumstances, which helped to counteract the tendency to 
 inebriety, the evident change for the better will be more 
 readily understood when it is remembered, that the " foreign 
 born" part of the population increased, from 1850 to 1860, at 
 the rate of ninety per cent. — a large proportion being people 
 of moderate drinking habits — and that the use of fermented 
 drinks, compared with the total population, increased at a far 
 greater rate, as will be seen from the following table : 
 
 Year. 
 
 Population. 
 
 Product of 
 Hops, in lbs. 
 
 Product of 
 
 Barley, 
 in bushels. 
 
 Value of 
 
 Malt liquor, 
 
 brewed. 
 
 =«.2 
 
 o ^ 
 o ^ 
 
 pq 
 
 Product of 
 
 Wine, 
 in gallons. 
 
 1850 
 1860 
 
 23,191,876 
 31,443,321 
 
 3,497,029 
 10,991,996 
 
 5,167,015 
 15,825,898 
 
 $5,728,568 
 $21,310,983 
 
 431 
 1269 
 
 221,249 
 1,627,192 
 
 Thus affairs stood when the outbreak of the war ushered 
 in a complete revolution of our policy and liscal methods. 
 
 *See Appendix.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CONVOCATION OF 37tH CONGRESS. — CONDITION OF THE TREASTJET 
 IN 1861. — FISCAL NECESSITIES GROWING OUT OF THE RE- 
 BELLION. INCREASE OF IMPORT DUTIES AJSTD IMPOSITION OF 
 
 DIRECT TAXES. INTERNAL TAXES POSTPONED. — CONDITION 
 
 OF TREASURY IN 1862. INTERNAL TAXES ON SPIRITUOUS 
 
 AND MALT LIQUORS, AJSTD ON LICENSES TO DEALERS DIS- 
 CUSSED. — THE TEMPERANCE QUESTION DISCUSSED IN BOTH 
 
 HOUSES OF CONGRESS. DISCRIMINATION LN FAVOR OF MALT 
 
 LIQUORS advocated; SCIENTIFIC TESTIMONY IN SUPPORT OF 
 
 SUCH ADVOCACY. THE STATUS OF THE PROHIBITION STATES 
 
 AND OF THEIR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES. — INCON- 
 SISTENCY OF ADVOCATES OF PROHEBITION ; THE FUTILITY OF 
 THEIR SCHEMES DEMONSTRATED BY THEIR OWN STATEMENTS. 
 DIFFERENCES AS TO RATES OF TAX ON DISTILLED SPIRITS, 
 AND AS TO THE EXPEDIENCY OF TAXING STOCK ON HAND. 
 
 EVASION OF TAX BY DISTILLERS PREDICTED. TEXT OF 
 
 REVENUE LAW IN RELATION TO INTOXICANTS. — INCREASE 
 OF IMPORT DUTIES LN 1862. — INCREASE OF INTERNAL TAX 
 
 ON SPIRITS IN 1864. SPECULATION AND FRAUD COMBINING 
 
 TO FRUSTRATE OBJECTS OF LAW. APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL 
 
 REVENUE COMMISSION IN 1865 : THEIR REPORT AND RE- 
 COMMENDATIONS. — MODIFICATION OF LAW IN 1868. 
 
 When Lincoln convoked the thirty-seventh Congress,* se- 
 cession was an accomphshed fact, the commandant of Fort 
 Sumter had been compelled to capitulate, the Southern coast 
 defenses and arsenals were in the hands of the enemy, and a 
 Confederate army stood in the field, eager to meet the seventy- 
 five thousand Union soldiers who had responded to their coun- 
 try's call. Of patriotism, of martial spirit, of strong arms 
 there was no lack on the Union side ; but the Treasury was 
 
 * The special session was begun on the 4th of July, 1861, and ended on 
 the 6th of August.
 
 CHAPTER X. 199 
 
 practically empt3^ Chase's report of the 4th of July, 1861, 
 showed that the receipts from June 30th, ISGO, to June 30tli, 
 1861, amounted to $86,972,893— including $l:6,061-,082 from 
 loans and Treasury notes, and that the aggregate of expendi- 
 tures was $84,577,258. For the succeeding year the expendi- 
 tures were estimated at $318,519,581. Loans, an increase of 
 import duties, and direct and internal taxes were the means 
 proposed by the Secretary of the Treasury to supply this sum. 
 The Committee of Ways and Means, acting in the main on the 
 Secretary's propositions, reported a revenue bill, including 
 direct taxes, an income tax, and excises upon spirits, fermented 
 liquors, and a number of other articles. After much discussion 
 and many recommitments of the bill, a law was finally passed, 
 and approved August 5th, 1861 , enlarging the customs tariff, in- 
 creasing certain import duties, laying direct taxes on lands and 
 houses, and a tax on incomes. Unable to agree upon a system 
 of internal taxation, unless information could be obtained as to 
 the character and extent of the various objects contemplated 
 to be embraced in it, Congress postponed this revenue meas- 
 ure in order to give the proper committee time to submit a 
 comprehensive scheme. The import duties on spirits from 
 grain and other material were fixed at fifty cents per gallon ; 
 those on brandy, $1.50 per gallon ; the duties on beer, ale and 
 porter, which, by the Morrill tariff, had been fixed at twenty-five 
 cents, when imported in bottles, and fifteen cents when im- 
 ported in casks, remained unchanged ; whereas the duties on 
 wines, which, by the Morrill tariff, had been increased from 
 thirty to forty per cent, on their value, were now raised to 
 fifty per cent. 
 
 In December (1861) Chase reported a prospective deficit 
 for the year 1861-62, of $213,904,497, this being the ex- 
 cess of estimated expenditures over receipts. In the hope 
 that '' the war may he brought to an auspicious termination 
 before midsummer'''' (1862), the Secretary recommended that
 
 200 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the obtaining of loans to the amount of two Imndred millions 
 be autborized; tbat certain import duties be increased and tbe 
 amount of direct taxes levied under tbe existing law be raised. 
 Had this hope been realized, the Committee of Ways and 
 Means of the House of Representatives might not, perhaps, 
 have been called on to present the system of internal taxa- 
 tion, with the preparing of which it had been entrusted in 
 the extraordinary session. But, instead of the auspicious ter- 
 mination of the war, the next year brought to the minds of all 
 the conviction, that the struggle would be carried d Poutrance, 
 that the last ditch must be fought for. The expenditures 
 necessitated by the war continued to increase at an enormous 
 rate, and the making of provisions for them no longer permitted 
 delay. Considering the magnitude and complexity of the sub- 
 ject of internal taxation, as it presents itself in the law of July 
 1st, 1862, the Committee of Ways and Means may well be 
 said to have consummated their task with great skill. Their 
 report, submitted to the House on the 3rd of March, 1862, was 
 based on the result of a series of investigations and inquiries, 
 which at that time seemed to preclude serious errors ; un- 
 fortunately, they did not. 
 
 Manufacturers, merchants and shippers, economists and 
 moralists seem to have been given a hearing by the committee 
 for the purpose of ascertaining as nearly as possible, what tax- 
 burdens the various trades and callings could bear. In refer- 
 ence to the taxing of spirits the committee appear to have 
 been a little perplexed by the superabundance of advice, legiti- 
 mately offered and obstinately obtruded upon them. People 
 of prohibitory proclivities wished to have the manufacture 
 taxed to death ; earnest, but moderate temperance advocates 
 desired to restrict it by taxation ; wealthy distillers, having 
 either a large stock on hand or the means rapidly to accumulate 
 one. insisted on an exorlntant tax, because they already specula- 
 ted on the enormous profits they would realize by a rise of
 
 CHAPTER X. 201 
 
 prices — it being a foregone conclusion with tbem, that '* stock 
 on hand " would not he taxed ; the owners of small distilleries 
 objected to an excessively high rate of tax, and the agricultur- 
 ists again sided with the latter, on the ground, that much the 
 largest quantity of spirits produced in the country was from 
 corn, and that consequently a tax tending to restrict distillation 
 would be detrimental to the farming interests. Along with 
 all these divergent views came the question of giving prefer- 
 ence to fermented beverages over ardent liquors. In what 
 manner these conflicting desires, views and expectations were 
 treated, may be seen from a speech in wliich Morrill, who was 
 a member of the Ways and Means Committee and acted as 
 their spokesman, explained the nature of the bill. He said : 
 
 The duties proposed by tlie present bill rest heavily on spirits and malt 
 liquors — being about one hundred per cent, on raw whiskey, fifty per cent, 
 on rum, and twenty five per cent, on ale or beer — but far below the point 
 at which even some prominent distillers thought they might be safely car- 
 ried, and yet largely above the point indicated by the majority of those en- 
 gaged in the business. The men who now are supposed to have large 
 stocks on hand, and those who would destroy the traffic, regardless of rev- 
 enue, for once agree in the propriety of an exorbitant tax. Large quantities 
 of alcohol are used in the arts and manufactures, and will pay a duty in 
 proportion to its strength. For any such purpose the duty proposed on the 
 raw article is as high as it will bear. Little whiskey is sold to be used as 
 a beverage until it Las passed through some process of rectification, is re- 
 distilled, or is filtered through charcoal. All :5pirituous liquors, it will be 
 seen, which are subjected to this hocus-pocus, or the jargon of juniper, 
 strychnine, and other sugar-coated pills, are again assessed to the extent of 
 twenty-five cents per gallon, making in all forty cents per gallon on a large 
 share of spirituous beverages. Surely this is enough, very possibly too 
 much. In England the duty on spirits is ten shillings and fivepence ster- 
 ling, or about $3.53 per gallon. It is manifest that at present no such duty 
 could be collected of the people of the United States. Much the largest 
 quantity of spirits produced in this country is from corn, and many per- 
 sons engaged in the business apprehend, that we shall cut them up by the 
 roots with a duty so high as even fifteen cents per gallon, and that great in- 
 jury will result to farming interests thereby. The committee were satisfied 
 these fears are not well founded. So long as consumption keeps equal 
 pace with production — as in the case of all manufactures — the consumer
 
 202 LIQDOR LAWS OF THE TJNITED STATES. 
 
 must pay tlie increased cost price. The consumption will not be seriously 
 checked ; and, if it could be, such a result would bring upon us no national 
 disgrace. Whisky and ram, with the duty added, will still leave it possi- 
 ble for any man or brute to get drunk in our laud on cheaper terms than in 
 any other that I know of. Persons who like good liquors are patriotic on 
 the subject of taxation, and never quarrel about the price of the article ; 
 and those who swallow that which is said to be " sure to kill at forty rods," 
 will have it at any hazard of life or purse. 
 
 Although the representative of a State, in which a prohibi- 
 tory law was at that time in force, Morrill had the moral 
 courage to admit — with some reserve, it is true — the correct- 
 ness of the assertion, that malt liquors promote temperate 
 drinking habits. This admission must be looked for between 
 the lines, as the saying is, but it is there for all that. " Ale 
 and beer," said Morrill, " as beverages maybe regarded as less 
 unhealthful tlian spirits. It is therefore desirable to preserve 
 the relative difference in the value of the quantities usually 
 disposed of at retail, so as not to give any new advantages to 
 competing liquors." 
 
 Throughout the debate in the House on the taxes intended 
 to be imposed upon distilled spirits and fermented liquors, the 
 old question of fostering the milder beverages in preference 
 to ardent spirits, was kept prominently in the foreground, and 
 the issue between the Prohibitionist minority and the majority 
 of rational temperance advocates was all the more pointed for 
 the reason, that Stevens, of Pennsylvania, who had reported 
 the bill, was himself a brewer, represented a beer-drinking 
 constituency, and consequently had triple cause to defend the 
 provisions of the proposed law, so far as they tended to dis- 
 criminate in favor of fermented liquors. The opposition to these 
 was neither very bitter nor very formidable ; in fact, excepting 
 the promiscuous onslaughts of some of the most zealous mem- 
 bers from ISTew England, there was no objection at all to such 
 a discrimination, and it seemed to be pretty generally acknowl- 
 edged, that what was regarded in all civilized countries as the
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 203 
 
 only possible solution of a much vexed question, ought to hold 
 good ill our country. This was true to such an extent, that, 
 through the solicitude of members, lest the brewing industry 
 be overburdened, even Stevens was frequently forced into an 
 attitude of seeming hostility to his constituents' interests. 
 Thus, when the licensing of brewers was discussed, Eolman, 
 of Indiana — who was under the erroneous impression, that a 
 tax on beer of one dollar per barrel would amount to three 
 cents per quart — spoke against the laying of additional burdens 
 on the brewing industry, which he conceived to be alike 
 beneficial and necessary. He said : 
 
 "This tax applies to all kinds of beer— lager beer, strong beer, and 
 every kind of brewed drink of that nature. This has become an article of 
 absolute necessity in many parts of the country, as much so as tea and 
 coffee. Among the German population lager beer seems to have become an 
 article of absolute necessity. In my own county, at almost every point 
 where a pure spring gushes out of the hills, there is a brewery." 
 
 Many other members spoke in a similar strain, and although 
 Stevens showed them that their objections were predicated on an 
 erroneous supposition, they nevertheless insisted on a reduction 
 of the brewers' license. This occurred just at a time when a 
 sanitary commission, appointed by the President and Secretary 
 of War, to examine the camps of the Union array and to report 
 upon their sanitary condition,* had rendered an interesting 
 report which testified to the healthfulness of malt liquors in 
 these words : 
 
 " In certain regiments containing a large percentage of Germans, lager 
 beer has been freely used. There is evidence before the commission tending 
 to show that its use (at least during the summer) was beneficial, and that 
 disorders of the bowels were less frequent in companies regularly supplied 
 with it in moderation than in other companies of the same regiment. " 
 
 * This commission consisted of Rev. H. W. Bellows, Professor A. D. 
 Bache, George T. Strong, Frederick Lew Olmsted, Drs. J. S. Newberry, J. 
 F. Jenkins, J. H. Douglas, A. J. Bloor, E. B. Elliott and John Bowne.
 
 204 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE DI^ITED STAiES. 
 
 The same report contained a comparative statement showing 
 the proportion of cases of sickness among the troops from 
 the various States, from which it appeared that the average 
 number of men constantly sick in regiments, one thousand 
 strong, was as follows : New York, 52 ; Pennsylvania, 
 57 ; Massachusetts, 52 ; Connecticut, 49 ; Yermont, 88 ; and 
 Maine, 124. With telling effect these facts and figures 
 were held under the eyes of the members from Prohibi- 
 tion States. In the main, the old ideas, ventilated so fre- 
 quently and thoroughly in nearly every Congress since the 
 adoption of the Constitution, again came to the surface when- 
 ever the matter of fermented drinks was on the tapis ; and 
 in nearly every instance the representatives of Maine rendered 
 a vindication of these ideas necessary. Rice, of that State, 
 for instance, in opposing a motion to reduce the tax on wine 
 from 5 to 2 cents per gallon, and proposing, instead of either, a 
 tax of sixteen cents, did not hesitate to class wine with whiskey 
 and rum. This elicited the assertion (by Horton), that wine 
 was one of the most efficient agents of carrying out the idea 
 of the Maine law. " I take the responsibility," retorted this 
 gentleman, " of saying that it has a greater tendency to prevent 
 the excessive use of ardent spirits than any agent I have 
 known to be appealed to for the last ten years. The moderate 
 and habitual use of good American wine produces a distate 
 for the use of deleterious ardent spirits. I think, therefore, 
 that all those gentlemen who believe as the gentleman from 
 Maine does, that' the Maine law is a benefit to the country, 
 and that it advances civilization, should come up to the help of 
 the Committee of Ways and Means in this instance, and vote 
 for a small tax on native wine as a promotive of temperance." 
 
 In the Senate Sherman, of Ohio, opposed a tax on wine 
 made of domestic grapes, on the ground, that it would retard 
 the progress of grape-culture in his State, in Missouri and in 
 California, where, he thought, altogether about ten thousand
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 205 
 
 acres were then being cultivated by German vintagers. Grimes 
 of Iowa, after adverting sarcastically to the expunging of a tax 
 upon "brandy manufactured out of whiskey that killed at 
 forty rods," said that he would regard it as " the greatest boon 
 that could be conferred upon this country if Congress could 
 so stimulate grape-culture that wine would be as common a 
 drink as cider used to be in New England when he was a boy/' 
 McDougal, of California, reminded his colleague of the Con- 
 gressional tradition on the subject of wine-culture ; and empha- 
 sized the fact, that in his State large premiums were paid for 
 the purpose of encouraging the production of wine : 
 
 ' ' The enterprise is in its infancy. It operates toward both material 
 prosperity and national morality ; and such is the opinion, I believe, of the 
 entire country. It has been considered a thing that States should favor by 
 legislation and by bounty, and it is favored by particular localities in the 
 same manner. I vsrill ask whether, when the great culture and production 
 of wine was started about Cincinnati, it was not regarded as a great feature 
 of American * enterprise, and, if it could be accomplished, as a success and 
 a great thing for our country. Such was the voice of the nation, and so it 
 has been from that time until now." 
 
 Sherman, ordinarily a man of " hard sense" rather than of 
 sentiment, indirectly claimed the exemption of wine from in- 
 ternal taxation as a sort of mark of recognition to the German- 
 Americans, who, as he thought, were showing themselves very 
 patriotic in the war, and had at all times manifested a sincere 
 solicitude for the welfare of the country. This usually stern law- 
 maker disclosed a very keen appreciation of a sentiment, which 
 to this day prevails among the German population, when he 
 said that in cultivating the grape-vine, the vintners "supposed 
 they were contributing to the public weal." Why should they 
 
 * Colonel Longworth, whose ambition it was said to have been to malie 
 the Ohio a sort of American Rhine, induced a great number of German 
 vintners to settle on his lands and to cultivate the grape-vine, offering them 
 unusually favorable terms. Under this arrangement the industry developed 
 rapidly, yielding large pecuniary profits and an excellent wine.
 
