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This article represents a section of the classic public domain brewing text "American Handy Book of the Brewing, Malting, and Auxiliary Trades" by Robert Wahl and Max Henius.. See the main entry on this book for general information and a complete table of contents.

Beer in Dietetics and Economics

Purity of American beer.

What adulteration means.

The purity of American beer has been of late much under discussion, and charges of adulteration have been bandied about with great freedom.

Adulteration is defined in the Century Dictionary as "the act of adulterating, or corrupting by the admixture of foreign and baser elements, especially for fraudulent purposes; debasement." To adulterate, according to the same authority, is "to make impure by the admixture of other or baser ingredients; corrupt; render counterfeit."

With regard to an article of food or drink, adulteration consists in either or both of two things. One is to manufacture and sell an article that is not what it purports to be, but may still be harmless. The other is to sell an article, so misrepresented, that is injurious to the public health. From these two points of view adulteration is treated by the legislative authorities.

What beer was and is.

Applying these points of view to beer, one is met at the threshold of the inquiry by the difficulty, that there exists no standard definition of beer. From ancient times down to the present the popular beverage that passed by the name of "beer" has been undergoing so many changes that it is impossible to fix any determinate meaning for that term, from usage alone, with sufficient accuracy to draw the line between genuine beer and an adulterated article. In olden times it seems the beer of the Teutonic tribes was a sweet fermented beverage in which honey was a prominent constituent, while the Slavs seem to have employed hops from the earliest time, for the purpose of imparting a bitter aromatic taste and, as they imagined, giving the stimulating effect. During the latter part of the middle ages, hops began to be used in Germany. Later they found their way into England, but as late as the time of Henry VIII their use was forbidden.

As to the cereal base of the beverage, barley and wheat seem to have been the earliest grains used. Barley having been the grain almost universally used by Europeans in antiquity as the staple article of food, was also largely used in producing beer. When the art of baking bread began to become popular, to which barley does not lend itself readily, that cereal was crowded out by wheat and rye as a food, but continued to be largely employed in brewing beer, for which purpose, however, wheat and probably other starchy cereals were also employed. In modern times the variety of cereals used in the preparation of beer has been much increased, and in the United States Indian corn and rice have been quite generally introduced. As the true function of starch in beer-making came to be better understood, the process of conversion into sugar was anticipated and performed before the material reached the mash tub.

The idea that the only pure beer is an all-malt beer is thus seen to be false, both actually and historically.

Beer is a beverage produced by alcoholic fermentation from a hopped infusion, either of malted cereals, preferably malted barley, exclusively, or with an addition of unmalted or prepared cereals.

Report of the United States Senate committee on manufactures.

The actual properties and mode of preparation of American beer were made the subject of an inquiry by a committee appointed by the United States Senate, 1890-1900, called the Committee on Manufactures. The report made by this committee, of which Senator Mason of Illinois was chairman, summed up its conclusions as to American beer, as follows:

"One of the most important subjects under consideration has been that of the great American Brewing Industry. The committee has, through its agents, visited ninety-two breweries in nineteen cities and purchased nearly 400 samples of their products in open market, and, under the evidence of the government analytical chemists who analyzed said samples, we find but two samples of American beer, ale and porter containing preservatives.

"While the imported beers do not rank as high as American beers, a much larger per cent of the imported beer samples analyzed were found to contain preservatives.

"Two very important questions present themselves to the committee in consideration of beers.

"First, as to whether there be a national standard fixed for beers, fixing the minimum amount of malt extract to be contained in the beer product.

"Second, whether we should adopt in this country the law which prevails in some parts of the German Empire, which provides that beer should be made of barley, malt and hops exclusively, or whether the American brewer should be permitted to use in conjunction with malt and hops other cereals, such as corn and rice.

"The present methods pursued by the American brewer are the same as contained in the English law governing their brewing industries. As a rule, the American brewers make many different kinds of beer in the same brewery. The American taste for beer varies from that of other countries and the tastes in localities also vary. Some require a light beer, as more pleasant to the eye as well as taste, while others desire a much darker grade of beer.

