per cent as compared with the previous year. Many other industries that are not exporting war supplies have fallen off from 25 to 50 per cent during the same period, so that the beer trade has stood the strain very well, especially in view of the fact that the beer business is mainly a city business! When it is recalled that immigration has fallen off 70 per cent, while large numbers of ablebodied wage-earners have gone back to Europe; that the building trades have been stagnant and no new construction work of any magnitude has been going on; that railroad development has ceased and improvements have been checked; that the import trade is demoralized, and that a large amount of capital invested in Mexico has been tied up for two years without any returns, the comparative stability in the beer consumption is really remarkable, and shows what a popular hold beer has in this country.

NATIONAL SECURITY

The European War has furnished pregnant proof of the interrelationship of all industries. There are no bounds to commerce, which in the long run is the greatest racial harmonizer. But the development and protection of our foreign commerce bring new and complex difficulties and responsibilities to the Government of the United States, while recent events have brought home to us the urgent need of increasing the facilities of the Nation for defensive purposes.

We believe that the United States is destined to play a most important part in the near future, in promoting peace and order in Mexico and in the progress of all the peoples of Central and South America. Our commerce with the Orient is as yet in its infancy, and we have hardly begun to realize the international importance of the Panama Canal. Altogether, therefore, it seems certain that the United States must be prepared for a much larger share in the Councils of the Nations than it has heretofore had, and must be ready to meet the grave responsibilities that this implies. We cannot exert "moral influence," without accepting the hazards of our convictions!

THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS

We have profound faith in the fairness, the sincerity and the

signal ability of President Wilson. While we are confident that he will avoid all entanglements which might possibly draw us unwillingly into the present European conflict, we know that the honor of the Nation is safe in his hands. But the President of the United States needs the support of a strong Congress and the time has come when the people of this country must sink all petty matters. in the large issues which confront us. We must send men to Congress who "think in Continents"; men capable of grasping large affairs, who will put the business of the nation before all other considerations; men of imagination and true perspective, who know what the powers and the limitations of government are, and who have the strength of will to keep within them. The attention of the people has been focused on fads and fancies, anti-movements of various kinds-such as the prohibition movement and the antisaloon and anti-tobacco leagues-and their minds are diverted from constructive measures, which spell progress and prosperity.

THE BEER TAX AND FEDERAL REVENUES

As you know, beer has been compelled to bear a war taxation out of all proportion to its relation to industry. The increased beer tax of 50 cents per barrel (making the present tax $1.50 per barrel) will expire by limitation December, 1915. When this extra tax was imposed, the brewers submitted to it with the feeling that there was an emergent need for it. The burden is, however, a grievous one, particularly in these hard times, and there should be no renewal of the extra tax until the Government has exhausted other means of obtaining the additional revenue. It would seem most fitting that the heaviest burden of taxation should be borne by those who are making millions out of the war-the arms and munitions manufacturers, the steel industry and the automobile manufacturersrather than by those whose business has suffered through the

war.

In comparison with other countries, the United States taxes beer very heavily, while there is no country in which such enormous license fees are imposed for the sale of alcoholic liquors at retail as those that now obtain generally throughout the non-prohibition

states. The soda fountains which dispense Coca-Cola and similar compounds (the consumption of which has become very great, and the use of which has been condemned by many medical authorities) pay no tax to the Federal Government or any license fee to the State or municipality. These commodities certainly come under the heading of luxuries which might properly be a subject of special taxation.

The brewing industry would bear these enormous burdens with more grace, if they were accompanied by any reasonable assurance of stability in the beer trade-or if the Government showed any disposition to compensate those men whose property is ruined by the enactment of prohibition. Throughout the entire European continent, it is the policy of the various governments to encourage the manufacture and sale of the milder alcoholic beverages by discriminating in their favor, in all the taxes upon alcoholic beverages, while the principle of compensation to distillers and tavern-keepers in case of the enactment of prohibitive measures is firmly established. The brewers are not only burdened with enormous taxation, but they are called upon to expend a large amount of money and energy in the defense of their business, upon which the Government leans so heavily for its maintenance and support! And yet Congress actually appropriated fifty thousand dollars to bring the international convention to Washington next year for the very purpose of preaching prohibition!

It had been expected, and indeed announced that at the last annual meeting of the Anti-Saloon League, which was held in Atlantic City last July, some practical plan would be brought forward to provide revenue for the country in the event of National Prohibition. But the League was so engrossed in its plans to raise two million dollars for its own purposes, that it did not even discuss the question of national revenue!

When it is recalled that the tax on alcoholic beverages has yielded three billion dollars to the Federal Government alone since the year 1900, that the annual liquor tax is more than enough to pay for the maintenance of our Army and Navy, and amounts to nearly half the entire revenue of the Federal Government-it will be seen that the matter is one of supreme national importance. The

question is one of alternatives, which must be taken into consideration whenever National Prohibition is seriously discussed. On whom then, could the added burden fall? Shall we quadruple the income tax and the tax on corporations? Shall we revive the stamp tax on checks and receipts, on bills-of-lading and all commercial documents; shall we tax railroad tickets, theatre tickets, bank deposits, life insurance policies, telegrams and telephone calls? Would it be feasible to tax all interstate transactions, and while we are amending the Constitution provide for a tax upon our exports? Whichever way one turns the problem suggests difficulties and complications that are almost insurmountable. Possibly the remedy might be found by a large reduction in the public service? For example, we spent fifty-one million dollars last year for rivers and harbors, and eighteen million dollars for the support of the agricultural department, while the expenditures for public health and for the administration of our territories and insular possessions is an item of some magnitude. If these Departments were abolished and the Federal Government restricted its operations to its legislative and judicial functions, we might still be able to pay for Pensions out of present revenues, even if the Army and Navy had to be abandoned. The issue is one which cannot be abated, if National Prohibition is anything more than an academic question, and the prohibitionists must face the responsibility for it, if they are honest with the people.

For nearly 60 years it has been the policy of our Government whenever it needed extra funds, to go to the brewer for the same, partly because of the facility with which an extra tax can be collected, and also apparently upon the theory that the brewer whose business is constantly threatened and therefore in public need of approval, would put up rather than risk public disapproval. To this attitude we reply: "We are a legitimate American industry, founded and developed on American enterprise, and as such we stand ready to do our full share to help the country that has helped us, and also to share in adversity with her, but-we are not willing to carry the other fellow's share also!"

BREWING SCHOLARSHIP.

The free seat in the United States Brewers' Academy (Anton

Schwartz, founder) for the term 1915-16, has been awarded to Mr. W. M. Ferguson, of Newark, New Jersey.

REPORT OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The members of this Association have kept up a continuous correspondence with the Advisory Committee in regard to their labels and we are constantly receiving inquiries as to the Pure Food Laws of the various States, and the laws relating to the amount of beer which may be shipped to individuals in "dry" territory. We are glad to be able to say that our members have shown an earnest desire to conform to the spirit and intent of the Federal Food and Drug Act, and have accepted our suggestions with absolute good faith.

The Department of Agriculture has extended until January 1, 1916, the privilege of using labels and cartoons printed prior to May 11, 1914, which do not state the quantity of the contents in terms of the largest unit, and which indicate an honest attempt to comply with the provisions of the law.

"NEAR BEER"

We are advised by the Bureau of Chemistry that no maximum percentage of alcohol which is permissible under the Food and Drugs Act in a beverage sold as "non-alcoholic" or "free from al