 206 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 not have supposed so ? Every child then knew that in all civil- 
 ized countries, where ardent spirits were used to excess, the aim 
 of law-makers had been to introduce milder stimulants ; that as 
 the Swedish Government endeavored to compel the cultivation 
 of hops, so the German authorities successfully strove to 
 introduce the brewing industry into the North of Germany, 
 and the English Parliament sought, less successfully, to correct 
 the errors of its predecessors, by releasing malt liquoi- from 
 its exorbitant burdens. And in America — what was the whole 
 temperance agitation, before it degenerated into a Quixotic 
 crusade of extremists, but an effort to substitute as far as pos- 
 sible and rational, beer and wine for whiskey and rum ? It is 
 worthy of note, that the moral arguments advanced in favor 
 of wine and beer were not assailed in the Senate, although 
 Wilson, of Massachusetts, and Pomeroy of Kansas (" coming 
 events cast their shadows before"), jealously watched over the 
 interests of Prohibitionists, availing themselves of every 
 opportunity of expounding the Maine idea. With a zeal and 
 an energy characteristic of him, Wilson, this truly patriotic man 
 and gifted legislator, opposed every feature of the tax bill 
 that could in any manner be construed as a concession to the 
 demon of inebriety ', he, nevertheless, allowed it to be under- 
 stood — if silence in such a case may be said to imply consent 
 — that he approved of the views expressed by Sherman and 
 evidently entertained by a majority of both Houses. This is 
 nothing to be wondered at, seeing that in the very States, whose 
 prohibitory laws had become the favorite temperance scheme 
 of Wilson, the question of exempting fermented liquors was 
 frequently made an issue between the friends of the cause, and 
 quite as often determined affirmatively. His opposition to the 
 liquor traffic, and that of his co-workers in the House and Sen- 
 ate generally, might have been more effective, if it had been 
 more consistent While he, and a few others, who styled 
 themselves friends of temperance, advocated the highest rate
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 207 
 
 of taxes on the manufacture of spirits, thej strenuously ('pi)osed 
 the licensing of retailers of that article, and in the endeavor to 
 carry their point, they unwittingly revealed the futility of the 
 prohibitory laws then in force. In truth, they tried very hard 
 to make national legislation do what, according to their own 
 admission. State legislation had absolutely failed to accom- 
 plish. If later enquiries had not yielded an abundance of 
 statistical evidence of the total worthlessness of Prohibition, 
 one could not wish for better proof of it than is offered in 
 the speeches of Wilson and others. When he first assailed 
 the section relating to licenses, Wilson argued that the retail 
 traffic would be lifted '' into a kind of respectability," which 
 he predicted would have " a most demoralizing influence 
 upon the country," and particularly of course, in States where 
 prohibitory laws were then in force. It is well to state the 
 reasons for this in his own words : 
 
 "Sir, in some States we have laws forbidding the retailing of ardent 
 spirits, but in spite of these laws, thousands of persons are retailing spirits 
 to the great injury of the community. It (the license) is intended to go 
 into the State of Massachusetts, where there are, in spite of prohibitory 
 laws, several thousand rum sellers. " 
 
 Appealed to by Wilson, Foster, of Connecticut, stated that 
 in his State a prohibitory law, much more stringent than that 
 of Massachusetts, was in force, but could not be executed. 
 This gave Wilson a fresh subject for lamentation, and he now 
 indulged his imaginative faculty in the best style of our later- 
 day Prohibitionists. For the sake of a few thousand dollars, 
 he said, the United States Government would give licenses to 
 sell an article by which " more Union soldiers have been 
 killed than by the balls of the enemy." When asked why he 
 gave his vote to tax distilleries, he answered that he did so, be- 
 cause he wished to kill these establishments by a tax. Sin- 
 gularly enough, all his ablest opponents hailed from Prohibition 
 States. Fessenden, of Maine, for example, had the moral
 
 208 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 courage to be logical in this matter, claiming tbat it was no 
 worse to license the retailer than to tax the distiller, that, if it 
 was immoral to pocket the " wages of sin " from one, it must of 
 necessity be immoral to take the money of the other. Anthony, 
 of Rhode Island,* said : 
 
 " In Maine and Massachusetts where no licenses are granted, the busi- 
 ness is carried on, I suppose, quite as extensively— 1« is in our State— &s 
 it is where licenses are granted ; and there ougrht to be some mode 
 provided in this bill whereby men who sell spirituous liquors contrary to 
 law should at least be made to pay to the general Treasury as well as those 
 who sell according to law." 
 
 Foster, of Connecticut, gave a brief history of the prohibi- 
 "bitory law which had been in force in his State since 1852, and 
 in doing so, he not only acknowledged that the legal inhibition 
 could not stop the stealthy sale of spirits, but he also proved 
 that after two years the law had became virtually inoperative 
 by reason of a strong popular sentiment against it. His re- 
 marks left nothing to be desired in point of directness. Thus 
 he said : 
 
 " In all large towns of the State, and many, probably most, of the 
 small ones, liquor is now sold and sold very generally, in utter violation of 
 law. Our public authorities occasionally, but rarely, institute prosecutions, 
 and convictions are by no means common. Where a man is prosecuted, he 
 defends. It is frequently difficult to make out the proof, even although 
 the place may be notorious as one where liquor is sold, and men sometimes 
 escape conviction who are notoriously guilty. Public feeling has become 
 rather indifferent to the subject of prosecutions and they are generally 
 discontinued." 
 
 Hale, of New Hampshire, another Prohibition State, was 
 still more emphatic in his utterances ; he said : 
 
 " I live in a city of about ten thousand inhabitants, about as orderly a 
 city as there is, I believe, in New England anywhere, of its size, as law- 
 abiding a people ; and I believe to-day there never were, at any time, and 
 under any circumstances, two-thirds as maiiy places where liquor is openly and 
 
 * Rhode Island had her second prohibitory law up to 1863.
 
 CHAPTER X. 209 
 
 haUtnally and ronslantly soil, week days and Sundays, as it is under the 
 operation of our entirely prohibitory law ; and 1 do not think we are worse 
 than the rest of mankind." 
 
 These specimens will suffice, it is hoped, to corroborate the 
 assertion, that the representatives of the Prohibition States 
 were unanimous in their conviction, that the prohibitory laws 
 they had helped to enact did not stop the liquor traffic ; never- 
 theless, some of them preferred their system of illicit, illimit- 
 able and uncontrollable traffic to a method by which, as Wilson 
 justly remarked, the business would be rendered respectable, 
 that is to say. placed under control and in the hands of re- 
 sponsible citizens. The attitude of Wilson in this question 
 only confirms the observation, that even the best and most 
 talented of men sometimes succumb to the infection of visionary 
 schemes. He made no attempt to conceal his zealotism on the 
 subject ; on the contrary, he openly declared that he preferred 
 to " let everybody sell that chose to sell, rather than to have 
 anybody licensed to sell." With all due reverence for the 
 manes of a patriot whose memory thousands of brave 
 Union veterans cherish,* it must be said that such utterances 
 characterize the wildest sort of fanaticism. He asserted what 
 he did not and could not know ; he talked of facts which 
 never existed ; he bnilt up a structure of fantastic arguments, 
 which the slightest inquiry into facts completely subverted. 
 He claimed that " the system of licenses increased drunkenness 
 and the crimes that follow drunkenness " — yet, in 1867, when 
 the real state of things was laid bare by a thorough examina- 
 tion, his own State repudiated these views as totally unfounded 
 in fact. 
 
 In view of the mass of evidence, adduced by representatives 
 of Prohibition States, against the expediency of tyrannical 
 legislation, there is no cause for wonderment that the Maine 
 
 * One of Wilson's claiins to his country's gratitude is his untiring work 
 in the Committee on Military Affairs.
 
 210 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 idea failed to have any effect whatever on any of the features 
 of the revenue law. 
 
 Concerning the rate of tax which whiskey was supposed to 
 be able to bear, the views of our legislators differed widely. 
 Some members of Congress advanced the opinion, in all 
 seriousness, that a tax on ardent spirits, however exorbitant, 
 would be collectable, and could not diminish consumption ; 
 while others seemed to think that taxing the article at the rate 
 of one hundred per cent, on its value would be almost equiva- 
 lent to destroying the manufacture. This divergence of 
 opinions subsequently led to a series of experiments which 
 incited a ruinous spirit of speculation and invited the per- 
 petration of frauds upon the Government. At the time when 
 the laying of the first tax was being discussed in Congress, 
 there was abundant evidence that the distillers of the country 
 already speculated on the increase of price, which must inevit- 
 ably follow the imposition of a tax on the article, and that this 
 speculation was based on the supposition — which proved to be 
 correct — that the stock on hand at the time the law was to go 
 into effect would not be taxed. Legislators could not well 
 plead ignorance of this scheme, as Sherman and others re- 
 peatedly called attention to it, and sought to contravene it by 
 inserting in the bill a clause imposing a tax upon stock on 
 hand. Sherman said : 
 
 " I am satisfied, and I make the statement now witli perfect confidence, 
 that if this tax is made twenty or twenty-five cents, or even fifteen cents, 
 it will stop in a great measure the manufacture of whiskey for at least six 
 months, for a very simple reason. It has been known ever since last July 
 that a tax would be put on whiskey, and all distilleries of the country have 
 been running to their extremest capacity, and to-day they are running more 
 than they have done liefore. Every old still in the country has been set at 
 work, simply because it was supposed a tax would be put on wfiiskey, andtJiat 
 tJie stock on hand would not be taxed." 
 
 This statement of fact, made at so early a stage of the 
 development of our gigantic revenue system, should be borne 
 
 i
 
 CHAPTER X. 211 
 
 in mind, as it is of great importance in forming a just opinion 
 of the fluctuating character of distillation in subsequent years, 
 under repeated changes of the rate of tax. 
 
 The revenue law, as finally passed, imposed a tax of 
 twenty cents per gallon, on whiskey, and of one dollar per 
 barrel, on fermented liquors. According to the schedule of 
 licenses, which included nearly every trade and calling, dis- 
 tillers had to pay $50 for each license, annually ; brewers, $25 
 and $50, according to the quantity of beer brewed ; wholesale 
 dealers in all kinds of liquors, $100, and retail dealers in 
 liquors, $20. The full text of that part of the law which 
 relates to spirits, ale, beer and porter reads as follows : 
 
 SPIRITS, ALE, BEER AND PORTER. 
 
 Sec. 39. And be it further enacted. That it shall be the duty of the 
 collectors, within the respective districts, to grant licenses for distilling, 
 which licenses shall contain the date thereof, the sum paid, and the time 
 when the same will expire, and shall be granted to any person, being a res- 
 ident of the United States, who shall desire the same, by application, in 
 writing, to such collector, upon payment of the sum or duty pavable by 
 this Act upon each license requested. And at the time of applying for said 
 license, and before the same is issued, the person so applying shall give 
 bond to the United States in such sum as shall be required by the collector, 
 and with one or more sureties, to be approved by said collector, conditioned 
 that in case any additional still or stills, or other implements to be used as 
 aforesaid, shall be erected by him, his agent or superintendent, he -will, be- 
 fore using, or causing or permitting the same to be used, report in writing 
 to the said collector the capacity thereof, an information from time to 
 time of any change in the form, capacity, ownership, agency or superin- 
 tendence, which all or either of the said stills or other implements may 
 undergo ; and that he will, from day to day, enter, or cause to be entered, 
 in a book to be kept for that purpose, the number of gallons of spirits that 
 may be distilled by said still or stills, or other implements, and also of the 
 quanties of grain or other vegetable productions, or other substances put 
 into the mash-tub, or otherwise used by him, his agent, or superintendent, 
 for the purpose of producing spirits, which said book shall be open at all 
 times during the day (Sundays excepted) to the inspection of the said collec- 
 tor, who may make any memorandums or transcripts therefrom; and that he 
 will render to the said collector, on the first, tenth, and twentieth days of
 
 212 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 each and every month, or within five days thereafter, during tha continu- 
 ance of said license, an exact account, in writing taken from his books, of 
 the number of gallons of spirits distilled and sold, or removed for consump- 
 tion or sale, by him, his agent, or superintendent, and the proof thereof, 
 and also of the quantities of grain and other vegetable productions, or 
 other substances, put into the mash-tub, or otherwise used by him, his 
 agent or superintendent, for the purpose of producing spirits, for the period 
 or fractional part of a month then next preceding the date of said report, 
 which said report shall be verified by affidavit in the manner prescribed by 
 this Act ; and that he will not sell or permit to be sold, or removed for con- 
 sumption or sale, any spirits distilled by hun under and by virtue of his 
 said license, until the same shall have been inspected, gauged and proved, 
 and the quantity thereof duly entered upon his books as aforesaid ; and 
 that he will, at the time of rendering said account, pay to the said collector 
 the duties which by this Act are imposed on the spirits so distilled ; 
 and the said bond may be renewed or changed, from time to time, in 
 regard to the amount and sureties thereof, according to the discretion of the 
 collector. 
 
 Sec. 40. And be itfurtJier enacted. That the application in writing made 
 by any person for a license for distilling, as aforesaid, shall state the place 
 of distilling, the number and capacity of the still or stills, boiler or boilers, 
 and the name of the person, firm, company, or corporation using the same ; 
 and any person making a false statement in either of the said particulars shall 
 forfeit and pay the sum of one hundred dollars, to be recovered with costs of 
 suit. 
 
 Sec. 41. And he it further enacted, That in addition to the duties payable 
 for licenses herein provided, there shall be paid, on all spirits that may be 
 distilled and sold, or removed for consumption or sale, of first proof, on 
 and after the Ist day of August, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, the duty 
 of twenty cents on each and every gallon, which shall be paid by the owner, 
 agent, or superintendent of the still or other vessel in which the said spirit- 
 uous liquors shall have been distilled; which duty shall be paid at the time 
 of rendering the accounts of spirituous liquors so chargeable with duty, re- 
 quired to be rendered by this act: Provided, That the duty on spirituous 
 liquors and all other spirituous beverages enumerated in this Act shall be 
 collected at no lower rate than the basis of first proof, and shall be increased 
 in proportion for any greater strength than the strength of proof. 
 
 Sec. 42. And be it further enacted. That the term first proof used in this 
 Act and in section six of the Act of March second, eighteen hundred and six- 
 ty-one, entitled " an Act to provide for the payment of outstanding treasury 
 notes, to authorize a'loan, to regulate and fix the duties on imports, and for
 
 CHAPTER X. 213 
 
 otlier purposes," shall be construed, and is hereby declared to mean, that 
 proof of a liquor wbich corresponds to fifty degrees of Tralles' centesimal 
 hydrometer, adopted by regulation of the Treasury Department, of August 
 twelfth, eighteen hundred and fifty, at the temperature of sixty degrees of 
 Fahrenheit's thermometer ; and that in reducing the temperatures to the 
 standard of sixty, and in levying duties on liquors above and below proof, 
 the table of commercial values, contained in the manual for inspectors of 
 spirits, prepared by Professor McCuUoch, under the superintendence of Pro- 
 fessor Bache, and adopted by the Treasury Department, shall be used and 
 taken as giving the proportions of absolute alcohol iu the liquids gauged 
 and proved according to which duties shall be levied. 
 
 Sec. 43. And be it further enacted, That there shall be designated by 
 the collector in every assessment district where the same may be necessary 
 one or more inspectors, who shall take an oath faithfully to perform their 
 duties in such form as the Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall prescribe, 
 and who shall be entitled to receive such fees as may be fixed and prescribed 
 by said Commissioner. And all spirits distilled as aforesaid by any person 
 licensed as aforesaid shall, before the same is used, or removed for consump- 
 tion or sale, be inspected, gauged, and proved by some person so as aforesaid 
 designated for the performance of such duties, and who shall mark upon 
 the cask or other package containing such spirits, in a manner to be pre- 
 scribed by said commissioner, the quantity and proof of the contents of such 
 cask or package, with the date of inspection and the name of the inspector. 
 And any person who shall attempt fraudulently to evade the payment of du- 
 ties upon any spirits distilled as aforesaid, by changing in any manner the 
 mark upon any such cask or package, shall forfeit the sum of five hundred 
 dollars for each cask or package so altered or changed, to be recovered as 
 hereinbefore provided. And the fees of such inspector shall in all cases be 
 paid by the owner of the spirits so inspected, gauged and proved. And any 
 such inspector who shall knowingly put upon any such cask or package any 
 false or fraudulent mark shall be liable to the same penalty hereinbefore 
 provided for each cask or package so fraudulently marked. And any person 
 who shall use any cask or package so marked, for the purpose of selling, 
 spirits of a quality different from that so inspected, shall be subject to a like 
 penalty for each cask or package so used. 
 
 Sec. 44. And he it further enacted, That the owner or owners of any dis- 
 tillery may erect, at his or their own expense, a warehouse of iron, stone, or 
 brick, with metal or other fire -proof roof, to be contiguous to such distillery; 
 and such warehouse, when approved by the collector, is hereby declared a 
 bonded warehouse of the United States, and shall be used only for storing 
 distilled spirits, and to be under the custody of the collector or his deputy.
 
 214 LIQTJOR LAWS OF THE r:NITED STATES. 
 
 And the duty on the spirits stored in such warehouse shall be paid when and 
 as it is sold or removed from such warehouse for sale. 
 