"When the American brewer uses other cereals besides barley, it is used in an unmalted state—that is, corn or rice—which gives a lighter color to the beer. It has been charged in a general, unsubstantiated way, by either a witness or through a communication, that these cereals did not produce as healthy a beer as an all-malt beer. But the overwhelming and almost uncontradicted evidence is that the use of corn or rice, for the purposes as stated, is not in the least deleterious to public health, and while the practical brewers, maltsters, chemists and analytical experts, as well as medical experts, approve the use of the unmalted cereals for the purposes as stated, whenever interrogated on that point, no witness has stated before this committee why the use of corn or rice unmalted, or other unmalted cereals, ought not to be used as it is all over the world.

"Mr. Gladstone, speaking in the English Parliament upon this question, said:

"'The brewer will brew from what he pleases, and will have a perfect choice of his material and of his methods. I am of the opinion that it is of enormous advantage to the community to liberate an industry so large as this with regard to the choice of those materials.'

"The British parliamentary commission investigated this subject for four years, and the following is taken from their report, sustaining the bill which was passed upon the motion of Mr. Gladstone years before, which gave the free-malting privileges to brewers:

"'It cannot be admitted that the liquor made from malt, hops, yeast and water, only, has an exclusive right to the name of beer. or that the purchaser who demands beer demands an all-malt liquor. Sugar was intermittently permitted to be used in beer a century ago; for over fifty years its use has been continuously permitted by acts of Parliament, and eighteen years ago complete freedom in the use of all wholesome materials was deliberately granted to brewers by Parliament.'

"We also call attention to the following, taken from the English report:

"'The question as to the relative merits of different brewing materials cannot be unconditionally settled with the data at present available, but the balance of experience and authority inclines to the view that while an all-malt brewing from a blend of malt made from the best English and foreign barley is still the best for some descriptions of beer (pale bitter ale, for example), yet, for other descriptions, which constitute by far the larger proportion of the beer consumed, the medium or lower qualities of British barley-malt (and our barley-malt is not any better, that is, the average barley-malt), are improved as brewing materials by the addition of a moderate proportion of good brewing sugar, and this is especially the case when the barley from which the malt is made has been imperfectly ripened or harvested under unfavorable conditions.'

"The committee, then, is of the opinion that the present system in America is fairest and more nearly just to the manufacturer and consumer to permit the brewer to be the judge himself of what wholesome and healthy products he desires to be put into his beer; and the bill, which we will finally present to Congress, will prevent the use of any unwholesome preservatives or deleterious substances.

"Much public concern has been excited because it has been charged that the American brewer uses a large amount of salicylic or other acids to preserve the beers.

"The expert evidence before this committee is clear that a small amount of preservative is not dangerous, while the evidence and analysis of samples show that a very small amount of preservatives is used, and that by very few of the brewers, who use it in minutely small quantities to preserve bottled beer for export only. And the evidence is overwhelming that nearly every brewer and every bottler of beer in this country submits his bottled beer to the pasteurizing processes, which is simply submitting it to such an extreme heat in the bottle as to destroy germ life and prevent fermentation.

"The revenues derived from the great beer industry alone are $71,000,000, a double war tax. The value of money invested is $650,000,000, and the industry gives employment to 900,000 men.

"In the language of Mr. Gladstone, this committee feel that we should 'liberate as to choice of material and as to process of manufacturing an industry of so vast a scope as is this particular industry.'

"As to the other question, of fixing a standard of beer, ale and porter—that is, by fixing the minimum amount of alcohol, malt extract, etc.—every witness before this committee testified in favor of fixing said standard.

"Mr. Gallus Thomann, secretary of the United States Brewers' Association, favors such a law, as did every brewer and maltster who testified before this committee. And the committee is of the opinion that this may be done under the authority of the bureau that may be established in the Agricultural Department by Senate bill 2426.

"Whatever legislation may be passed should be national in its character. The brewing industry of this country has grown so extensively that the American brewers are selling their products not only in every state of the Union, but all over the world, and uniformity of standard, which is most desirable, can only be obtained by national legislation."

Analyses have also been made by state officials, all of which go to corroborate the conclusions of Senator Mason's committee, that American beer leaves nothing to be desired in point of purity, and will compare favorably with that produced in any other country.

