The production of distilled spirits in the United States for the fiscal year ended 30 June 1917, was 286,085,464 gallons. Of this total, 57,651,834 gallons were whisky; 1,870,936 gallons, rum; 5,756,667 gallons, gin; 167,267 gallons, high wines ; 134,821,292 gallons, alcohol ; and 65,879,886 gallons neutral or co logne spirits. Fruit brandies amounted to 8, 251,097 gallons.
The total consumption for the year was 315, 374,562 gallons, of which 41,529,677 gallons were exported; 93,762,423 gallons were denatured; and 13,119,201 gallons lost by leakage.
During the year quoted there were 625 dis tilleries registered in the United States, but only 507 of them were operated. Of these, 198 worked on grain; 284 on fruit; and 25 on molasses.
California led all the other States in the production of brandy, her 148 active stills turn ing out 7,871,759 gallons-95 per cent of the output of the whole country. Ohio stood sec ond, with 160,133 gallons; followed by New Jersey, with 54,494 gallons; New York, with 39,019 gallons; and Kentucky, with 34,163 gal lons. In the production of spirits from grain, Illinois was first, with 79,320,206 gallons; fol lowed by Indiana, with 43,332,771 gallons; and Kentucky, with 36,407,615 gallons.
In the matter of materials used, no record of the fruit is available. Of grain, the largest item was corn, 33,973,268 bushels; of other grains the figures were: malt, 4,239,677 bush els; rye, 2,375,439 bushels; wheat, 2,538 bushels; all other grains, 78,902 bushels. Of molasses, the quantity used was 112,497,633 gallons. Of the whole product, 114,596,202 gallons were rectified.
The output of distilled spirits for the fiscal year 1914-15 was the lowest since 1909, as may be seen from the following figures: Gallons 1908-1909 139.891.613 1909-1910 163,893,960 1910-1911 183,355,527 1911-1912 187,571,808 1912-1913 193,606,258 1913-1914 181,919,542 1914-1915 140,656,103 1915-1916 253,283,273 1916-1917 286,085,464 In connection with these figures should be compared the following stocks on hand in the distilleries and bonded warehouses on the 30th of June of each of the years cited: Gallons 1911 249,279,347 1912 • 263,785,832 1913 276.784.540 1914 282,036.460 1915 253.668,341 1916 232,402,878 1917 194,832,683 These tabulated figures show the enormous increase in the distilling industry since the great war began. This is due in part to the large use of alcohol in the making of munitions, and the prodigious increase in exports, amounting to 2,500 per cent for 1917 over 1915.
The number of establishments in the United States in 1914 devoted exclusively to the manu facture of distilled liquors, as returned by the Special Census of Manufactures, was 434. They had an aggregate capital of $91,285,028. They employed 6,295 hands to whom they paid in the year the sum of $3,994,469 in wages. With the internal revenue and other taxes these concerns paid into the United States Treasury $147,261,065. The value of the product manu
factured was $206,778,708.
In addition to the large production of liquors of which we have record, however, there is no doubt that there are a number of illicit stills throughout the country that are annually pro ducing a considerable amount of distilled spirits that succeed in evading the government's tax, and, consequently, the government's record. These illicit distilleries, which owe their exist ence to the inherent repugnance of a certain class of grain growers to pay the heavy tax which the government imposes upon the maker of distilled liquors, are common throughout the sparsely settled regions of the country, more especially, perhaps, in the Southern States. In such sections these small distillers make and sell their product, irrespective of any claim that the government may have in the matter, and as a large proportion of the liquors that are made are consumed in the same neighborhood, it is impossible to obtain any record of them.
Although it is true that the government has succeeded in making the distilling industry one of the most trustworthy sources of national in come by the imposition of heavy taxes upon its production, those who are financially interested in the manufacture of liquors are advocating several reforms in legislation, all of which, they believe, will tend to aid the producer in furnish ing a wholesome and thoroughly matured bev erage at a much lower cost. They hold that the present legislation fails in what they claim should be its primary object —the promotion of the public health and welfare—by enforc ing a tax that is so high that its collection naturally tends to bring none but inferior grades of goods within reach of the masses, for the simple and very natural reason that the manu facturer, in order to meet the demands of so great an impost, will sometimes consent to lower the standard of his goods that he may save in a lower quality the amount which he must pay in meeting the tax. It is held by some that this factor is one of the direct reasons for the pro duction of cheap imitation liquors, which are made out of common spirits to be sold prac tically the same day they are made, whereas the honest maker of genuine whiskies must hold his goods for several years while they are attain ing that maturity that will enable him to place them on the market.
The history of the various combinations in which the American distillers have participated during the past 15 years is too long and too complicated a story to be told in so brief a space. Combinations have been formed and have failed, only to be superseded by others, none of which were without some influence in the progress and develoRment of this great American industry. See BREWING AND MALT ING; BREWING INDUSTRY; DISTILLATION.