 Sec. 45. And he it further enacted, That every person who, on the first 
 day of August, eighteen hundred and sixty -two, shall be the owner of any 
 still, boiler, or other vessel, used or intended to be used for the purpose of 
 distilling spirituous liquors, as hereinbefore provided, or who shall have such 
 a still, boiler, or other vessel under liis superintendence, either as agent for 
 the owner or on his own account, and every person who, after said day, shall 
 use or intend to use any still, boiler, or O-her vessel, as aforesaid, either as 
 owner, agent, or otherwise, shall from day to day make true and exact entry, 
 or cause to be entered, in a book to be kept by him for that purpose, the 
 number of gallons of spirituous liquors distilled by him, and also the number 
 of gallons sold, or removed for consumption or sale, and the proof thereof, 
 which book shall always be open in the day time, Sundays excepted, for the 
 inspection of the said collector, who may take any minutes, memorandums, 
 or transcripts thereof, and shall render to said collector, on the first, tenth 
 and twentieth days of each and every month in each year, or within five days 
 thereafter, a general account in writing, taking from his books, of the num- 
 ber of gallons of spirituous liquors distilled and sold, or removed for con- 
 sumption or sale, and the proof thereof, for the period or fractional part of a 
 month preceding said day, or for such portion thereof as may have elapsed 
 from the date of said entry and report to the said day which shall nest ensue ; 
 and shall also keep a book or books, in a form to be prescribed by the Com- 
 missioner of Internal Revenue, and to be open at all seasonable hours for in- 
 spection by the collector and assessor of the district, wherein shall be entered,, 
 from day to day, the quantities of grain, or other vegetable productions, or 
 other substances put into the mash-tub by him, his agent, or superintendent, 
 for the purpose of producing spirits ; and shall verify, or cause to be verified^ 
 the said entries, reports, books, and general accounts, by oath or affirmation, 
 to be taken before the collector or some other officer authorized by the laws 
 of the State to administer the same according to the form required by this 
 act, where the same is prescribed ; and shall also pay to the collector the 
 duties which by this act ought to be paid on the spirituous liquors so dis- 
 tilled and sold, or removed for consumption or sale, and in said accounts 
 mentioned, at the time of rendering an account thereof. 
 
 Sec. 46. And be it further enacted, That the collector of any district may 
 grant a permit to the owner or owners of any distillery within his district to 
 send or ship any spirits, the product of said distillery, after the quantity and 
 proof thereof shall have been ascertained by inspection according to the pro- 
 visions of this act, to any place without said district, and within the United 
 States ; and in such case the bill of lading or receipt (which shall be in such
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 215 
 
 form as the Commissioner of Internal Revenue may direct) of the same shall 
 be taken in the name of the collector of the district in which the distillery is 
 situate, and the spirits aforesaid shall be consigned, in such bill of lading or 
 receipt, to the collector of the district in which the place is situate, whither 
 the spirits is sent or shipped, and the amount of duties upon said spirits shall 
 be stated in the receipt ; and upon the arrival of the spirits, and upon the de- 
 mand of the collector aforesaid, the agent of the distillery (and the name of 
 the agent, for the convenience of the collector, shall always appear in the 
 bill of lading or receipt) shall pay the duties upon the said spirits, with the 
 expense of freight, and every other expense which has accrued thereupon; 
 and the said collector, upon the payment of the duties aforesaid, shall deliver 
 the bill of lading or receipt and the spirits to the agent of the said distillery ; 
 and if the duties are not paid as aforesaid, then the said spirits shall be stored 
 at the risk and cost of the owner or agent thereof, who shall pay an addition 
 of ten per centum thereupon ; and all the general provisions of this act in 
 reference to liens, penalties, and forfeitures, as also in reference to the col- 
 lection, shall apply thereto, and be enforced by the collector of the district 
 in which the spirits may be : Provided, That no permit shall be granted, 
 under this section, for a quantity less than fifty barrels : And provided fur- 
 ther, That the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, under the direction of the 
 Secretary of the Treasury, may make such further regulations, and require 
 such further securities, as he may deem proper in order to protect the revenues 
 and to carry out the spirit and intent of this section. 
 
 Sec. 47. And be it further enacted. That distilled spirits may be removed 
 from the place of manufacture for the purpose of being exported, or for the 
 purpose of being redistilled for export, and refined coal oil may be removed 
 for the purpose of being exported, after the quantity of spirits or oil so re- 
 moved shall have been ascertained by inspection, according to the provisions 
 of this act, upon and with the written permission of the collector or deputy 
 collector of the district, without payment of the duties thereon previous to 
 such removal, the owner thereof having first given bond to the United 
 States, with sufficient sureties, in the manner and form and under regulation, 
 prescribed by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, and in at least double 
 the amount of said duties, to export the said spirits or oil or pay the duties 
 thereon within such time as may be prescribed by the commissioner, which 
 time shall be slated in said bond : Provided, That any person desiring to give 
 such bond shall first make oath, before the collector or deputy collector to 
 whom he may apply for a permit to remove any such spirits or oil, in manner 
 and fortn to be prescribed by said commissioner, that he intends to export 
 such liquors or oil, and that he desires to obtain said permit for no other pur- 
 pose whatever : and any collector or deputy collector is hereby authorized to 
 administer such oath : And provided further, That no such removal shall be
 
 216 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 permitted where the amount of duties does not exceed the sum of three 
 hundred dollars, nor in any case where the person desiring such permission 
 has failed to perform the obligation of any bond previously given to the 
 United States for the removal of any such articles, until the same shall have 
 been fully kept and performed. And the collector of the district in which 
 any such bond may be given is authorized to cancel said bond on payment 
 of said duties, with interest thereon, at a rate to be fixed by said Oom 
 missioner, and all proper charges, if said liquors or oil shall not have been 
 exported, or upon satisfactory proof that the same have been duly exported 
 as aforesaid. And in case of the breach of the obligation of any such bond, 
 the same shall be forthwith forwarded by the collector of the district to the 
 Commissioner of Internal Revenue, to be by him placed in the hands of the 
 First Comptroller of the Treasury, who shall cause the same proceedmgs to. 
 be taken thereon, for the purpose of collecting the duties, interest, and 
 charges aforesaid, as are provided in this act in case of a delinquent collector. 
 
 Sec. 48. And be it furtJier enacted. That the entries made in the books 
 of the distiller, required to be kept in the foregoing section, shall, on the 
 first, tenth, and twentieth days of each and every month, or within five day* 
 thereafter, be verified by oath or affirmation, to be taken as aforesaid, of the 
 person or persons by whom such entries shall have been made, which oath 
 or aflarmation shall be certified at the end of such entries by une collector 
 or oflBcer administering the same, and shall be, in substance, as follows r 
 " I do swear (or affirm) that the foregoing entries were made by me on the 
 respective days specified, and that they state, according to the best of my 
 knowledge and belief, the whole quantity of spirituous liquors distilled and 
 
 sold, or removed for consumption or sale, at the distillery owned by , 
 
 in the county of , amoimting to gallons, according to proof pre- 
 scribed by the laws of the United States." 
 
 Sec. 49. And be it further enacted, That the owner, agent, or superin- 
 tendent aforesaid, shall, in case the original entries required to be made in 
 his books by this act shall not have been made by himself, subjoin to the 
 oath or affirmation of the person by whom they were made the following oath 
 or affirmation, to be taken as aforesaid : " I do swear (or affirm) that, to the 
 best of my knowledge and belief, the foregoing entries are j ust and true, and 
 that I have taken all the means in my power to make them so. " 
 
 Sec. 50. And be it further enacted. That on and after the first day of 
 August, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, there shall be paid on all beer, 
 lager beer, ale, porter, and other similar fermented liquors by whatever name 
 such liquors may be called, a duty of one dollar for each and every barrel 
 containing not more than thirty-one gallons, and at a like rate for any other 
 quantity or for fractional parts of a barrel, which shall be brewed or manu-
 
 CHAPTER X. 217 
 
 factored and sold or removed for consumption or sale within the United States 
 or the Territories thereof, or within the District of Columbia, after tliat day ; 
 which duty shall be paid by the owner, agent, or superintendent of the 
 brewery or premises in wliicli sucli fermented liquors shall be made, and 
 shall be paid at tlie time of rendering the accounts of such fermented liquors 
 so chargeable with duty, as required to be rendered by the following section 
 of this act : Provided, That fractional parts of a barrel shall be halves, quar- 
 ters, eighths, and sixteenths, and any fractional part containing less than one- 
 sixteenth shall be accounted one-sixteenth; more than one sixteenth and not 
 more than one-eighth shall be accounted one-eighth ; more than one-eighth, 
 and not more than one-quarter, shall be accounted one-quarter; more than one- 
 quarter, and not more than one-half, shall be accounted one-half ; more than 
 one-half, shall be accounted one barrel. 
 
 Sec. 51. And he it further enacted, That every person who, on said first 
 day of August, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, shall be the owner or 
 occupant of any brewery or premises used or intended to be used for the pur- 
 pose of brewing or making such fermented liquors, or who shall have such 
 premises under his control or superintendence, as agent for the owner or 
 occupant, or shall have in his possession or custody any vessel or vessels 
 intended to be used on said premises in the manufacture of beer, lager beer, 
 ale, porter, or other similar fermented liquors, either as owner, agent, or 
 otherwise, shall from day to day, enter or cause to be entered in a book to be 
 kept by him for that purpose, and which shall be open at all times, except 
 Sundays, between the rising and setting of the sun, for the inspection of said 
 collector, who may take any minutes or memorandum or transcripts thereof, 
 the quantities of grain, or other vegetable productions or other substances, 
 put into the mash-tub, or otherwise used for the purpose of producing beer, 
 or for any other purpose, and the quantity or number of barrels and frac- 
 tional parts of barrels of fermented liquors made and sold, or removed for 
 consumption or sale, keeping separate account of the several kinds and de- 
 scriptions ; and shall render to said collector, on the first day of each month 
 in each year, or within ten days thereafter, a general account, in writing, 
 taken from his books, of the qualities of grain, or other vegetable produc- 
 tions or other substances, put into the mash-tub, or otherwise used, for the 
 purpose of producing beer, or for any other purpose, and the quantity or 
 number of barrels and fractional parts of barrels of each kind of fermented 
 liquors made and sold, or removed for consumption or sale, for one month 
 preceding said day; and shall verify or cause to be verified the said entries, 
 reports, books, and general accounts, on oath or general affirmation, to be 
 taken before the collector or some officer authorized by the laws of the State 
 to administer the same according to the form required by this Act where 
 the same is prescribed ; and shall also pay to the said collector the duties
 
 218 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 which, by this Act, ought to be paid on the liquor made and sold, or re- 
 moved for consumption or sale, and in the said accounts mentioned, at the 
 time of rendering the account thereof, as aforesaid. But where the manu- 
 facturer of any beer, lager beer or ale, manufactures the same in one collec- 
 tion district, and owns or hires a depot or warehouse for the storage and sale 
 of such beer, lager beer, or ale, in another collection district, he may, instead 
 of paying to the collector of the district where the same was manufactured 
 the duties chargeable thereon, present to such collector or his deputy an in- 
 voice of the quantity or number of barrels about to be removed for the pur- 
 pose of storage and sale, specifying in such invoice, with reasonable cer- 
 tainty, the depot or warehouse in which he intends to place such beer, lager 
 beer, or ale ; and thereupon such collector or deputy shall indorse on such 
 invoice his permission for such removal, and shall at the same time trans- 
 mit to the collector of the district in which such depot or warehouse is situ- 
 ated a duplicate of such invoice . and thereafter the manufacturer of the 
 beer, lager beer, or aie so r«moved shall render the same account, and pay 
 the same duties, and be subject to the same liabilities and penalties as if the 
 beer, lager beer, or ale so removed had been manufactured in the district. 
 The Commissioner of Internal Revenue may prescribe such rules as he may 
 deem necessary for the purpose of carrying the provisions of this section into 
 effect. 
 
 Sec. 52. And be it further enacted. That the entries made in the books 
 required to be kept by the foregoing section shall, on said first day of each 
 and every month, or within ten days thereafter, be verified by the oath or 
 affirmation, to be taken as aforesaid, of the person or persons by whom such 
 entries shall have been made, which oath or affirmation shall be certified at 
 the end of such entries by the collector or officer administering the same, 
 and shall be, in substance, as follows : " I do swear (or affirm) that the fore- 
 going entries were made by me on the respective days specified, and that 
 they state, according to the best of my knowledge and belief, the whole 
 quantity of fermented liquors either brewed or brewed and sold at the brew- 
 ery owned by , in the county of , amounting to barrels." 
 
 Sec. 53. And be it further enacted, That the owner, agent, or super- 
 intendent aforesaid shall, in case the original entries required to be made in 
 his books shall not have been made by himself, subjoin to the oath or 
 affirmation the following oath or affirmation, to be taken as aforesaid : " I 
 do swear (or affirm) that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, the fore- 
 going entries are just and true, and that I have taken all the means in my 
 power to make them so." 
 
 Sec. 54. And be it further enacted. That the owner, agent, or super- 
 intendent of any vessel or vessels used in making fermented liquors, or of any
 
 CHAPTER X. 219 
 
 Still, boiler, or otlier vessel used in the distillation of spirits on wliicli duty is 
 payable, who shall neglect or refuse to make true and exact entry and re- 
 port of the same, or to do, or cause to be done, any of the things by this act 
 required to be done as aforesaid, shall forfeit for every such neglect or refusal 
 all the liquors and spirits made by or for him, and all the vessels used in 
 making the same, and the stills, boilers, and other vessels used in distillation, 
 together with the smu of five hundred dollars, to be recovered with costs of 
 suit ; which said liquors or spirits, with the vessels containing the same, 
 with all the vessels used in making the same, may be seized by any collector 
 of internal duties, and held by him until a decision shall be had thereon ac- 
 cording to law : Provided, That such seizure be made within thirty days 
 after the cause for the same may have occurred, and that proceedings to en- 
 force said forfeiture shall have been commenced by such collector within 
 twenty days of the seizure thereof. And the proceedings to enforce said for- 
 feiture of said property shall be in the nature of a proceeding in rem, in the 
 circuit or district court of the United States for the district where such seizure 
 is made, or in any other court of competent jurisdiction. 
 
 Sec. 55. And he it further enacted, That in all cases in which the duties 
 aforesaid, payable on spirituous liquors distilled and sold, or removed for 
 consumption or sale, or beer, lager beer, ale, porter, and other similar fer, 
 mented liquors, shall not be paid at the time of rendering the account of the 
 same, as herein required, the person or persons chargeable therewith shall 
 pay, in addition, ten per centum on the amount thereof; and, until such 
 duties with such addition shall be paid, they shall be and remain a lien upon 
 the distillery where such liquors have been distilled, or the brewery where 
 such liquors have been brewed, and upon the stills, boilers, vats, and all 
 other implements thereto belonging, until the same shall have been paid ; 
 and in case of refusal or neglect to pay said duties, with the addition, within 
 ten days after the same shall have become payable, the amount thereof may 
 be recovered by distraint and sale of the goods, chattels, aud efifects of the 
 delinquent ; and, in case of such distraint, it shall be the duty of the oflScer 
 charged with the collection to make, or cause to be made, an account of the 
 goods, chattels, or efifects which may be distrained, a copy of which, signed 
 by the officer making such distraint, shall be left with the owner or pos- 
 sessor of such goods, chattels, or eflTects, at his, her, or their dwelling, with 
 a note of the sum demanded, and the time and place of sale ; and said officer 
 shall forthwith cause a notification to be published in some newspaper, i f any 
 there be, within the county, and publicly posted up at the post office nearest 
 to the residence of the person whose property shall be distrained, or at the 
 court-house of the same county, if not more than ten miles distant, which 
 notice shall specify the articles distrained, and the time and place proposed for 
 the sale thereof, which time shall not be less than ten days from the date of
 
 220 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 such notification, and the place proposed for sale not more than five miles dis- 
 tant from the place of making such distraint : Provided, That in every case 
 of distraint for the payment of the duties aforesaid, the goods, chattels, of 
 effects so distrained may and shall be restored to the owner or possessor if, 
 prior to the sale thereof, payment or tender thereof shall be made to the 
 proper oflacer charged with the collection, of the full amount demanded, to 
 gether with such fee for levying and advertising, and such sum for the 
 necessary and reasonable expenses of removing and keeping the goods, 
 chattels, and effects so distrained as may be allowed in like cases by the laws 
 or practice of the State or Territory wherein the distraint shall have been 
 made ; but in case of non-payment or neglect to tender as aforesaid, the said 
 oflScer shall proceed to sell the said goods, chattels, and effecis at public auc- 
 tion, after due notice of the time and place of sale, and may and shall retain 
 from the proceeds of such sale the amount demandable lor the use of the 
 United States, with the said necessary and reasonable expenses of said dis- 
 traint and sale, as aforesaid, and a commission of five per centum thereon for 
 his own use ; rendering the overplus, if any there be, to the person whose 
 goods, chattels, and effects shall have been distrained. 
 
 Sec. 56. And he it further enacted, That every person licensed as afore- 
 said to distill spirituous liquors, or licensed as a brewer, shall, once in each 
 month, upon the request of the assessor or assistant assessor for the district in 
 which his business as a distiller or brewer may be carried on, respectively, 
 furnish the said assessor or assistant assessor with an abstract of the entries 
 upon his books, herein provided to be made, showing the amount of spirit- 
 uous liquor distilled and sold, or removed for consumption or sale, or of beer, 
 lager beer, ale, porter, or other fermented liquor made and sold, or removed 
 for consumption or sale, during the preceding month, respectively ; the truth 
 and correctness of which abstract shall be verified by the oath of the party so 
 furnishing the same. And the said assessor or assistant assessor shall have 
 the right to examine the books of such person for the purpose of ascertaining 
 the correctness of such abstract. And for any neglect to furnish such 
 abstract when requested, or refusal to furnish an examination of the books 
 as aforesaid, the person so neglecting shall forfeit the sum of five hundred 
 dollars. 
 