A bill has been introduced in the United States Senate to create a chemical bureau in connection with the Department of Agriculture, which shall establish standards for articles of food and drink.

Report of British beer materials committee.

The most exhaustive inquiry into brewing materials was made by a British parliamentary committee, known as the Beer Materials Committee, which submitted its report in March, 1899. As this contains much that also applies to conditions in the United States, some of the important passages are here inserted:

In the introductory part this passage occurs:

"Broadly speaking, the main object of the transformations which the barley-grain — and the extract derived therefrom — undergo in the malt-house, the mash-tun, and the fermenting vessel is first to convert the starch of the grain into fermentable sugar, and next to convert the sugar in part into alcohol. At the same time certain by-products of the barley-grain, which do not undergo the same transformations, are carried along into the beer. Apart from such by-products the character of the finished article is not altered by the use of some other starchy grain alongside of malted barley, or by the addition to the wort of sugar more or less similar to the saccharine matter yielded by malt."

The malt adjuncts in use in breweries are classified as follows:

"Details as to the various ingredients at present used in the manufacture of beer will be found in the appendices. Those which are used as substitutes for, or adjuncts to, barley-malt may be roughly classified as

"l. Corn and kindred materials, e. g., unmalted barley, rice and maize rolled, cooked, or otherwise adapted for brewing by various mechanical and chemical processes.

"2. Sugar and kindred materials."

"Of these the most important are:

"(a) Invert sugar, i. e.. cape sugar treated by a process which renders it more easily fermentable.

"(b) Glucose, i. e., sugar prepared from starch by boiling with acid. The starches chiefly used for this purpose are those derived from sago and maize."

The general conclusions of the committee are laid down in these words:

"Passing from these preliminary observations to the questions expressly put before us, we have to report that, so far as we have been able to ascertain, no materials used in the manufacture of beer are deleterious, at all events in the quantities in which they are actually employed. We believe that the exceptions to this rule, if any, are so infrequent and unimportant that legislation is not required to deal with them. We refer, of course, to materials of normal quality—any materials (not least barley-malt) may be unwholesome if they are bad in quality."

The objections that have been urged against malt adjuncts are stated in this form:

"1. That these adjuncts, or some of them, are, or may be, positively injurious to health.

"2. That, even if they are not positively injurious, the beer made with any proportion of them is less nutritious and wholesome than all malt beer.

"3. That, apart from the question of wholesomeness, the consumer is entitled to know what he is getting; that the product of malt and substitutes is not the same in "nature, substance and quality" as the product of malt only; that beer means or ought to mean a liquor prepared from malt and hops only; and that, therefore, on the principles laid down by the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, the consumer is prejudiced if an adjunct beer is sold to him as beer without a declaration of the use of the adjuncts."

On the first point the committee begins by saying:

"In respect of injury to health no serious charge has been made against raw grain, or prepared grains other than barley, or brewing sugar made from cane sugar. As to glucose, however, there has been some conflict of evidence. The question is not, however, of great practical importance with regard to beer, for it appears that potato glucose is not now used in brewing in this country; and we are informed that, while it is more expensive than maize glucose, it has disadvantages (other than its alleged unwholesomeness) from a brewer's point of view.

"With regard to glucose made from sago, maize, etc., it is generally admitted that there has been great improvement in the process of manufacture in recent years; and we believe that all impurities that might be considered injurious to health are eliminated."

The dietetic value of malt and its adjuncts is discussed in this way:

"It is generally admitted that, in the present position of scientific knowledge, chemical analysis, by itself, is an imperfect test of the food value of any article of diet. We are thus thrown back on the aid of experience and common sense, but they do not yield any result possessing certainty and accuracy. But we may observe:

"(a) The amount of 'extract' (consisting of nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous organic substance, and ash) found by analysis in beer, and generally assumed to represent approximately the 'nutritive matter,' depends as much on the methods of malting, mashing, and fermenting as on the materials used, within the limits practically prevalent with regard to the proportions of the different materials.

"(b) The amount of organic extract in beer is, as a rule, small, and it is doubtful whether the dietetic value of beer (any more than the commercial value) varies at all directly with the amount of such extract which it contains. It is quite possible that a beer with a low proportion of organic extract may be more valuable as an article of diet, as well as more acceptable as a beverage, than a beer containing more extract, but inferior in flavor, brightness, soundness and digestive properties.

(c) Here follows the paragraph quoted on page 1106, beginning 'The question as to the relative merits. . . .'"

As to adulterations the committee says:

"The analogy which it as been attempted to draw between the case of beer and that of articles which are more nearly natural products, such as butter and coffee, is not, in our opinion, valid. Beer is in any case the result of a chemical process, whereas, when other fat is added to butter, or chicory to coffee, these ingredients remain as such in the mixture.

"Further, one malt wort is not necessarily identical with another malt wort, and the question as to the nature, substance, and quality of an article is obviously in part a question of degree. We are, however, satisfied that, so far as our present knowledge goes, a beer brewed with the usual moderate proportion of sugar does not, as a general rule, differ from an all-malt beer more widely than one all-malt beer differs from another."

The definition of beer which excludes malt adjuncts is laid aside by the committee once and for all in the following:

"It cannot be admitted that the liquor made from malt, hops, yeast and water only has an exclusive right to the name 'beer;' or that a purchaser who demands beer demands an all-malt liquor. Sugar was intermittently permitted to be used in beer a century ago; for over fifty years its use has been continuously permitted by Act of Parliament; and eighteen years ago complete freedom in the use of all wholesome materials was deliberately granted to brewers by Parliament. Under these circumstances it must be presumed to be public knowledge that beer is not always made from malt and hops exclusively; and consequently we are of opinion that a person who demands beer and is supplied with a beer brewed with a proportion of malt substitutes is not thereby prejudiced.

"The question whether the law should be changed is, of course, a different one. If the liquor produced from malt only were clearly distinguishable from, and definitely superior to, the liquor brewed with a moderate proportion of malt adjuncts, it would be within the competence of Parliament, and might be in the public interest, to assign separate distinctive names to these liquors. But in our opinion this is not at present the case."

With regard to fanatical proposals for legislation, there occurs a passage which ought to be borne in mind by American legislators:

"We are satisfied that in the present state of scientific knowledge it is not possible to determine by chemical analysis with sufficient certainty to obtain a conviction whether malt adjuncts have or have not been used, except perhaps in cases where excessive proportions of such adjuncts have been employed.

"Consequently, a law making declaration of materials compulsory could not be enforced if we were to rely upon analysis for detection of violation of it; and we think that to create an offence, of which proof could not be established, would be undesirable."

Intemperance as affected by general natural laws.

This subject is treated interestingly in the third annual report of the State Board of Health of Massachusetts by Dr. Henry I. Bowditch, and his letter was republished by the United States Brewers' Association under the title "Intemperance in the Light of Cosmic Laws." The board collected facts and opinions from a large number of correspondents and discussed the information thus brought together, summarizing the conclusions as follows:

First—Stimulants are used everywhere and, at times, abused by savage and by civilized man. Consequently, intoxication occurs all over the globe.

Second—This love of stimulants is one of the strongest of human instincts. It cannot be annihilated, but may be regulated by reason, by conscience, by education or by law when it encroaches on the rights of others.

Third—Climatic law governs it, the tendency to indulge to intoxication being not only greater as we go from the heat of the equator toward the north, but the character of that intoxication becomes more violent.

Fourth—Owing to this cosmic law, intemperance is very rare near the equator. It is there a social crime and a disgrace of the deepest dye. Licentiousness and gambling are small offences compared with it. To call a man a drunkard is the highest of insults. On the contrary, at the north of 50° it is very frequent, is less of a disgrace, is by no means a social crime.

Fifth—Intemperance causes little or no crime toward the equator. It is the almost constant cause of crime either directly or indirectly at the north above 50°.

Sixth—Intemperance is modified by race, as shown in the different tendencies to intoxication of different peoples.

Seventh—Races are modified physically and morally by the kind of liquor they use, as proved by examination of the returns from Austria and Switzerland.

Eighth—Beer, native light grape wines and ardent spirits should not be classed together, for they produce very different effects upon the individual and upon the race.