 A few days after the approval of tliis law (July 1st, 1862), 
 the import duty on brandy was increased by twenty-five cents 
 per gallon, and on all other spirits, fifty cents per gallon. The 
 duties on malt liquors were raised from fifteen to twenty cents 
 per gallon, when imported in casks, and from twenty-five to 
 thirty cents, when imported in bottles. By the act of March
 
 CHAPTER X. 221 
 
 3, 1863, tlie internal tax on fermented liquors was temporarily 
 reduced to sixty cents per barrel, that is to say, the tax was to 
 be at this rate from the date of the passage of that act to April 
 1, 1864, after which date the original tax of $1.00 per barrel 
 was to be revived. At this rate — it may be stated right here 
 — the tax upon malt liquors remains to this day. 
 
 No change in the rate of the internal tax on distilled spirits 
 was made until the year 1864, when two acts were passed,* 
 one rapidly following the other, successively increasing the 
 excise dut^^ to 60 cents, $1.50 and $2. The latter was to 
 take effect on the 1st of February, 1865, but this provision 
 was subsequently so amended as to make the rate take effect 
 a month earlier. It is worthy of note that after the date men- 
 tioned a discrimination in the rate of tax was made in favor 
 of brandy distilled from grapes, which shortly afterwards was 
 extended so as to include spirits distilled from apples and 
 peaches. 
 
 Every proposition to increase the tax on spirits brought 
 out repetitions of Sherman's assertion, that the laws would 
 inevitably be made the basis of dangerous speculation, unless 
 a tax be imposed upon stock on hand. Experience had even 
 then furnished ample proof of the truth of this statement, and 
 everything seemed to combine, to impress upon the minds of 
 members of Congress the necessity of profiting by the lessons 
 which this experience offered. If the effect of the various 
 laws, beginning with that of July 1st, 1862, be examined — a 
 task rendered very easy by the help of the masterly re- 
 ports of the Special Revenue Commission, of which D. A. 
 Wells was chairman — it will be found that Sherman's predic- 
 tion was more than verified. In the fiscal year 1862-63, under 
 the tax of twenty cents, imposed July 1st, 1862, the revenues 
 accruing from this source amounted to but $3,229,900. Hence^ 
 
 May 7tli and June SOtli, 18G4.
 
 222 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE UIOTED STATES. 
 
 the quantity of spirits on which taxes were paid during that 
 time did not come up to one-fifth of the quantity returned by the 
 census of 1860. Did so low a tax have the effect of restricting 
 consumption to so great an extent ? Surely not. The consump- 
 tion was undoubtedly diminished, as is shown by the official 
 reports of the revenue commission, but not to an extent at 
 all approaching the ratio above indicated. The fact is, produc- 
 tion had ceased to that extent, for the simple reason, foretold 
 by Sherman, that long before the passage of the law — its 
 enactment being then an almost absolute certainty — the dis- 
 tillers produced" spirits so largely in excess of immediate de- 
 mand, that during the time in question there was no need of 
 a larger production than the one stated above. The tables of 
 internal revenue receipts, reproduced in another part of this 
 book, demonstrate very plainly the sudden fluctuations in the 
 manufacture of this article, which cannot be explained other- 
 wise than Sherman had done in the second session of the 
 thirty-seventh Congress. 
 
 Anyone acquainted with the progress of the war, and the 
 condition of the Treasury, must have foreseen, at the beginning 
 of the fiscal year 1863-64, that an increase of taxes would 
 have to be effected ; as subsequent disclosures showed, dis- 
 tillers had as good an opportunity of knowing what Congress 
 would do in the matter, as any other class of manufacturers, 
 and they did not fail to improve their opportunities. 
 
 As soon as the first increase in the rate of tax had become 
 what might be called a moral certainty, distillation was re- 
 sumed with so much energy, that before the new law, 
 imposing a tax of sixty cents, went into operation, no less than 
 56,863,59.5 gallons of spirits were manufactured on which the 
 old tax of twent}'^ cents was paid. Under this and the new 
 tax — which latter, as has been shown, was more than trebled 
 within five months — the aggregate quantities of spirits returned 
 by the revenue officials amounted to 85,295,393 gallons. This
 
 CHAPTER X. 22S 
 
 effect of the instability of the rate of tax could have been 
 averted from the beginning, if the law-makers had acted on 
 Sherman's suggestion, but it seems that even then the influence 
 of what is popularly called the third House had more weight 
 than prudential considerations. The Special Revenue Com- 
 mission, appointed in 1865, made this statement in reference to 
 the operation of the law : * 
 
 ' ' The immediate effect of the enactment of the first three and successive 
 rates of duty was to cause an almost entire suspension of the business of 
 distilling, which was resumed again with great activity as soon as an 
 advance in the rate of tax in each instance became probable. The stock of 
 whiskey and high wines accumulated in the country under this course of 
 procedure was without precedent, and Congress, by its refusal to make the 
 advance in taxation, in any instance retroactive, virtually legislated for the 
 benefit of the distillers and speculators rather than for the Treasury and the 
 Government." 
 
 This was not, however, the worst feature of the law, for the 
 Treasury at least obtained revenue at the lower rate of tax on 
 which this sort of speculation was based. The worst feature by 
 far was the facility offered for an entire evasion of all taxes. 
 From the report already cited it appears, that the matter of 
 inspecting distilleries and spirits was frequently left entirely 
 to the " workmen or partners in the distilleries inspected." 
 The testimony of George Parnell, United States revenue 
 agent, was very pointed in this respect. He made the 
 statement, that distillers manufactured and fraudulentlv sold, 
 without the slightest pretense of concealment, spirits, in quan- 
 tities ranging from 20,000 to 80,000 gallons, without suspicion 
 on the part of the local officers, that the business was not con- 
 ducted in all respects legally and honestly. In answer to the 
 question whether, then, these frauds were due to the neglect 
 on the part of the Government officials, he literally stated : 
 
 " There never has been any oflScer appointed under the revenue act, 
 whose special duty it was to look after distilleries. The inspectors are paid 
 
 * House Ex. Doc. No. 60, Ist Session, 39th Congress, p. 19.
 
 224 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 in the shape of fees, by the distillers. The fees are generally very small. 
 In most cases all the inspectors ever thought of doing was, to go and inspect the 
 iiquors when the distillers sent for them." 
 
 From a mass of evidence, which would form a small 
 volume, the conclusion is inevitable that the law, as it then 
 stood, would not have enabled the Government to prevent 
 fraud, even if the conduct of the war had not detracted 
 attention from the details of this subject. It must not be sup- 
 posed that frauds upon the Government were committed by 
 distillers only ; the disposition to evade the tax extended to all 
 trades. It is to be regretted that the example of the U. S. 
 Brewers' Association, which was organized for the purpose of 
 protecting both the interests of its members and those of the 
 Government, found few, if any, imitators. 
 
 The appointment of the special revenue commission — under 
 authority of an act of Congress, approved March 3rd, 1865 — 
 and the subsequent creation of the office of Special Com- 
 missioner of the revenue, in 1866, signalized the beginning of 
 those attempts at a thorough revenue reform, which in later 
 years brought about the annihilation of a combination of 
 speculators, commonly known under the name of " whiskey 
 ring," and placed the Government in a position to prevent 
 and detect revenue frauds. A general outline of the modifica- 
 tions of the law, deemed necessary in order to make taxes on 
 spirits and fermented liquors more easily collectable and to 
 prevent frauds — is found in the following extract from the 
 report of the Special Revenue Commission of January, 
 1866:* 
 
 " Distilled spirits. — Of the various sources of revenue in- 
 cluded under the internal revenue, that of distilled spirits ranks 
 first in importance. The amount of revenue derived from this 
 
 * House Ex. Doc. No. 34, 1st Session, 39th Congress.
 
 CHAPTER X. 225 
 
 source for the several fiscal years during which the internal 
 revenue law has been in operation, is as follows: 
 
 1863 $3,229,990.79 
 
 1864 \ 28,431,797.83 
 
 1865 15,995,701.66 
 
 During the fiscal year 1863 the tax was uniformly twenty 
 cents per gallon. For the fiscal year 1864 the tax was twenty 
 cents until March 7th, after which it was sixty cents. From 
 July 1st, 1864, until January 1st, 1865, it was $1.50 per gal- 
 lon, and afterwards $2. Of the receipts from excise on distilled 
 spirits in the year 1865, $3,862,753, or nearly one-fourth of 
 the whole amount, was from spirits previously bonded, and 
 paying the former rates of twenty and sixty cents per gallon. 
 
 The average taxable production of distilled spirits per year, 
 from September 1st, 1862, to June 30th, 1865, as returned to 
 the department, was 40.537,371 gallons. 
 
 The amount of distilled spirits produced in the country 
 during the year 1860 was in excess of ninety millions of gal- 
 lons. The amount at present required to meet the consumption 
 of the country, under the influence of the high rate of taxation 
 imposed upon this article, is estimated by the commission as 
 from forty-two to forty-five millions of gallons ; and with the 
 continuance of the present rate of excise they have no reason 
 to believe that this amount will, for some years to come, be 
 either largely increased or diminished. 
 
 Of the amount at present required to supply the consump- 
 tion of the country, the commission estimate that probably 
 about 39,000,000 gallons are required for drinking purposes, 
 leaving from 3,000,000 to 6,000,000 gallons for industrial 
 uses. This estimate does not include the amount of spirits 
 exported, from which by reason of the drawback, no revenue 
 pccrues. The largest amount ever exported in any one year 
 has not, according to the ofiicial returns, exceeded 3,000,000 
 gallons. In regard to the rate of tax to be imposed upon 
 spirituous or distilled liquors, the commission are of the opinion 
 that the present rate of two dollars per gallon is in excess of 
 the proper revemie standard, and that a reduction will be for 
 the interests botli of the revenue and the country. They accord- 
 ingly recommend that the rate of tax on distilled spirits be
 
 226 LIQtrOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 reduced to one dollar per gallon. {The Commissioner after- 
 wards proposed a tax of 50 cents per gallon. With this rate of 
 duty, and with the consumption for industrial purposes (esti- 
 naated at not less than 10,000,000 gaWons) which must follow, 
 the commission are of the opinion that, making all allowances, 
 an average annual revenue of at least forty millions of dollars, 
 from this source may be collected. 
 
 But whatever may be the rate of tax agreed upon for the 
 future, it is clearly evident that a far more stringent and effect- 
 ive law than that which now exists is needed, if any fair pro- 
 portion of the amonnt which the Government has a right to 
 expect from this source is to be collected, and protection at the 
 same time extended to the honest distiller as against the 
 competition of his illicit competitor. 
 
 The commission, therefore, present, in connection with 
 their special report upon this subject, a draught of a new law,, 
 which they believe will be effectual for the prevention of fraud 
 and the securing of the revenue. This bill, which is neces- 
 sarily arbitrary and restrictive, does not, in some of its essential 
 features, meet the approval of a portion of the distilling 
 interest of the country, and their opposition to it may be fairly 
 expected. 
 
 The commission have, however, given a great amount of 
 time to the investigation of this subject, and have availed 
 themselves of the judgment of the most experienced revenue 
 officials, distillers and dealers, from various sections of the 
 country; and have also sought to acquaint themselves most 
 thoroughly with the manner in Avhich this subject is treated 
 for revenue in the various States of Europe. 
 
 The securing of a large revenue from distilled spirits in the 
 United States is absolutely necessary to insure the sucsessf ul 
 carrying out of any plan for simplifying the internal revenue 
 system, and relieving the general industry of the country from 
 a burden of taxation which must inevitably result in disaster. 
 No industrial interest in the country can better sustain the 
 burden of taxation than distilled spirits. The precedents of 
 all other countries are uniformly in favor of taxing spirits to 
 the maximum consistent with revenue ; and while any relaxa- 
 tion of the law, on the other hand, does not benefit the con- 
 sumer its strinijent enforcement with a regulation of the
 
 CHAPTER X. 227 
 
 business will not diminish the amount which appetite or 
 industrial necessity demands for consumption. If it be urged 
 that the bill as reported by the commission is too restrictive 
 and arbitrary in its character, destructive of small private in- 
 terests; and as imposiniy large additional restrictions and ex- 
 penses upon all engaged in the business, it may be replied 
 that the amount of good which must inevitably accrue to the 
 whole country by the course recommended — if the same will 
 insure an enforcement of the law and the collection of the 
 revenue — is sufficient to justify a disregard of the interests 
 of a comparatively small number of individuals. The com- 
 mission, therefore, express the hope that Congress will not 
 too readily listen to the appeals of those who are more 
 anxious to subserve their own interests than the interests of 
 the country. 
 
 Fermented liquors. — The next source of revenue to which 
 the commission ask attention is that derivable from fermented 
 liquors, which, like distilled spirits, are capable of sustaining, 
 without injury to the country, a heavy taxation. From this 
 source the following revenues have accrued for the fiscal years 
 1863, 1S64 and 1865; 
 
 1863 $1,558,083.41 
 
 1864 2,223,710.73 
 
 1865 3,657,181.06 
 
 From September 1862, to March 3, 1863, the tax was one 
 dollar per barrel — of not more than thirty-one gallons ; from 
 that date to April 1, 1864, sixty cents ; and since that time, 
 one dollar. The number of barrels upon which the tax was 
 received, as nearly as can be ascertained, was 1,765,827 in 1863 ; 
 3,459,119 in 1864; and 3,657,181 in 1865. 
 
 By the census of 1860 the number of breweries then exist- 
 ing in the United States was returned at 1,269, affording a 
 product of nearly four million barrels (3,812,346.) The com- 
 mission, after a careful review of this branch of industry, and 
 personal consultation with nearly every leading brewer of 
 both ale and lager beer in the United States, are of the opinion 
 that the number of barrels of beer produced and consumed in 
 the country during the fiscal year 1865 was nearly or quite 
 6,000,000, and that the annual increase of product at the pres-
 
 228 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ent time is about ten per cent, per annum, mainly of lager 
 beer. If this opinion be correct, it is apparent that the 
 Government received for the above year but little more than 
 sixty per cent, of its just dues from this source. 
 
 Upon the announcement of the ajypointment of this com- 
 mission in the spring of 1865^ the National Brewer i Asso- 
 ciation appointed a committee of three of their onost prominent 
 memhers, to visit Europe, and examine^ carefully and in de- 
 tail, the results of the working of the systems of taxation in 
 regard to ferm^ented liquors adopted in those countries of 
 Europe, where the demand for such liquors is more general 
 and extensive than in the United States. The report of that 
 committee,'^ comprising a great amount of information touch- 
 ing this industry, now so rapidly developing itself in the 
 United States^ has, hy vote of the Brewer^ Association, been 
 placed in the hands of the com.mission, and is now at the dis- 
 posal of Congress for publication if they deetn it expedient. 
 The commission believe that its p>ublication v^ould be of great 
 benefit to the breioing interest of the country, and, indirectly, 
 to the revenue ', and they therefm^e recommend it. 
 
 As the present rate of tax imposed upon fermented liquors, 
 viz : one dollar per barrel of thirty-one gallons, is in excess of 
 the rate imposed by any of the States of Europe (Austria ex- 
 cepted) ; and as the present rate, moreover, in the opinion of 
 the commission, after full consideration, is believed to be fully 
 up to the revenue standard ; and as such is all but unanimously 
 acquiesced in by the brewing interest of the country, they 
 would, therefore, recommend that the existing rate be neither 
 increased nor diminished. 
 
 The determination of the proper mode of collecting the tax 
 on fermented liquors, and preventing the large amount of 
 fraud which has heretofore, undoul)tedly, been committed in 
 regard to the same, has been to the commission a subject of no 
 little difficulty. By reference to their Special Report, (No 6.) 
 it will be seen that a tax on malt in this country is not prac- 
 ticable; neither is the plan, also investigated by the commis- 
 sion, of ganging and assessing the liquors, either in the 
 "coppers" during the process of maimfacture. or subsequently, 
 
 * See Proceedings 5th U. S. Brewers' Convention ; pp. 10-48.
 
 CHAPTER X. 229 
 
 while in the fermenting vats. Abandoning both of these 
 methods, therefore, they have, with the full concurrence and 
 assistance of the leading brewers of the country, devised a plan 
 for collecting the tax by means of a stamp, printed on insoluble 
 parchment paper, to be affixed to each barrel sold and removed 
 from the place of its manufacture, with a requirement that 
 the same be cancelled by the retailer or consumer 
 
 Specimens of the stamps assigned for this purpose have 
 been prepared for submission to Congress, while the full de- 
 tails of the plan are given in the special report referred to. 
 With the adoption of this system, and the retention of the 
 present rate of excise, the commission estimate that the 
 Government may rely upon an immediate annual revenue, 
 from fermented liquors, of at least five millions of dollars." 
 