Ninth—Light German beer and ale can be used even freely without any very apparent injury to the individual, or without causing intoxication. They contain very small percentages of alcohol (4 or 4.5 to 6.5 per cent). Light grape wines, unfortified by an extra amount of alcohol, can be drunk less freely, but without apparent injury to the race, and with exhilaration rather than drunkenness. Some writers think they do no harm, but a real good, if used moderately. They never produce the violent, crazy drunkenness so noticeable from the ardent spirits of the north.

Ardent spirits, on the contrary, unless used very moderately, and with great temperance, and with the determination to omit them as soon as the occasion has passed for their use. are almost always injurious, if continued even moderately for any length oftime, for they gradually encroach on the vital powers. If used immoderately, they cause a beastly narcotism which makes the victim regardless of all the amenities and even the decencies of life, or perhaps they render him furiously crazy, so that he may murder his best friend. While those who live in the tropics merely sip slowly ardent spirits from the tiniest of glasses, with the slightest appreciable effect, the denizen of the frozen north swallows half tumblerfuls of the same to the speedy production of intoxication.

Tenth—Races may be educated to evil by bad laws, or by the introduction of bad habits. England's taste for strong drinks has been fostered by legislation and by wars of nearly two centuries since. France and parts of Switzerland are beginning to suffer from the introduction of absinthe and of schnapps. Especially is this noticeable since the late Franco-Prussian war. By classifying all liquors as equally injurious, and by endeavoring to further that idea in the community, are we not doing a real injury to the country by preventing a freer use of a mild lager beer or of native grape wine instead of the ardent spirits to which our people are now so addicted?

Eleventh—A race, when it emigrates, carries its habits with it, and for a time, at least, those habits may override all climatic law.

Twelfth—England has thus overshadowed our whole country with its love of strong drinks and with its habits of intoxication, as it has more recently covered Ceylon, parts of the East and Australia.

Thirteenth—This influence on our own country is greater now than it would have been if our forefathers, the early settlers, had cultivated the vine, which would have been practicable, as seen by the recent examples of Ohio and California, and from the fact that the whole of the United States lies in the region of the earth's surface suited to the grape culture.

Fourteenth—If these early settlers had done this, our nation would probably have been more temperate, and a vast industry like that of France, of Spain and of Italy and Germany, in light native wines, would long ago have sprung up.

Fifteenth—The example set by California and Ohio should be followed by the whole country where the vine can be grown. As a temperance measure it behooves every good citizen to promote that most desirable object. We should also allow the light, unfortified wines of Europe to be introduced free of duty instead of the large one now imposed. Instead of refusing the German lager beer, we should seek to have it introduced into the present "grogshops," and thus substitute a comparatively innoxious article for those potent liquors which now bring disaster and death into so many families.

Sixteenth—"Holly Tree" branches for the sale of good food, tea and coffee, cheaply to the people, should by the benevolent co-operation of the community be made to take the places of the numerous grogshops now open for the sale of ardent spirits.

Seventeenth—The moral sense of the community should be so aroused to the enormity of the evils flowing from keeping an open bar for the sale of ardent sprits, while those for the sale of light wines and of lager beer should not be opposed, except for the sale to habitual drunkards after due notice from friends. Sellers violating such law might be compelled for a time to support the family of their victim.

Eighteenth—The horrid nature of drunkenness should be impressed by every means in our power upon the moral sense of the people. The habitual drunkard should he punished, or if he be a dipsomaniac, he should be placed in an inebriate asylum for medical and moral treatment until he has gained sufficient self-respect to enable him to overcome his love of drink. These asylums should be established by the state.

Effects of beer on those who drink it.

A great deal has been, and continues to be, said by total abstinence agitators concerning the effect of beer on those who drink it, and as a rule their claims that such effect is injurious are based on nothing but arbitrary assumptions and baseless surmises.

In order to meet these misrepresentations the United States Brewers' Association some time ago undertook extensive examinations among persons given to the use of beer, the results of which were tabulated and analyzed by secretary Thomann, and published in pamphlet form. The data below are taken from this pamphlet.

Death rate among brewery workmen.

In a certain district of New York and Brooklyn. Dr. Guido Katzenmayer, Dr. H. F. Kudlich and Dr. Hugo Koethe examined and practically had a monopoly of practice among 960 brewery workmen. During five years thirty-six deaths occurred among these men from the following causes:

The only case of alcoholism on record invited a special inquiry into the drinking habits of the person in question, and it was found that in the last three or four years of his life the deceased had been addicted to the excessive use of ardent spirits. This case of alcoholism—a rare one among brewery workmen of any country—stood isolated not only on the list of deaths, but also on the sick lists from the districts investigated.

Of diseases of the heart, liver and kidneys, the recapitulation shows nine in all; that is to say, nine deaths occurred from diseases of that class, within five years, in a body of nine hundred and sixty brewery workmen. From disease of the kidneys but one man died within five years. If, in conjunction with this showing, it is stated that the average daily consumption of malt liquors by brewery workmen is twenty-five common glasses, or about ten pints, per capita, no more need be said, it is hoped, to disprove the assertion that the constant use of beer disorders, with fatal effect, the functions of the heart, kidneys and liver.

Death rate among other classes.

Before comparing the death rate among brewery workmen with the pertinent mortuary statistics contained in the United States census for 1880. It is necessary to state that such a comparison must inevitably be very favorable to anyone who intends to assail this position, because the benefit of doubt and of the inevitable inaccuracies of so gigantic a work as the census will be on his side. To begin with, he will have an advantage in that the mortality report of the census does not, according to the admission of its compiler, include all the deaths that occurred within the year covered by it, while the mortuary report submitted here, by a physician of the Benevolent Bureau, is absolutely accurate. Here, then, the rate of death is given correctly, while in the census it is reported as being lower than it actually was. In addition to this, the fact should be considered that the statistical information given in the census report on mortality relates to the entire population, including the rich, the wealthy, and the well-to-do, to whom, so far as the death rate is concerned, the small pauper element of our country forms no offset; while the statistical showing herein contained relates to one single specified class of craftsmen. This is a difference which, the impartial critic must admit, is not in favor of the proposition sought to be proved in the case of the proposed comparison. Now let us compare figures.

The number of deaths in our body of 960 brewery workmen was 36, within five years; hence the average number of deaths within one year was 7.2. This places the rate of death per thousand at 7.5. The ages of these brewery workmen range, in varying proportions, from 19 to 59 years. The only rates of death, contained in Vol. XI of the census, that can fairly be brought into a comparison with the foregoing showing, will be found in Table 6, page 25, which shows for the United States and for thirty-one registration cities "the proportion of deaths, in the different groups of ages, per 1,000 living." Of this table only that portion can properly be reproduced here for comparison, which covers the "groups of ages" represented in our showing, and, of course, only the figures relating to the urban population will answer the present purpose. They are given as follows:

It might be said that these figures, so far as ages are concerned, do not correspond exactly with the figures of the Brewer's Benevolent Bureau, because they begin at 20 instead of 19, and end at 55 instead of 59. The disparity, which is unavoidable on account of the mode of grouping ages adopted by the census officials operates against the objects of this argument; seeing that the rate of death per 1,000 between 15 and 20 is only 5.5; while between 55 and 60 it is 28.3. The aggregate of living population in the above six groups of ages was 3,333,898; the total number of deaths 41,681; hence the rate of death per 1,000, within the stated age limits, was 12.5.

Death rate in the United States Army.

The death rate in the regular army of the United States during the fiscal year 1885—a year of peace, in which, as the Surgeon General's report states, no casualties from actual warfare were returned—was 10.9 per 1,000 of mean strength. Medical examinations at recruiting stations for the regular military service are conducted with a special view to securing men of good physique, of great strength and perfect health. Besides, as compared with the life a brewery workman, with its hard and steady work and manifold cares, the soldier's life in peace is an easy one. Excepting such accidents as are inseparable from the constant handling of fire-arms, the soldier, in times of peace, is exposed to fewer chances of disease and death than the average workman. Well-fed, comfortably quartered and clothed, he lives without cares or troubles, in a constant routine of healthful exercise. Yet, even as compared with the soldier in peace-time, we find that the brewery workmen have a great advantage in point of low rate of mortality. It is true, the deaths from accidents were uncommonly numerous in the army, their proportion to the deaths from all other causes being given at 31 per cent; that is more than again as large as the ratio of deaths from accidents among brewery workmen. But even so, the difference in favor of the latter is remarkable. The number of deaths in the army was 263 from all causes; the number of deaths from accidents was 83, in a body of soldiers of an average strength of 24,035. Deducting that number of deaths from accidents, which is in excess of the proportion returned for brewery workmen, we still have 46 more deaths, in a total of 263, than would have occurred at the rate of death among brewery workmen.