 Not until the year 1868 — when, under the tax of two dollars 
 per gallon, the revenue from distilled spirits had decreased to a 
 figure indicating either an almost entire suspension of distilla- 
 tion or an unprecedented degree of fraudulent transactions — was 
 the law enacted ^ which Special Commissioner D. A. Wells 
 liad proposed. The system of collection, supervision and con- 
 trol then introduced, and subsequently perfected in many 
 particulars, is practically the same wiiich is in operation at 
 this day. It is the method which makes the internal duty 
 payable by means of stamps to be affixed to the packages con- 
 taining the spirits or fermented liquors, and which surrounds 
 the manufacture and sale of these articles with an effective, 
 though by no means oppressive, guard against infractions of 
 the law. The duty, now reduced from two dollars to fifty 
 ■cents per gallon, was thought to be low enough to do away 
 with the temptation to defraud the Government and to afford 
 the greatest possible guarantee of an easy collection of the 
 whole, or nearly the whole amount of taxes due to the Treasury. 
 This rate was, however, again changed a number of times (as 
 will be seen from the tables reproduced in the next chapter), 
 
 Act of July 20, 1868.
 
 230 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 but, in tlie main, not in such a manner as permanently tO' 
 defeat the objects of the law. 
 
 It was not so far, and is not now, deemed essential to enter 
 into the details of the system of drawbacks, of the regulations 
 relating to hydrometers and bonded ware-houses, although in 
 regard to the latter a great deal might be said concerning 
 practices on the part of distillers, which show little regard 
 for the interests of the Government. 
 
 No attempt will be made either to review the many laws 
 on the subject, passed since 1868, or to narrate the history of 
 the fraudulent schemes — yet fresh in the memory of the 
 reader — which were disclosed and punished, and whose re-- 
 currence was effectually guarded against under General Grant's 
 second Administration. For present purposes it is sufficient 
 to know the exact policy of the Government, or rather the 
 spirit of the laws and general results ; and as to the latter point 
 it must be clear to everybody that, in determining the legiti- 
 mate effects of internal taxes upon the manufacture and con- 
 sumption of fermented liquors and distilled spirits, we must 
 pass over the period of questionable speculations, of frauds and 
 fluctuations, and take into consideration only the period during 
 which the revenue laws were generally obeyed. This period 
 embraces at least eleven years, from 1874 to the present day.
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 EPITOME OF THE POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT AND THE SPIRIT OF 
 THE LAWS SINCE 1860. PREJUDICE AGAINST EXCISES COM- 
 PLETELY WIPED OUT, 80 FAR AS INTOXICANTS ARE CONCERNED. 
 
 WILLINGNESS OF DISTILLERS AND BREWERS TO BE TAXED. — 
 
 FAITHFUL ADHERENCE TO THE POLICY OF FAVORING MALT 
 
 LIQUORS FOR MORAL REASONS. UNIVERSAL DESIRE, FROM 
 
 THE BEGINNING OF OUR GOVERNMENT TO PRESENT DA.Y, TO 
 
 SUBSTITUTE MALT LIQUORS FOR ARDENT SPIRITS. HAMILTON'S 
 
 AIMS REALIZED. THE OPERATION OF THE REVENUE LAWS 
 
 DURING THE FIRST TEN YEARS OF THEIR EXISTENCE. EFFECT 
 
 OF SPECULATION AND FRAUDS. — MODIFICATIONS OF LAWS 
 WITH A VIEW TO PREVENTION OF BOTH. — BRIEF REVIEW OF 
 
 EXTERNAL TAXATION ON INTOXICANTS SINCE 1860. RESULTS 
 
 OF INTERNAL TAXATION SINCE 1874. MARVELOUS GROWTH 
 
 OF BREWING INDUSTRY, CONSUMPTION OF ARDENT SPIRITS 
 DECREASED BY OVER FIFTY PER CENT ; THE OBJECTS OP 
 
 THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT REALIZED. THE PEOPLE OF THE 
 
 UNITED STATES AMONG THE FIRST OF TEMPERATE NATIONS ; 
 THEIR PRESENT POLICY ADOPTED BY EUROPEAN GOVERN- 
 MENTS, AND SUSTAINED BY SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS. 
 
 WHAT IS NEEDED TO PERPETUATE AND MULTIPLY THE FRUITS 
 OF WISE LAWS. REVENUE TABLES. 
 
 The policy of the Government in regard to the internal 
 taxing of ardent liquors is to-day precisely what it was when 
 the Revenue Commission formulated it in these words : '' In 
 respect to distilled spirits, the commission, taking as their 
 guide the history of past congressional legislation, and what 
 seems to be the general public sentiment of the country, 
 assume in the outset, that it is to be the future policy of the 
 Government to impose upon these articles the maximum tax 
 which they can bear, without too largely encouraging attempts 
 at evasion of payment by the smuggler, the illicit distiller, 
 and the retailer." This was the policy of the Government
 
 232 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 when the entire system of internal taxation, as created bj the^ 
 law of July 1, 1862, was necessarily resjarded as simply a war 
 measure ; it remained the policy when, after the re-establish- 
 ment of peace, the gradual reduction and final abolishment ot 
 all other internal taxes — those upon tobacco excepted — was 
 initiated ; and it is the policy to-day when the system embraces 
 but one other article besides ardent and fermented liquors. 
 In determining the maximum tax, conformably to the sense 
 of the foregoing quotation, that is to say, in endeavoring to 
 fix the highest collectable excise on spirits, Congress erred re- 
 peatedly, and, considering the imperfections of human nature, 
 it will surely not be regarded as a matter of surprise that 
 some persons, who were in a position to derive pecuniary ad- 
 vantage from such legislative errors, did not hesitate to profit 
 by them. Nor is it to be wondered at that frauds became the' 
 rule, when the tax on spirits rose to a sum amounting to 1,000 
 per cent, on the prime cost of the article. 
 
 When the proper level was found for the tax, and when 
 Congress ceased directly or indirectly to aid the nefarious 
 schemes of greedy speculators, we find on the part of all,, 
 or very nearly all, distillers a cheerful compliance with the 
 law or, in other words, an unreserved endorsement of the 
 policy of the Government. No objection was ever urged 
 by them against the principle of excises in their particular 
 case. They undoubtedly knew of the prejudice against 
 this system of taxation and were aware of the role it 
 played in the political and economic history of the country ; 
 but they did not themselves entertain it, and flir from 
 endeavoring to profit by whatever force this prejudice may 
 have possessed in their time, or may still possess, they have, 
 on the contrary, signified their preference for a retention of 
 the tax. Public sentiment certainly sustains them in this. 
 When the final abolishment of internal taxes on all other 
 articles and trades had become inevitable, by reason of a super-
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 233 
 
 abundance of revenue, no serious effort was made to reduce the 
 excise on spirits below the rate which experience had demon- 
 strated to be the maximum collectable tax ; and whenever such 
 a reduction was proposed, it invariably emanated from quarters 
 which left it doubtful, whether repugnance to an excise or the 
 desire to retain the protective system of taxation prompted tlie 
 proposition. At all events it can safely be asserted— proof 
 being easily accessible— that those who have to bear the tax 
 in question and all the inconveniences that are said to grow out 
 of its alleged obnoxious features, are perfectly satisfied with 
 their present status, and that whatever commiseration may be 
 felt for them by those theorists, who regard excises as tyran- 
 ical, is just so much sympathy wasted. Any party now 
 wishing to make a political issue of this question, would have 
 to build up a new foundation for it, for, excepting the dissat- 
 isfaction still expressed sometimes on account of the number of 
 officers required by a system of excises, there would not even 
 be a shadow of reasonableness in recurring to the objections of 
 old. The subject of an excise on spirits in its relation to the 
 condition of the Treasury may, of course, be made an issue ; 
 in that case, however, the question would not be, whether the 
 tax "infringes upon inalienable rights," but, whether the 
 copious flow of revenues shall be stayed at the expense of Pro- 
 tection or at the expense both of an economic principle and of 
 a moral idea, viz : the principle of imposing the heaviest tax- 
 burden upon an article of luxury best able to bear it, and the 
 moral idea of diminishing the use of ardent spirits by means 
 of a tax. The willingness to bear internal taxes is not confined 
 to distillers, the manufacturers of fermented beverages being 
 no less disposed to contribute their share. In fact, as we have 
 seen, the brewers went so far as to suggest to the Govern- 
 ment the most practicable and profitable method of collecting 
 taxes on malt liquors, and of avoiding evasions of tax pay- 
 ments. They fully appreciate the fact, that a system of taxation
 
 234: LIQUOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 which properly discriminates between fermented and distilled 
 liquors, must greatly benefit their industry. 
 
 So far as fermented liquors are concerned, the spirit of the 
 laws enacted since the outbreak of the civil war, indicates no 
 departure from the policy enunciated by Hamilton, and acted 
 upon by nearly every Congress since the adoption of the Con- 
 stitution. It is the policy of favormg and furthering grape- 
 culture and the manufacture of malt liquors, with the aim of 
 substituting the products of the vineyard and the brewery 
 for ardent spirits. The Congressional speeches quoted in the 
 preceding chapter show very plainly that the great diiference 
 between the tax on spirits and that on malt liquors was 
 universally regarded as a means by which temperate drinking 
 habits could be produced ; and in their report of January, 
 1866, the Eevenue Commission reiterated this policy, when they 
 endorsed the statement, that the oljject of a true temperance 
 agitation must be the substitution of mild beverages for ardent 
 drinks. There was sufficient evidence even then that, under 
 normal conditions, such an object could be attained by a reason- 
 able excise system. 
 
 It was observed that the consumption of beer increased to 
 a very remarkable extent, as soon as the tax on whiskey was 
 raised above sixty cents per gallon. From 1864 to 1866 this 
 increase amounted to 89,652,000 gallons. To be more explicit, 
 in 1864 taxes were paid on 68,913,000 gallons, while in 1866 
 the Government collected duties on 158,565,000 gallons. In 
 the absence of malt liquors, a still greater part of the demand for 
 stimulants would undoubtedly have been supphed by stealth. 
 As it was, the country fortunately possessed a brewing industry 
 capable of a sudden and very great expansion, and of furnishing 
 to the poorer parts of the population a healthy substitute for 
 the stimulants which they had used before, but which were 
 now placed beyond their means by reason of a high tax. The 
 investigation conducted by the revenue commission in 1865-66,
 
 CHAPTER XI. 235 
 
 though it was much hampered by contradictory testimony, 
 justified the conclusion, that the cause of the reduction in the 
 production of distilled spirits in the United States in 1865, as 
 compared with that in 1860, was the diminished demand for 
 spirits for drinking purposes, and that " by far the largest pro- 
 portion of the reduction in the consumption of spirits for such 
 purposes has been on the part of the working or poor classes of 
 our population, and has been very considerable/'* It need not 
 be said that the object here and elsewhere always has been, to 
 make beer and wine so much cheaper than wliiskey, that the 
 very classes mentioned in the commission's report would find 
 in the diflference of price a sufficient inducement to discontinue 
 the use of the latter and adopt that of the former beverage. 
 According to the very best statistical authorities the excellent 
 jiquor laws of Sweden, frequently cited as model temperance 
 measures, failed, until very recently, to diminish the consump- 
 tion of ardent spirits,f partly because the introduction of malt 
 liquors encountered obstacles which prevented a general use 
 of these beverages. In a number of official and semi-official 
 reports it is stated that in Holland and Belgium practical ex- 
 periments have convinced the governments, that legislation 
 directed against the abuse of ardent spirits cannot operate suc- 
 cessfully unless supplemented by measures which enable the 
 working classes to obtain milder stimulants at less expense 
 than ardent spirits.:}: As compared with Sweden, the United 
 States have the additional advantages of a favorable climate 
 and of a very much superior condition of the workingmen — 
 advantages to which great weight is due from a temperance 
 point of view, 
 
 * House Ex. Doc. No. 62, 1st Session, 39tli Congress; p. 11. 
 
 f The case of Sweden must be judged from a cosmic point of view, in 
 order to understand fully the many difficulties which must be overcome in 
 combating intemperance in that cold climate. 
 
 :{: " Real and Imaginary Effects of Intemperance," p. 15.
 
 236 LIQUOB LAWS OF THE rNTTED STATES. 
 
 For reasons already stated it is not contemplated to hazard 
 any deductions from available material as to the consumption 
 of ardent liquors in the period during which, by reason of the. 
 defectiveness of the laws, the inefficiency of the revenue ser- 
 vice, and the influence of a powerful ring of speculators and 
 politicians, the Government was defrauded of a great part of 
 the revenue from this source. Making due allowance for 
 these extensive frauds, it cannot be doubted that the consump- 
 tion decreased considerably during that time. It is clearly 
 shown in the reports before mentioned, that after the high tax 
 had enhanced the price of spirits, the use of this article in a 
 great number and variety of manufactures was discontinued. 
 No less than twenty million gallons of proof spirits were 
 used, in 1 860, in the preparation of hiirning jluid alone. After 
 1862 the production of this illuminating agent ceased almost 
 entirely and was replaced by petroleum.f Among the in- 
 dustries, in which the use of alcohol was very great before, and 
 became considerably diminished or ceased entirely after, the 
 imposition of the higher rate of excise taxes, the report men- 
 tions the manufacture of varnishes, hat stiffening, furniture 
 polish, perfumery, tinctures, patent medicines, imitation 
 wines, vinegar, transparent soaps, percussion caps and picture 
 frames. 
 
 Considered in connection with what was said conceming^ 
 the diminished demand of spirits for drinking purposes, these 
 statements might well serve as a basis for general conclusions, 
 but there would always be justification for an objection on the 
 ground, that the extent of frauds committed in the period in 
 question invalidate any deductions having reference to the in- 
 fluence of the taxes upon the drinking habits of the people. 
 If, therefore, a wholly reliable conclusion is to be obtained, it 
 must be drawn from official data covering a period during 
 
 f House Ex. Doc. No. 62, 1st Session, 39th Congress; p. 7.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 23T 
 
 which the Government, under a perfected revenue system^ 
 .succeeded in fully enforcing the laws. Without fear of con- 
 tradiction it may be said that from 1874 to the present time 
 the Treasury received the tax on ninety-seven hundredths of the 
 total quantity of spirits distilled in the United States. The 
 stringency of the law and the keen vigilance of revenue officers 
 preclude the possibility of frauds on auything like a large 
 scale. Infractions of the law are confined to the petty 
 operations of so-called ^noonshiners, and even of this species 
 of illicit manufacture one hears but very rarely nowadays. 
 The period named is in every way suited, then, for a test of the 
 efficacy of the present policy as a promoter of temperate drink- 
 ing habits. 
 
 Before undertaking this very easy task, a few words 
 must be said about the tariff — only very few are necessary* 
 The prevailing policy — that of protecting domestic manu- 
 factures — necessarily found its proper application in the case 
 of distilled and fermented liquors, for it was universally 
 conceded, that to impose an internal tax on these articles, 
 without increasing to a reasonable extent the import duties 
 thereon, would be legislating in the interests of foreign grain- 
 producers and hop-growers to the detriment of domestic agri- 
 culture. Considered apart from its economic disadvantages, such, 
 legislation was moreover thought to be unwise for the reason, 
 that it would retard the growth of the domestic brewing in- 
 dustry, and thus militate against true temperance. Without 
 attempting an analysis of these views, and without venturing to 
 express an opinion as to whether fermented liquors, if untaxed 
 at home, would need any protection — the fact must be stated, 
 that no parallel could be found for a policy by virtue of which 
 a domestic industry would be taxed for the benefit of its 
 foreign competitor. Under existing circumstances, it will be 
 admitted, there is nothing economically pernicious in an import 
 duty on spirits and fermented liquors, so long as the internal 
 tax on these articles remains what it is at present.
 
 238 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The duties on ale, beer and porter, as we have seen, were 
 increased in 1862 to 30 cents per gallon, in bottles, and 25 
 cents per gallon, in casks ; in 18G-i the former rate was raised 
 to 35 cents. At these rates the duties continued in force up to 
 1883, when the duty on malt liquors, imported in casks, was 
 reduced to 20 cents per gallon. When the excise on spirits 
 was fixed successively at sixty cents, one dollar and fifty cents, 
 and two dollars, the import duty was increased to $2.50 per 
 gallon, at which rate it remained to 1870. In that year it 
 was reduced to $2, which rate in still in force. From 1864 to 
 1870 the duties on wines ranged, according to quality and 
 alcoholic strength, from twenty cents to one dollar per gallon, 
 in addition to an ad valorem duty of twenty-five per cent ; 
 sparkling wines paid from $3 to $6 per dozen bottles, according 
 to size of packages, in addition to two cents for each bottle. 
 In 1870 the specific duties on still wines were fixed at from 40 
 to 60 cents per gallon, in casks ; this was followed by a tax of 
 40 cents, which was superseded, in 1883, by a uniform impost 
 of 50 cents per gallon, in casks. Sparkling wines now pay 
 from $1.75 to $7 per dozen according to size of bottles. The 
 importation of wines containing more than twenty-four per 
 cent, of alcohol, is practically prohibited by a clause of the 
 law which prescribes the confiscation of all such liquors. 
 
 Now, as to the results of internal and external taxes upon 
 distilled and fermented liquors during the period named, a 
 mere glance at the tables appended to this chapter will suffice 
 to show that, in the matter of temperance, our country is now 
 in the enjoyment of the blessing for which, as we have proved, 
 nearly every American statesman of note, from the beginning 
 of our Government to the present day, has wished and M-^orked 
 — a blessing which the governments of Russia, Sweden, 
 France, Northern Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Nether- 
 lands are to-day striving to secure for their people — a blessing 
 embodying the realization of the hope which Madison
 
 CHAPTEK XI. 239 
 
 expressed, when, voicing the sentiments of all economists and 
 moralists of his time and of succeeding generations, he spoke in 
 favor of protecting malt liquors, to the end that " the brewing 
 industry may strike deep root in every State of the Union." 
 