Compiling the monthly reports and sick lists rendered by Dr. Katzenmayer during five years, and classifying the causes of sickness in the usual general way, the relative proportion of the various diseases treated by said physician, during the period covered by his reports, is found to be as follows:

42.9 per cent of surgical cases caused by accidents of all kinds, fractures, dislocations, contusions, wounds, etc.

27.5 per cent of disturbances of the alimentary canal, acute catarrh of the stomach, intestinal catarrh, diarrhoea, dysentery, etc.

12.5 per cent of rheumatic diseases.

9.4 per cent of diseases of the air passages; tonsilitis, diphtheria, bronchitis, pneumonia, pleurisy, etc,

3.6 per cent of fevers; typhoid, intermittent, etc.

2.1 per cent of acute congestions of liver and kidneys.

1.0 per cent of diseases of the skin.

0.6 per cent of cerebral and spinal diseases.

0.4 per cent of diseases of the heart.

It will readily be admitted by everybody that among the entire population of the United States not another body of men of equal number could be found, who, from their mode of life and drinking habits, would be better suited for such a purpose than brewery workmen. For, as a class, they drink beer and ale more constantly and more copiously than the average beer-drinker. For the information of those who are not acquainted with the usages prevailing in breweries, it must be stated that brewery workmen have at all times access to what in the jargon of the trade is styled the "Sternewirth," i. e., a room, set apart within every brew-house, where beer is constantly "on tap," to be used by every one at pleasure and without cost. Every one drinks as much beer as he thirsts for, without asking or being asked any questions as to his right to do so.

General health of brewery workmen.

One thousand men were examined as to their general state of health, condition of liver, kidneys and heart. The men were weighed, their strength tested, and the length of time employed in breweries and average daily quantity of beer consumed ascertained. These examinations showed, that there are, in all, twenty-five men out of one thousand, whose general state of health, or condition of liver, or condition of heart, or condition of kidneys, is not perfect; and that the remaining nine hundred and seventy-five men enjoy exceptionally good health, and are of splendid ohysique. The average daily consumption of malt liquors is 25.73 glasses, about 10 pints, per capita.

Of the twenty-five men recorded as unsound, a very large proportion would not have been so classified if the examinations had been confined to the condition of the heart, the liver and the kidneys. But it was thought necessary to point out all those whose health was impaired from any cause whatever; no matter, whether the latter can be traced to the use of beer or not. Hence, when the "general state of health" was found, in any case, to be precarious, the physician had to make a corresponding entry in his list and explain the same under the head of special remarks by stating the cause or nature of the infirmity. This accounts for the fact that such diseases as icterus, bronchitis, rheumatism, tuberculosis of lungs, etc., are specified as causes impairing the "general state of health." Dividing the twenty-five unsound men according to the nature of diseases which impaired their health, we obtain the following:

The causes of the three first-named diseases are known to be so manifold, that it would be more than venturesome to assume, in the off-hand way of our opponents, that beer is at the bottom of them all. Yet no attempt will be made to weaken the showing as it stands, save in the case of Ch. W. (230), whose ailment, abscess of liver, was produced, to the positive knowledge of the physicians who performed an operation on the patient, by external injuries.

Rheumatism and diseases of the air passages arc generally regarded by brewers as their trade diseases, produced either by constant exposure to the inclemency of the weather, as in the case of drivers; or by exposure to the sudden and extreme changes of temperature incident to the work in cellars, ice-houses and cooling-rooms; or by exposure to the constant moisture in wash-houses.

Strength of brewery workmen.