 Consulting the tables appended to this chapter, it will be 
 found that from 1874 to 1884 the average annual consumption 
 of ardent spirits, for all purposes, amounted to 64,264,354: 
 gallons, being 25,735,646 gallons less than the people of the 
 Union consumed in 1860. Comparing this decrease in the 
 consumption with the increase in the population of the United 
 States during the twenty-four years which have elapsed since 
 the census of 1860 was taken — amounting to about seventy-five 
 per cent.* — it will be found that a most wonderful change of 
 drinking habits has been produced during the period men- 
 tioned. "With a view to placing this change before the 
 reader in the plainest possible manner, we will select the year 
 1883 and compare it with the year 1860 in the matter of con- 
 sumption of ardent and fermented liquors. In 1860 the total 
 consumption of ardent spirits amounted to 90,000,000 gallons, 
 in 1883 to 76,762,063 gallons; of the former quantity 25,000,- 
 000 gallons are assumed to have been used in the arts and 
 manufactures ; of the latter eighteen per cent, must be de- 
 ducted as representing the quantities used in the arts and 
 manufactures, lost by leakage and other causes, and the quan- 
 tity withdrawn from the " bonded warehouses " by reason of 
 the expiration of the bonded period allowed by law, f that is to 
 say, the quantity of spirits removed from the warehouses, 
 but not immediately brought to market.:}: The excess of im- 
 
 * Population in 1860, 31,443,331 ; in 1884, 55,000,000, arrived at by 
 approximation on the basis of tlie increase during the decade 1870-80. 
 
 •j- According to ofBcial reports the losses by leakage and theft, in 1883^ 
 amounted to 2,475,783 gallons. 
 
 I This is taken into account by every competent writer on the subject. 
 Hon. D. A. Wells, than whom no better authority can be cited on the ques- 
 tion of internal taxation, takes this ground in an article published in the
 
 240 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ports over exports in 1860 amounted to 2,011,230 gallons ; in 
 1883 the exportation exceeded the importation of spirits by 
 2,672,303 gallons, but of this no cognizance can be taken 
 here, as the quantity exported is not included in the total 
 number of gallons on which, according to our tables, taxes were 
 paid in the year 1883. The number of gallons imported — being 
 1,301,919 — must, however, be added to the total quantity 
 withdrawn from warehouses, minus 18 per cent. Thus we 
 obtain the following : 
 
 1860 : Population, 31,443,321, Spirits consumed as drink, 67,011,230 gallons. 
 1883 " 55,000,000, " " " 64,344,811 " 
 
 Per capita consumption in 1860, 2.13 gallons. 
 " 1883, 1.17 
 
 That these figures are not arrived at by computations based 
 on anything not strictly in harmony with official data, will 
 readily be admitted by every fair-minded reader. There may, 
 indeed, be differences of opinion as to the quantity of spirits 
 used for mechanical and other similar purposes, as this part of 
 the computation must of necessity be guess work more or less ; 
 yet, all in all, the above figures will be admitted to be more 
 favorable to an argument adverse to our premise than the 
 results arrived at by other authors — fully as competent as 
 the writer of this. Thus, to cite but one example, Hon. 
 D. A. Wells, whose knowledge of the subject is not surpassed 
 by that of any American economist, has this to say on the 
 jn'esent consumption of ardent spirits : * 
 
 * See the article already quoted: Princeton i2mew, March, 1884; p. 205. 
 
 Princeton Review of March, 1884. He there says : For the year 1883, with 
 an aggregate population of approximately 56,000,000, the number of gal- 
 Ions of proof -spirits of all kinds on which the internal -revenue tax was 
 paid was returned at 76,762,003 ; hut a considerable part of this product un- 
 doubtedly represented spirits which paid the tax and were taken out by neces- 
 sity, through the expiration of the permitted bonded period, and not by reason 
 of any coincident demand on the part of the public for consumption.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 241 
 
 " If we assume tlie present aunual consumption of domestic distilled 
 :spirits in the United States to be about 70,000,000 gallons, and about twelve 
 per cent., or 8,400,000 gallons, of this amount be used for industrial or 
 scientific purposes, or lost by leakage and other casualties, then the use 
 of domestic spirits for drink in this country must be at present at the rate 
 of about 1.10 gallons per capita annually for the entire population. To this 
 must also be added the consumption of foreign or imported spirits — the 
 amount of which, exclusive of wines, is not, however, very considerable, Itsss 
 than a million and a half of proof-gallons having been imported during the 
 fiscal year 1882-3. But adding this amount to the consumption of domestic 
 distilled spirits before assumed, the total consumption of spirits — wine, 
 cider, and fermented liquors excepted — by the population of the United 
 States, would therefore appear to be at present at the rate of about 1.14 
 gallons per capita." 
 
 It would seem, then; that the decrease in the per capita 
 consumption of ardent spirits in the United States during the 
 period in question amounts to nearly fiftj per cent. The 
 incalculable benefits of this change will be better appre- 
 ciated, if it be remembered that but half r century ago the 
 American people ranked among the first on the list of " hard- 
 drinking " nations, whereas to-day they stand very near the 
 foot of such list. The following table from the exhaustive 
 report of the Statistical Bureau of Switzerland ^ corroborates, 
 in its way, the latter assertion. 
 
 PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF SPTKITS. 
 
 liters. liters. 
 
 Norway 3.90 
 
 Great Britain and Ireland 5.37 
 
 Austria-Hungary 5. 76 
 
 France 7.28 
 
 Eussia 8.08 
 
 Sweden 8.14 
 
 German Tax Union 8. GO 
 
 Belgium 9.20 
 
 Switzerland 9.40 
 
 Netherlands 9.87 
 
 Denmark 18.90 
 
 The per capita consumption of spirits in this country 
 being, according to our computation, 1.17 gallons, equal to 4.42 
 
 * Zur Alcoholfrage &c., Bern, 1884, p. 622. Extracts from this public 
 •document will be translated and publislied in the forthcoming annual re- 
 .porl of the Publication Committee. U. S. Brewers' Association.
 
 242 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 liters, the United States would rank second in the above list, 
 i. e., below Norway and above Great Britain.* 
 
 To the mind of anyone acquainted with what might be called 
 the philosophy of the drink question, it must be evident that so 
 great a decrease in the consumption of spirits within so short 
 a time, would not, in itself, be evidence of an amelioration of 
 public and private morals. In order to be able to determine, 
 whether it may be taken as such evidence, one must know 
 what it is that has taken the place of the quantity of discarded 
 liquors. In Turkey, for instance, a diminution in the quantity 
 of spirits stealthily consumed would simply mean an increase 
 in the consumption of opium, and a corresponding augmenta- 
 tion of moral and physical ills. It is, in part, this apprehen- 
 sion of diverting man's inherent craving for stimulants from, 
 the use of a pernicious article to one still more pernicious, that 
 has prompted the policy of aiding the brewing industry and 
 fostering grape-culture simultaneously with the adoption of re- 
 strictive measures directed against ardent spirits. In no 
 civilized country has the wisdom of such a course been 
 more forcibly demonstrated than in the United States, and 
 Table C. gives ample proof of this. It shows that the 
 brewing industry of this country has grown, within twenty-one 
 years, at a rate for which the industrial history of the world 
 scarcely affords a parallel. From 62,205,375 gallons in 1863, 
 the production of malt liquors increased within the stated 
 period to 588,957,189 gallons — a growth which gives to the 
 United States the third place among beer-producing nations. 
 Let figures speak ! Adding the increase in the production 
 since June 30, 1884, the following comparative statement is 
 obtained, showing the actual production of malt liquors in round 
 numbers : 
 
 * The Swiss report estimates our per capita consumption of spirits as 
 drink at 4.79 litres — evidently an error, which arose from the fact that 
 losses, etc., were not taken into account.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 243 
 
 France 175.500 •■ Depn^ark JM^^^^^^^^^^ „ 
 
 b:Su^ '"-'r/f^^^^^^ " I ''^'^ '''''•''' " 
 
 The per capita consumption of malt liquors in our country 
 amounts to-day to very nearly eleven gallons. .Deductmg the 
 population of States and Territories, where beer is not commonly 
 used viz: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, 
 Maine, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Caro- 
 lina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington Terri- 
 torv, in all about 14,000,000, it will be found that the 
 consumption of malt liquors in the other States of the Umon 
 is about 151 gallons, very little less than the consumption ot 
 the same article in the German Tax Union, which is reported 
 as amounting to 65 liters. 
 
 As to the progress of domestic grape-culture and the pro- 
 duction of American wines since 1860, it is only necessary to 
 reproduce a few figures from the tables contained in our appen- 
 dix and from the report of the Commissioner of Agriculture, 
 to illustrate the readiness with which our people seize upon 
 a <rood thing. According to this authority the production of 
 gi^ape-wine amounted to 12,450,000 gallons in 1870, and to 
 30 000 000 gallons in 1880. In the former year the excess of 
 imports over exports was 9,056,192 gallons, making a total of 
 21,506,192 gallons, available for domestic consumption. In the 
 latter year the excess of imports over exports amounted to but 
 3,925,924 gallons, but this decrease was vastly overbalanced by 
 increased domestic production, the quantity on hand for home 
 consumption being 33,925,924 gallons. 
 
 In what manner and to what degree this revolution in the 
 drinking habits has ameliorated the physical and moral con- 
 dition of the American people, will be understood by every- 
 one who is at all acquainted with the effects of distilled and
 
 2-i-i LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 fermented liquors upon the mind and body of man.* A single 
 example may answer present purposes. Comparing Bavaria 
 with Denmark, in point of consumption of ardent and malt 
 liquors, and in the matter of insanity produced by drunkenness, 
 we obtain the following : 
 
 Consumption of Consumption of Percentage of insanity 
 
 spirits. malt liquors. produced by drink. 
 
 Bavaria : 4.31 liters. 262.00 liters. 2.55. 
 
 Denmark: 18.90 " 33.33 " 11. 
 
 Thus, it will be seen that the consumption of beer is over 
 seven times greater in Bavaria than in Denmark, whei-eas the 
 percentage of insanity produced by inebriety is five times less 
 in the former than in the latter country ; besides, it would 
 seem from a letter addressed to the writer by Dr. v. Ziemssen 
 — well-known to every medical practitioner as the editor of 
 the Cyclopedia of the Practice of Medicine — that even this 
 small percentage is due to the effects of spirituous liquors, the 
 use of which is confined to a small class of people given to 
 excesses of all kinds. 
 
 Not until physicians, philosophers and statisticians shall 
 jointly make this question a subject of thorough and systematic 
 research, can we hope to be made familiar with aU the advan- 
 tages which the individual and the community have reaped 
 from the policy pursued by the Government since the year 
 1862 ; but what is positively known at present is amply suffi- 
 cient to characterize this course as the only eflTective means by 
 which the evil results of a habit, as old as mankind, can be 
 reduced to a minimum. The substitution of malt liquors for 
 ardent spirits has been the desideratum of all patriotic states- 
 men from Washington's administration to our day. It has 
 
 * For information on this subject the reader is again referred to the 
 writer's statistical sketch : Real and Imaginary effects of Intemperance, 
 New York, 1884.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 245 
 
 been realized or, rather, is still being realized by the very means, 
 amplified to suit present conditions, which Hamilton proposed 
 eighty-five years ago — a means which is at present resorted 
 to by the Governments of all comitries where inebriety 
 prevails. 
 
 If proof of the efficacy of this temperance policy were lack- 
 ing in the United States, abundance of it could be obtained from 
 European countries. The oft-quoted report of the Statistical 
 Bureau of Switzerland, prepared by men trained in a school of 
 statesmanship, which is reputed for its thoroughness, com- 
 prises, on 634 pages, comparative treatises on the results of the 
 liquor laws of Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia, Denmark, the 
 Netherlands, Belgium, Prussia, Bavaria, Wurtemberg, Baden, 
 France, Great Britain, the United States and Austria. The 
 object of the investigation was, to ascertain by what legal 
 measures the vice of drunkenness can be mitigated in its 
 effects on society and on the individual. The results of this 
 investigation — based on the experiences of ten of the most 
 civilized countries — show that, in order to successfully combat 
 intemperance, governments must rely on the rational policy 
 which at present prevails in our country. The report states 
 (page 633) that the means to be employed against intemper- 
 ance must necessarily vary in accordance with the differences 
 of local views and the conditions of the various countries, but 
 that, generally speaking, the following measures are indispens- 
 able conditions of success, viz : " 1. suppression of technically 
 imperfect distillation ^^ 2. a system, of taxation and admin- 
 istration hy which the manufacture of and traffic in distilled 
 spirits can he controlled, and, if need he, restricted, and hy 
 which the collection of high duties on spirits is rendered 
 
 * This refers to rural distillation, which iu our country was nearly 
 wiped out by the internal tax — distillation being at present confined to an 
 inconaiderable number of very large establishments.
 
 246 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 feasible y 3. the reduction or abolition of taxes on wholesome 
 ieverages.''^ * 
 
 This is virtually the basis on which rests the celebrated 
 Swedish system, and the same course is being pursued in Bel- 
 gium and in the Netherlands. It is the policy of Germany and, 
 according to latest news,twill in a short time be that of Russia. 
 In France, the greatest grape-growing country of the world, 
 malt liquors bid fair to become a popular beverage — not, as 
 many believe, because literary Chauvins have succeeded in 
 making beer the scapegoat for the late French reverses, but be- 
 cause eminent scientists have discovered that the poor physical 
 condition of a large part of the French army, as manifested 
 during the memorable campaign of 1870, is attributable 
 to the excessive use of strong wines and of ardent spirits, 
 particularly of absynth and like dangerous drinks. They 
 therefore conceived the idea of rescuing their people from 
 physical degeneracy,, by advocating the introduction of malt 
 liquors. The celebrated Pasteur distinctly states in the pre- 
 face to his Studies on Beer, that he drew his inspirations from 
 the French-German war. These are his words : 
 
 " The idea of making these researches was inspired by our misfortune. 
 I began them immediately after the war of 1870, and pursued them with- 
 
 * As the above is not a literal translation, the original text is here 
 given so as to avoid even the semblance of unfair dealing : 
 
 "Im Allgemeinen durfen als absolute Erfordernisse des Erfolgs 
 bezeichnet werden : die Unterdriickung der technisch unvollkommeneu 
 Brennerei, die Wahl eines Steuer- und Verwaltungssystems, das die staat- 
 liche Ueberwachung, nothigenfalls auch die Beschrankung der Fabrikation 
 und des Kleinhandels und die Durchfiihrung strenger fiskalischer An- 
 spriiche an den Branntwein ermoglicht und die Entlastung der gesunden 
 Getranke zu verwirklichen gestattet. 
 
 f The Archivfilr russiche Brauerei, published at Moscow, under date of 
 January 1, 1885, states, that the Russian Government is about to issue 
 regulations facilitating the sale of malt liquors, reducing the taxes on these 
 articles, and rendering the license system more convenient to retailers of 
 beer.
 
 CHAPTER XL 247 
 
 out relaxation up to the present time, with a view of securing durable 
 progress, in our country, to an industry in which Germany is greatly superior 
 to us." 
 
 But why multiply illustrations of what is universally re- 
 garded as a self-evident fact ? Why cite European observa- 
 tions, when our own experiences are everywhere looked upon 
 as the best evidence that the temperance problem can be 
 solved, without recourse to any other measures than those 
 which the government of a free people is at liberty to resort 
 to in the legitimate exercise of the taxing power ? 
 
 In our country the complete ^ohxtion of the problem, which, 
 as Cobden claims, lies at the foundation of all social and 
 political reform, is now merely a question of time. Measuring 
 the future progress of temperance by the standard furnished 
 by the experiences of the past twenty -three years, there can 
 be no doubt, that within two decades the American people 
 will occupy the very lirst place among temperate nations. 
 Provided that the conditions, under which the astonishino' 
 decrease in the consumption of ardent spirits and the increase 
 in the use of fermented liquors has taken place, remain essen- 
 tially unchanged, the drinking habits of the people will be so 
 radically reformed for the better, that, at the end of the present 
 century, a relapse into the earlier condition of inebriety will 
 have become well-nigh impossible. There is, in fact, no other 
 solution of the problem than that which the present policy 
 of the Government offers — the same policy which prevailed 
 under Washington's Administration, and which, doubtless, 
 would liave been adhered to, had not prejudices, diplomatic 
 cabals, insurrectionary machinations, political opportunism 
 and economic fallacies combined to silence the strong moral 
 considerations urged in its favor. In whatever manner the 
 temperance question is to be decided, whether on social or 
 moral, on fiscal or economic grounds — this must be the policy, 
 for, judged from either or all of these points of view, its 
 efficacy admits of no doubt.
 
 248 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The admonition, then, which every friend of temperance 
 should address to the national law-makers is, " to let well- 
 enough alone." This is not saying that there is no room for 
 improvement in the details of the law, but simply, that the 
 principles which form the basis of our present regulation of 
 the liquor question should not be set aside — that, in fact, they 
 cannot be set aside, without hazarding the moral and social 
 welfare of the people. Within the range of legislative possi- 
 bilities there is nothing that could with advantage be substi- 
 tuted for our present system, and among the measures which 
 have so far been tried, here and elsewhere, not one could stand 
 the test of time and experience. 
 
 The experiments made in our country range from one ex- 
 treme to the other — from total non-interference to absolute 
 prohibition. The result of both was " free whiskey." In the 
 case of prohibition it is "free whiskey," to the exclusion of 
 malt liquors, and for this reason the policy of protection and 
 non-interference, to which, at the dictation of the rural popula- 
 tion, the National Government adhered during half a century, 
 would be preferable, on temperance grounds, to the realization 
 of the Maine idea. Under the former policy it was at least 
 possible for men of moderate drinking habits to remain tem- 
 perate, whereas Prohibition, by destroying the brewing indus- 
 try, subjects even those persons who, by force of habit and 
 taste, incline to the use of fermented drinks, to a far greater 
 danger of abuse, by driving them to the consumption of dis- 
 tilled liquors. 
 
 The proper policy, as we have seen, lies midway between 
 these two extremes. Viewed in the light of our past ex- 
 periences, any attempt to change this policy must be regarded 
 as a crime against the moral and physical welfare of the 
 American people.
 
 REVENUE TABLES. 
 
 249 
 
 TABLE A.* 
 
 STATEMENT showing the TOTAL INTERNAL REVENUE RE- 
 CEIPT8 from SPIRITS distiUed from whatever materials at the 
 SEVERAL DIFFERENT KATES or TAX, together with the QUAN- 
 TITIES of the same on which the tax icas paid, and the AVERAGE 
 RATE of TAX per GALLON on the AGGREGATE QUANTITIES 
 taxed each year, by fiscal years, from September 1 , 1862. to June 30, 1884. 
 
 Fiscal years 
 ended June 30. 
 
 1863. 
 1864. 
 
 1866.. 
 
 1867. 
 1868. 
 
 1869. 
 
 1670. 
 1871. 
 1873. 
 
 1873. 
 
 1874. 
 
 1875. 
 
 1876. 
 
 1877. 
 1878. 
 
 1879. 
 
 1880. 
 1881. 
 
 1884 
 
 Total.... 
 
 $0 20 
 20 
 60 
 20 
 25 
 50 
 60 
 
 1 50 
 
 2 ro 
 
 50 
 
 1 50 
 
 2 00 
 
 1 00 
 
 2 00 
 
 1 00 
 
 2 00 
 50 
 60 
 
 2 00 
 
 '"'so 
 
 50 
 50 
 50 
 70 
 70 
 70 
 90 
 70 
 90 
 70 
 90 
 70 
 90 
 50 
 70 
 90 
 70 
 90 
 70 
 90 
 70 
 90 
 90 
 90 
 
 Aggregate 
 
 collections at 
 
 each rate. 
 
 » ^ Aggregate ' Aggregate 
 
 nna^tmtfps at '■ collectioHB for quautities for 
 
 ^^^h -oft ' each fiscal , each fiscal 
 
 each rate. | 
 
 $3,229,990 79 
 
 11,372,719 13 
 
 17,059,078 70 
 
 965,705 16 
 
 7,565 41 
 
 2,980 78 
 
 2,897,115 50 
 
 7,281,187 14 
 
 4,853,153 00 
 
 44,740 70 
 
 2.38,759 14 
 
 29,198.578 15 
 
 13,069 .56 
 
 29,151,339 78 
 
 1.58.885 62 
 
 14,131,845 36 
 
 18,787,891 70 
 
 14,630 370 60 
 
 265,366 11 
 
 51,695 27 
 
 39,!M5,099 04 
 
 31,157..314 15 
 
 33,117,788 99 
 
 7,516,8.35 35 
 
 35,614.229 43 
 
 43,807,093 70 
 
 38,8t)8,8;38 76 
 
 8,009,099 34 
 
 2,873,264 46 
 
 48,517,225 97 
 
 62,159 (i9 
 
 52,609,132 25 
 
 25,328 53 
 
 45,601,204 53 
 
 15,502 27 
 
 2,767 a3 
 
 47,691,194 94 
 
 190 84 
 
 55,918,928 34 
 
 1,251 58 
 
 62,212,875 98 
 
 2 17 
 
 64,778,754 80 
 
 69,085,856 73 
 
 71,655,211 33 
 
 Oallons. 
 
 16,149,954 
 
 56,863,595 
 
 28,431,798 
 
 4,828,525 
 
 30,262 
 
 5,961 
 
 4.828,525 
 
 4,854.125 
 
 2,426,576 
 
 89.481 
 
 159,173 
 
 14,599.289 
 
 13,070 
 
 14,575.670 
 
 158,886 
 
 7,065,923 
 
 37,575,783 
 
 24,383.951 
 
 132,683 
 
 78,490,198 
 
 62.314,628 
 
 66,235,578 
 
 15,033,671 
 
 50,877,470 
 
 62,581,562 
 
 55,526,912 
 
 8,898,999 
 
 4,104,664 
 
 53,908.029 
 
 88,798 
 
 58,464,591 
 
 36,184 
 
 50,668,005 
 
 31,005 
 
 3,953 
 
 52,990,217 
 
 272 
 
 62,132,143 
 
 1,788 
 
 69,125,418 
 
 3 
 
 71,976,395 
 
 76,762,063 
 
 79.616,901 
 
 $912,729,187 20 ' 1,197,032,677 
 
 $3,229,900 79 
 28,431,797 83 
 
 16,007,706 99 
 
 29,482,077 99 
 
 !■ 29,164,409 34 
 \ 14,290,730 98 
 
 33,735,323 68 
 
 39,245,099 04 
 31,157,314 15 
 33,117,788 99 
 
 [ 43,131,064 78 
 
 43,807,093 70 
 
 I 46,877,938 10 
 
 |- 51,390,490 43 
 
 j- 52.671,291 34 
 
 [• 45,626,533 06 
 
 t 47,709,464 24 
 
 j- 55,919,119 18 
 i 62,214,127 56 
 
 !■ 64,778,756 97 
 
 69,085,856 73 
 71.655.211 33 
 
 Gallons. 
 16,149,954 
 
 85,395,393 
 
 16,973,974 
 
 14,847,943 
 
 14,588,740 
 7,224,809 
 
 62,092,417 
 
 78,490,198 
 62,314,628 
 66,235.578 
 
 65.911,141 
 
 62,581,562 
 
 64,425,911 
 
 58,512,693 
 
 58,043.389 
 
 50,704,189 
 
 53.025,175 
 
 62,132,415 
 69,127,206 
 
 71,976,398 
 
 76,762.063 
 79,616.901 
 
 $912,729,187 20 I 1,197,032,677 
 
 * From the report of the Commissioner of Revenue, 1884.
 
 250 
 
 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
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 REVENUE TABLES. 
 
 251 
 
 TABLE C* 
 
 STAIEMEWT showing the INTERNAL REVENUE RECEIPT f^ from FER- 
 MENTED LIQUORS at ONE DOLLAR per BARREL aial at SIXTY CENTS 
 per BARREL, together with the QUANTITIES of the game on which TAX was 
 PAID during each fiscal year, from September 1, 1863, to June 30, 1884. 
 
 Fiscal years ended 
 June 30. 
 
 Rates of tax at 
 
 which collections 
 
 were made. 
 
 Aggregate 
 
 collections at 
 
 each rate. 
 
 Aggregate 
 
 quantities 
 
 at each 
 
 rate. 
 
 Aggregate 
 
 collections for 
 
 each fiscal 
 
 year. 
 
 Aggregate quantities in 
 barrels and their equiva- 
 lents in gallons for each 
 fiscal year. 
 
 1863 "I 
 
 1864 "1 
 
 1865 
 
 $1 00 
 60 
 60 
 1 00 
 1 00 
 1 00 
 1 00 
 1 00 
 1 00 
 1 00 
 1 00 
 1 00 
 1 00 
 1 00 
 1 00 
 1 00 
 1 00 
 1 00 
 1 00 
 1 00 
 1 00 
 1 00 
 1 00 
 1 00 
 
 $885,271 88 
 672,811 53 
 1,376,491 12 
 847,228 61 
 3,657,181 06 
 5.115,140 49 
 5,819,345 49 
 5,685,663 70 
 5,866,400 98 
 6,081,520 54 
 7,159,740 20 
 8,009,969 72 
 8,910 823 83 
 8,880,839 68 
 8,743,744 62 
 9,159,675 95 
 9,074,305 93 
 9,473,360 70 
 10,270,352 83 
 12,346,077 26 
 13,2.37,700 63 
 15,680,678 54 
 16,426,0.50 11 
 17,573,722 88 
 
 Barrels. 
 
 885,272 
 1,121,353 
 2,294,152 
 847.229 
 3,657,181 
 5.115.140 
 6,207,402 
 6.146.663 
 6,312,0-5 
 6,574,617 
 7,740,260 
 8,6.59.427 
 9,633,323 
 9,600,897 
 9,452,697 
 9,902,352 
 9,810,060 
 10,241,471 
 11,103,084 
 13,347,111 
 14,311,028 
 16,9.52,085 
 17,757,892 
 18,998,619 
 
 |- $1,558,083 41 
 
 !• 2,223,719 73 
 
 3,657,181 06 
 5,115,140 49 
 5.819,345 49 
 5,685,663 70 
 5,866,400 98 
 6.081,520 51 
 7,159,740 20 
 8.009.969 72 
 8,910,823 83 
 8,880,829 68 
 8,743,744 62 
 9,159,675 95 
 9,074,305 93 
 9,473,360 70 
 10.270,352 83 
 12,346,077 26 
 13,237,700 63 
 15,680,678 54 
 16,426,050 11 
 17,573,722 88 
 
 Barrels. 
 2,006,625 
 
 3,141,381 
 
 3,657,181 
 5,11.5,140 
 6,207,402 
 6,146,663 
 6,342,055 
 6,574,617 
 7,740,360 
 8,659.427 
 9,633,323 
 9,600,897 
 9,452,697 
 9,902,352 
 9,810,060 
 10,341.471 
 11.103,084 
 13,347,111 
 14,311,028 
 16,953,085 
 17,757,892 
 18,998,619 
 
 306.701,370 
 
 Gallons. 
 62,205.375 
 
 97,382,811 
 113,372,611 
 
 1866 
 
 158,569,340 
 
 1867 
 
 1868 
 
 193,439,463 
 190,546,553 
 
 1869 
 
 196,603,705 
 
 1870 
 
 203,813,127 
 
 1871 
 
 1872 
 
 239.948,060 
 268,442,337 
 
 1873 
 
 298,633,013 
 
 1874 
 
 1875 
 
 1876 
 
 1877 
 
 297,627,807 
 293 033,607 
 306,972,912 
 304,111,860 
 
 1878 
 
 317.485.601 
 
 1879 
 
 344,195,604 
 
 1880 
 
 413,760,441 
 
 1881 
 
 443,641,868 
 
 1882 
 
 525,514,635 
 
 1883 
 
 550,494,653 
 
 1884 
 
 588,957,189 
 
 Totol 
 
 $190,954,088 28 
 
 206,701,370 
 
 $190,954,088 28 
 
 6,407,742,470 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 STATEMENT showing the AMOUNT of INTERNAL REVENUE derived from 
 FERMENTED LIQUORS at ONE DOLLAR per BARREL and at SIXTY 
 CENTS per BARREL, tinder the ENACTMENTS IMPOSINO THOSE RATES, 
 the QUANTITIES on which the TAX was PAID, the DATE when EACH RATE 
 was IMPOSED and when it ENDED, and the LENGTH of TIME each rate was 
 in force, from Jidy 1, 1862, to June 30, 1884. 
 
 
 Rates 
 of tax 
 
 per 
 barrel. 
 
 Dates of Acts. 
 
 Length of 
 
 time rates 
 
 were In 
 
 force. 
 
 Aggregate 
 
 Aggregate 
 
 Articles, 
 
 ^^ftlJXx'l^-^-^tax. 
 
 collections, quantities 
 
 Ale, beer, lager beer, 
 porter, and other simi- 
 lar fermented liquors. 
 
 Ale, beer, lager beer, 
 porter, and other aimi- 
 far fermented liquors. 
 
 Ale, beer, lager beer, 
 porter, and other simi- 
 lar fermented liquors. 
 
 $1 00 
 
 60 
 
 1 00 
 
 July 1, 1862 
 Mar. 3, 1863 
 July 1,1862 
 
 Mar. 3, 1863 
 (Limiting to 
 Mar. 31,1864) 
 
 6 months 
 
 13 months 
 
 843 months 
 
 $885,271 88 
 
 2.049,302 65 
 
 188,019.513 75 
 
 Barrels. 
 
 885,272 
 
 3,415,504 
 202,400,594 
 
 Total 
 
 $190,954,088 28 
 
 206,701,370 
 
 From the report of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 1884.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 See Chapter IV. 
 
 The dispatches of the French ambassador Fauchet to his govern- 
 ment, which fell into the hands of the British by the capture of a French 
 privateer, and were transmitted to the British ambassador at Washington, 
 contained sufficient evidence to convict Randolph of complicity in the 
 movements mentioned. The following extracts from said dispatches 
 plainly show this. Fauchet wrote : 
 
 " The measures which prudence prescribes to me to take with respect 
 to my colleagues, have still presided in the digesting of the dispatches 
 signed by them, which treat of the insurrection of the western countries, 
 and of the repressive means adopted by the Government. I have allowed 
 them to be confined to the giving of a faithful, but naked recital of events. 
 The reflections therein contained scarcely exceed the conclusions easily 
 deducible from the character assumed by the public prints. I have 
 reserved myself to give you, as far as I am able, a key to the facts detailed 
 in our reports. When it comes in question to explain, either by conjectures 
 or by certain data, the secret views of a foreign government, it would be 
 imprudent to run the risk of indiscretions, and to give one's self up to men, 
 whose known partiality for that government, and similitude of passions 
 and interests with its chiefs, might lead to confidences, the issue of which 
 is incalculable. Besides, the precious confessions of Mr. Randolph alone 
 throw a satisfactory light upon every thing that comes to pass. These I 
 have not vet communicated to my colleagues. The motives already men- 
 tioned lead to this reserve, and still less permit me to open myself to them 
 at the present moment. I shall then endeavor. Citizen, to give you a clew 
 to all the measures, of which the common dispatches give you an account, 
 and to discover the true causes of the explosion, which it is obstinately 
 resolved to repress with {Treat means, although the state of things has no 
 longer any thing alarming. To confine the present crisis to the simple 
 question of the excise, is to reduce it far below its true scale ; it is indubit- 
 ably connected with a general explosion for some time prepared in the 
 public mind, but which this local and precipitate eruption will cause to 
 miscarry, or at least check for a long time. Ih order to see the real cause.
 
 APPENDIX. 253 
 
 in order to calculate tlie effect and the consequences, we must ascend to the 
 origin of the parties existing m the State, and retrace their progress." 
 *******»■» 
 When the riot had reached its height, in August, 1794, and prepara- 
 tions were being made to suppress the insurrection, Fauchet wrote : 
 
 "Scarce was the commotion known {i. e. the uprising in the West 
 during July and August, 1794) when the Secretary of State (Randolph) 
 came to my house. All his countenance was grief. He requested of me a 
 private conversation. ' It is all over,' he said to me : ' a civil war is about to 
 ravage our unhappy country. Four men, by their talents, their influence, 
 their energy, may save it. But, debtors of English merchants, they will 
 be deprived of their liberty if they take the smallest step. Could you lend 
 them instantaneous funds to shelter them from English persecution ! ' 
 This inquiry," the dispatch continued, " astonished me. It was impossible 
 for me to render a satisfactory answer. You knowing my want of power, 
 and my defect of pecuniary means, I shall withdraw myself from the affair 
 by some common-place remarks, and by throwing myself on the pure and 
 disinterested principles of the republic." 
 
 Eandolph himself was clearly among the four men who needed this 
 money to save their country. 
 
 ********* 
 
 Still later Fauchet wrote: 
 
 "It appears that these men, with others unknown to me, all having 
 without doubt Randolph at their head, were balancing to decide on their 
 party. Two or three days before the proclamation was published, and of 
 course before the Cabinet had resolved on its measures, Mr. Randolph 
 came to see me with an air of great eagerness, and made to me the over- 
 tures, of which I have given you an account in my No. 6. Thus, with some 
 thousands of dollars, the republic could have decided on civil war or peace ! 
 Thus the consciences of the pretended patriots of America have already 
 their price ! It is very true that the certainty of these conclusions, painful 
 to be drawn, will forever exist in our archives. What will be the old age 
 of this Government, if it is thus early decrepid? " 
 
 See Chapter V. — Wine op the Gkapk. 
 
 The proper wines of the grape, of the best qualities, are those produced 
 in various climates which are found in the United States, if reliance can be 
 placed upon the indications of temperature which I have ventured to 
 suggest. To the kinds of that liquor which have been mentioned, the 
 celebrated wine, called Tokay, may be added. It is produced near a place
 
 254 LIQUOK LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 of the same name, situated, in Hungary, in 49° north, in a temperature 
 approaching to that of Champagne, one of the best wine districts of France. 
 This situation may be considered as nearly corresponding with that of the 
 country around the common point of contact of Virginia, Maryland, and 
 Pennsylvania. The exquisite wines of the Cape of Good Hope, particularly 
 the red and white Coustantia, which are produced in 34° south, a position 
 deemed colder than the same latitude north, may be also added. The 
 Madeira produces there an excellent wine. 
 
 It has been understood, within a short time, that some enterprising 
 and well informed emigrants from Germany, after careful experiments, 
 have considered the temperature of the southwestern corner of Pennsylva- 
 nia as suitable for the production of the Bheniah and Moselle qualities of 
 wines. This fact contributes to support the opinion, that it will be safe to 
 count the degrees and minutes of common temperature in Europe and 
 North America, respectively, from Lisbon and St. Augustine or New 
 Orleans. 
 
 It appears by the returns, that about ninety-six quarter casks (a 
 quantity of good red wine worthy of notice) have been made by a few Swiss 
 settlers, from the Madeira and Cape of Good Hope grapes, on the river 
 Ohio, in about 39° north latitude, in the territory of Indiana. It is also 
 understood, that a good wine, really fit for table use, has been made in the 
 vicinity of Columbia, in South Carolina. Other experiments have been 
 made with various success. 
 
 The grape vine of several distinctly different species is indigenous in 
 the Unitea States, and is found in every degree of latitude, from the river 
 St. Croix to the Gulf of Mexico. It is, doubtless, from such original stocks, 
 in corresponding temperatures of Europe, that its several present excellent 
 wine grapes have been obtained by selection, choice of position, and soil 
 and cultivation. The skill of the wine maker, resulting from practice, and 
 improved by the relative arts, has curiously perfected the manufacture of 
 wine. This commodity rewards, by profit and pleasure, the skill and 
 exertion of its improvers. A striking difference, very interesting to the 
 United States, occurs in the charaters of certain great classes of foreign 
 wines, extensively used in this country, a statement and attempt to explain 
 which may contribute to improve the future operations of the wine makers 
 of the United States. 
 
 It has been constantly observed that, although the superior red and 
 white wines of France (the Burgundy, the finer clarets, the Champagne, 
 and the Sauterne) are proved by the hydrometer to be as strong as some, 
 and stronger than others, of the wines of Spain, Portugal, and their wine 
 islands, (the Sherry, the Pacharetta, the Lisbon, the Carcavella, the Madeira, 
 the TenerifEe, the Fayal, and the St. Michael's) yet the French wines can
 
 APPENDIX. 255 
 
 only be kept i)i bottles icell corked and sealed, while the latter are constantly 
 kept upo7i tap, in Jialf emptied casks. It is also observed, that, within a 
 few hours after the uncorking of a bottle of French wine, especially of any 
 of the superior qualities, it becomes sensibly bad, while these white wines 
 of Spain, Portugal, and their islands, remain good, and some of them even 
 improve in decanters, which by accident have remain long unstopped. This 
 difference is considered to be occasioned by the fact, that the spirit of the 
 French wine is its own natural and proper fermented spirit, while the 
 Portugese and Spanish wines have, in addition to ih.eiv fermented, luiusiOTis 
 of distilled spirits or brandy. The French wines, soon after their exposure 
 to the air, by the drawing of the cork, are believed to recommence fermen- 
 tation, and are quickly injured, having been before sufficiently and most 
 perfectly fermented ; while the distilled spirits in those wines of Spain and 
 Portugal prevents a similar recommencement of fermentation and its con- 
 sequent injuries. Distilled spirits have no sensible fermentation. 
 
 Believing in this cause of the difference between those two great classes 
 of wines, and deeply impressed with the importance of that difference, in 
 several views, I submitted the facts, in a guarded and informal, conference 
 with the President, Vice-Presidents, and several other learned and judicious 
 members of the American Philosophical Society, at one of our meetings, in a 
 manner which led to suggestions of the moment, from the gentlemen, 
 respectively, in order to attain a knowledge of the cause; and, after hearing 
 the whole, that which I have stated was also submitted to their considera- 
 tion, and was received with as much assent as the nature of a learned body 
 and of the subject rendered proper and necessary, on a new and informal 
 communication. This matter is introduced here as the foundation of a 
 suggestion, that, in the wine-making business of the United States, in 
 internal situations, where bottles may be costly or unattainable, a cautious 
 infusion of the barely necessary portion of homogeneous distilled spirits 
 (the purest and best brandy of the grape) will, probably, enable our citizens 
 to keep their wine as they keep those of Lisbon, Xeres, Madeira, Fayal, 
 and Teneriffe, in half empty casks and common decanters. Thus, not only 
 a great and universal economy in respect to bottles may be made, but the 
 practicability of keeping wines, in a condition fit for use, may be extended 
 to all situations, and to every storekeeper and family. Hitherto the manu- 
 facture of fermented liquors has been impeded, by the expense of bottles, 
 and often by the total want of them. 
 
 As the grape and its wines and essential salt (known under the name 
 of cream of tartar) are of very considerable importance to our interior 
 country, which must receive foreign wines at costs and charges, which a 
 great majority of the people cannot sustain, and as wine has a high value 
 as an inducement from distilled spirits and as a medicine, besides the value
 
 ^56 LIQUOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 of tlie fresli and dry grape, it is a matter of real consequence in this state- 
 ment, that the success of the wine manufacture appears to be rendered 
 certain, by the variety and universality of native grapes, by a number of 
 successful esperiments, and by the correspondence of temperature between 
 parts of our country and the districts of the Tokay, the Champagne, the 
 Moselle, the Ehenish, and the Hock, the Burgundy, the various clarets of 
 Bordeaux, the Sauterne and the Grave, the Oporto, the Lisbon, and other 
 superior or estimable wines of the European continent, and those also of 
 the Cape of Good Hope. Extreme heat does not appear necessary or even 
 favorable to the happiest concoction of the juices of the grape, the orange, and 
 fruit in general. France, not less distinguished for its various and exquisite 
 fruits than any other country, has no point more southern than 42° 26^ 
 north latitude. In considering the character of Madeira and its wines, it 
 will be remembered that it is a small and elevated island, and similar con- 
 siderations, as to temperature, arise, in regard to the Constantia vineyards, 
 at the southern point of Africa, the Gape of Good Hope, which must greatly 
 partake of insular characteristics.
 
 
 Imports and Export 
 
 of Beer, 
 
 Ale and Porter, Spirits and Wi 
 
 es, into and from ttie United States during 
 
 he 
 
 years 1790 to 182Q inclusive. 
 
 
 1 s 
 
 .MPORTS. 
 
 
 ' 
 
 DOMESTIC EXPORTS. 
 
 L 
 
 
 =^.,.,^ 1 w,«« 
 
 
 
 ymtts. 
 
 
 
 
 
 IlKIB, ALB A 
 raltTBIL 
 
 
 ibdcri.. J oii,«. 
 
 BESR. AI.B, FOB- 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 f™.™. 
 
 on,.. 
 
 «.««», 
 
 0.K,. 
 
 rr^OM, 
 
 0...r. 
 
 Clto.. j O.IM..L 
 
 :i 
 
 
 0^,0... 
 
 B.™. I «.,«„. 
 
 o.,l.„. 
 
 0.,,.,. 
 
 o.«™ 
 
 0.,,^. 
 
 O- 
 
 - 1 °•"■■"•• 
 
 cw.™. 
 
 Oifloot. 
 
 («.o«. 
 
 D««. 
 
 OiUmi. 
 
 D—. 
 
 I 
 
 !S? 
 
 00.813 
 
 iDsloia 
 
 3i 
 
 iin 
 
 i-i"; 
 
 
 
 
 
 si^ 
 
 7cUea 
 
 i;^ 
 
 GOO 
 
 03.8S0 
 
 
 
 
 ijs; 
 
 1 
 
 403.SS3 
 880.540 
 300.777 
 93S,D08 
 
 
 '■| ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 uIt:''!;! 
 
 I'l-^ m', 
 
 
 
 ..... ,|;^ 
 
 ilow 
 Tiaoo 
 
 18,023 
 
 :::: 
 
 siiiua 
 
 1' 
 
 1603 
 
 i8oa 
 
 iua.sis 
 saoi^iD 
 
 .::. jjr 
 
 
 
 
 ...<S7I 
 
 S 
 
 i ,^f- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I'ii 
 
 
 T,:Si 
 
 !"° 
 
 iimi 
 
 ooioin 
 11,0811 
 
 ••:■ :r 
 
 
 
 
 ioIdso 
 
 
 m.im 
 
 110,0^ 
 108.070 
 
 6^700 
 48.dM 
 
 43,691 
 
 t5|30B 
 1,035 
 
 4T.370 
 
 ioo;4t»l 
 
 
 
 OoisBO 
 
 as! no 
 
 4^008 
 8,G04 
 
 lOJTM 
 3,flfll 
 10.310 
 1G.6I» 
 83,e7G 
 
 43.010 
 
 aa^7U7 
 lasissa 
 
 S00,OlH 
 
 11 
 
 
 iE 
 
 181,570 
 
 
 
 '"l 
 
 
 
 
 Is 
 
 G3,104 
 
 a08|423 
 
 aojoia 
 
 jsItso 
 
 840,'S5I 
 320.307 
 
 
 
 looisio 
 
 1II).0DD 
 73,000 
 M.U0.1 
 
 G;i01 
 
 'iJ;;,, 
 
 ;;,,,,;; 
 
 ■"'1 
 
 
 c
 
 Years ended Seplem 
 ber 30th. 
 
 
 1831 
 1833 
 1833 
 
 *1824 j 
 
 1825 
 1826 
 1827 
 1828 
 1829 
 1830 
 1831 
 1833 
 1833 
 1834 
 1835 
 1836 
 1837 
 1838 
 1839 
 1840 
 1841 
 1843 
 
 1 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 Imports and Ek 
 
 orts of Bfifir, Ale and Porter 
 
 Spirits 
 
 nd Wines Into 
 
 nd from the United Stales during the years 1821 to 
 
 842 inclusive. 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 IMPORTS. 
 
 fore.cn exports. 
 
 DOMESTIC EXPORTS. 
 
 1 
 
 POBTKB. 
 
 BPIBITS. 
 
 WIH8. 
 
 ■«'^;S/»" 
 
 ,v«ns. 
 
 
 SSUfc-S: 
 
 m 
 
 Him 
 
 F«-G«i«. 
 
 F™««b«ll.UH... 
 
 P,..0„,,,, ' B.»..b.,«.»U. 
 
 
 
 lIwIoiT 
 70.088 
 
 Lmto. 
 
 10^783 
 19,102 
 
 FromOnln. 
 
 y^caoiMi.. 
 
 (Wl«-. 
 
 Dc««. 
 
 n': 
 
 
 OdklDI- 
 
 i;a7D,'o8i 
 
 000,988 
 
 8;505;a38 
 
 
 
 
 
 ,,.».„. ; o.n.... 
 
 ».,b^ |o.«™,. 
 
 143,558 
 
 asslToi 
 
 103,800 
 
 SoUv*. 
 
 «130.S8I 
 124,140 
 89.01S 
 151,1U 
 
 840.701 
 
 loo^oas 
 
 10&,110 
 108,«0 
 
 8T.807 
 
 18«3 
 
 •1824 j 
 
 1828 
 1820 
 1880 
 
 184S 
 
 T2.*18 
 118.001 
 115,183 
 
 Moog 
 leiiu 
 
 IU,UM 
 
 »s,4oa 
 
 160.770 
 ISOisTO 
 
 |90,D.-S0 
 
 
 aosisM 
 a«i,ios 
 
 isaiaw 
 
 
 c
 
 Imports 
 
 *1843 
 1844 
 1845 
 1846 
 
 tl847] 
 
 1848 
 1849 
 1850 
 1851 
 1853 
 1853 
 1854 
 1855 
 1856 
 1857 
 1858 
 1859 
 1860 
 
 tl861 j 
 
 1862 
 1803 
 1864 
 1865 
 1866 
 1867 
 1868 
 
 BEER, ALE AND PORTER. 
 
 In Casks. 
 
 Gallons. Dollars 
 
 6,206 
 
 13,379 
 
 108,0()6 
 
 158,742 
 
 48,760 
 
 42,881 
 
 52,846 
 
 25,366 
 
 85,541 
 
 93,564 
 
 18,138 
 
 52,906 
 
 369,805 
 
 481,934 
 
 442,103 
 
 528,642 
 
 359.140 
 
 344,82(i 
 
 244,352 
 
 151,969 
 
 7,374 
 
 295,080 
 
 295,62:? 
 
 336,842 
 
 125,361 
 
 50,536 
 
 107,503 
 
 163,706 
 
 $2,981 
 6,749 
 96,598 
 152,146 
 45,335 
 17,092 
 32,463 
 16,110 
 63,921 
 41,046 
 8,841 
 20,933 
 134,117 
 194,7()5 
 190,554 
 221,290 
 146,095 
 138,224 
 102,509 
 61,576 
 3,532 
 198,883 
 221,850 
 261,672 
 61,672 
 20,89i 
 45,996 
 86,233 
 
 In Bottles. 
 Gallons. I Dollars. 
 
 Brandy. 
 
 68,492 
 117,996 
 
 109,724 
 119,262 
 179,825 
 132,503 
 264,028 
 361,877 
 486,541 
 759,676 
 798,183 
 752,229 
 927,042 
 734,223 
 1,037,393 
 1,003,593 
 560,228 
 12.622 
 
 209,947 
 529,691 
 
 577,837 
 711,976 
 
 Gallons. 
 
 $63,123 
 116,965 
 
 60,915 
 91,342 
 134,431 
 112,381 
 200,848 
 248,599 
 338,559 
 432,892 
 557,808 
 520,343 
 028,550 
 485,039 
 632,975 
 688,201 
 359,534 
 10,422 
 
 172,823 
 472,077 
 542,781 
 645,123 
 
 191,832 
 782,510 
 1,081,314 
 963,146 
 331,108 
 623,309 
 1,370,111 
 2,064,091 
 4,145.802 
 3,163,783 
 2,751,947 
 3,854,956 
 2,152,441 
 1,024,497 
 1,715,717 
 1,513,328 
 1,180,484 
 2,528,356 
 2,616,555 
 1,077,470 
 96,610 
 873,227 
 501,007 
 693,043 
 188,621 
 817,743 
 657,688 
 379,369 
 
 Dollars. 
 
 $106,267 
 606,633 
 819,540 
 839,229 
 355,451 
 575,631 
 1,135,089 
 1,347,514 
 2,659,537 
 2,128,679 
 1,792,968 
 3,251,408 
 2,255,397 
 1,479,362 
 2,859,342 
 2,527,262 
 2,232,452 
 3,262,058 
 3,938,041 
 1,728,209 
 131,220 
 549,345 
 743,727 
 915,946 
 253,619 
 981,010 
 959,563 
 590,986 
 
 Gallons. 
 
 2.' 
 4 
 6< 
 6 
 
 i: 
 3: 
 6' 
 
 7! 
 
 7! 
 
 9t 
 
 8t 
 1,0 
 1,1' 
 1,1! 
 l,5f 
 1,9. 
 2,1. 
 3,1- 
 2,8i 
 2,7( 
 
 i,i; 
 
 1,0( 
 6( 
 
 1- 
 
 6( 
 4 
 5: 
 
 * 9 Months. 
 
 + July 1 to Nov. 30, 1K4C). 
 
 t Act, 1857. Act, 18G1. 
 
 Dec. 1, 1846, to June 30, 1847 
 
 * Included in Beer, &c., in CaskB.
 
 Imports! and Exports of Beer, Ale and Porter; 
 
 u ^■ 
 
 j:t 
 
 Spirits and Wine, into and from the United States during the Years 1843 to i868 inclusive. 
 
 DOMESTIC EXPOB 
 
 
 -Jl__ig__^ 
 
 
 liriio 
 
 'isiri^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ""'■"*' 
 
 '■*•'"' 
 
 tl.lM I 1!,I07 «10, 
 
 ifooo I "Jm! 
 
 4.SM 
 
 ;c;l 
 
 »i'&6ai 
 
 u. 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 !%«70 
 
 
 «404 
 101.SOT 
 
 i 
 
 'F 
 
 'i 
 
 
 I 
 
 900.000 
 MO.40T 
 ie».4S3 
 
 o 
 
 # m 
 
 ( (
 
 o 
 
 Imports and Exports of Beei", Ale and Portep, Spirits and Wine, into and from the United States during the Years 1869 to 1883 inclusive. 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 
 PORE. ON EXPORTS. 
 
 DOMES 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 ^£f£"" 
 
 SPIRIT. Aim COMUl.. 
 
 W»1L 
 
 BKBH. ALB. rORTBK 
 
 .l.IBlT.«»De»BI.l»I* 
 
 wi™. 
 
 BUR. ALK AND PORTSK. 
 
 SPIRITS unTU.LBD, 
 
 WIRK. 
 
 lacukt. 
 
 Id BotUN. 
 
 I.C^h. ..B..,.., 
 
 » <,.!.. 
 
 l.B«™,» 
 
 IDCHA 1 lABolO™. 
 
 — 1 — 
 
 F,..0»1.. 1 F™.«.,.«» 
 
 FtimioEti«clIM«lili. 
 
 ™,.,» 
 
 IK«~ 
 
 o.n». 
 
 I»«^ 
 
 K^ 
 
 M^ 
 
 »■«•" 
 
 ».»« ■»»., 
 
 1»1,.„. 
 
 O.U». I«.l..»- 
 
 o^i™ 
 
 «1M«J7 
 
 DdUS. 
 
 Dolktf. G*lloi». 
 tiojrj 110 ISO 
 
 Dullan. DouD. 
 
 •Sil?7 
 
 111308 
 •MUSS 
 
 D.U.» 1 »«... Mb, «.„... 
 
 JS0BO8 
 1030 918 
 
 830 009 900 448 
 
 ODIOO 
 
 B^Un. 
 
 4S.030 
 
 D».U» 
 
 |i 
 
 1.D89.718 
 LIW.MS 
 
 2.167.851 
 
 ♦719.238 
 
 LOSS, 033 
 
 •U13.4S2 
 
 
 toi.sao 
 
 e.008,083 
 
 
 (2J160 303 
 
 ' 
 
 JJM 
 
 A^gS 
 
 ii ;°ms^ 
 
 »70,0M 
 
 4B.0I8 
 T3.0« 
 OU.Ml 
 
 $31,181 
 48!a02 
 
 4s.m 
 
 5(),808 
 0T'e09 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ne Cld«. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 m 
 
 c
 
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