As a rule, the men examined displayed unusual muscular strength. The average weight lifted was 480 pounds; the lowest weight indicated on the dynamometer, used by Dr. Katzenmayer, being 390 pounds. Grouping the men according to the length of time they are employed in breweries, we find the largest number in the group from five to ten years, there being about 300 in it. From ten to fifteen years the number is 187, and from fifteen to twenty 122. Those who are engaged in brewing from one month to two years are a little more numerous than those who were thus engaged for over twenty, and less than twenty-five years. The number of men at work over twenty-five years is 46. In the first and last groups no unsound men were found; in the other groups the numbers are as follows:

Physique of brewery workmen.

Comparing height of body and breadth of chest with the weight it will be found that, as a rule, brewery workmen are not remarkable for obesity; on the contrary, the rare occurrence of weight that does not correspond with the size of the men is striking. It is reasonable to assume that the mode of life of brewery workmen accounts for this favorable showing, and that the same quantities of beer, if consumed by men of sedentary habits—shoemakers, for example—would produce different results. The error made by nearly all writers on this subject arises from a misconception as to the difference between a constant and an excessive use of malt liquors. The nature of the work in which men are engaged and the general manner of living determine the quantities of malt liquors men can consume without injury to their healths. It is a fact well known to every one who has devoted any attention to this matter, that the daily consumption of beer among Germans, the majority of whom are habitual, but not excessive beer-drinkers, varies from five to twenty glasses, according to the nature of the occupation of the drinker.

Conclusions.

The conclusions to be drawn from the investigations are:

I. Brewers drink more beer, and drink it more constantly, than any other class of people.

II. The rate of death among brewers is lower, by 40 per cent, than the average death rate among the urban population of the groups of ages corresponding with those to which brewery workmen belong.

III. The health of brewers is unusually good; diseases of the kidneys and liver occur rarely among them.

The conclusion to be drawn from II and III is:

IV. That on an average brewers live longer and preserve their physical energies better than the average workman of the United States.

The temperance problem.

Alcoholism is a disease almost wholly peculiar to modern times. While it is true that processes of distilling spirits, more or less crude, were known to many different nations and tribes in all stages of savagery, barbarism or civilization, the use of distilled liquors was introduced into Europe among those nations with which we are concerned because we are descended from them, somewhere in the fourteenth century. It seems to have come from Spain where the Arabs had ruled for so many centuries, and the word "Alcohol" still shows its Arabian origin plainly. France seems to have been the first country to make distilled liquors for drinking. But it was the northern tribes that took to distilled liquors most kindly. They never made much headway in the southern countries against the wines which were indigenous. Fermented beverages, on the other hand, have always been known and used extensively. It would be difficult to find a tribe or nation that did not have its fermented drink. But until distilled liquors were introduced, alcoholism as a disease, sometimes fatal, was unknown. But the problem of alcoholism and of the drunkard is only a minor offshoot of the temperance question. There is only one drunkard in every 10,000 of population. The greater question is the prevention of the excessive use of alcoholic stimulants, which may occur and does occur without leading to drunkenness, and yet does much harm.

Investigation by the Swiss government.

The only country that ever attempted to investigate the temperance question thoroughly and exhaustively on a scientific and economic basis is Switzerland. A commission was appointed which went into the subject and made recommendations to the government upon which was based an amendment to the federal constitution under which that government is now operating with good results.

It may be added that this investigation is of peculiar value in the United States because it was instituted by a state organized essentially on similar lines as this union, so that the charge of partiality and disregard of the interests of the people which might possibly be brought against a report emanating from a monarchical government, will not find place there.

The labors of the Swiss government were discussed in publications of the United States Brewers' Association by G. Thomann, secretary of that body and manager of its literary bureau. What follows is largely taken from those publications.

Conclusions of the Swiss commission.

Perhaps the results of the exhaustive researches of the Swiss government may be grouped best around those statements which the commissioners laid down at the conclusion of their labors as the general fundamental principles upon which any temperance measure in any nation, to be effective practically, must be based. These principles are quoted directly from the report:

"Taxation ranks foremost among the measures calculated to restrict the excessive use of ardent spirits. As an administrative measure, the tax upon this—in many respects pernicious—article, may be fixed at as high a rate as is compatible with revenue considerations having reference to the collection of such tax."

"This general principle will rarely need modification on account of the industrial and agricultural interests involved, as it may be assumed, as a rule, such taxes will virtually have to be borne by the consumers. The success of this method of restriction will, in most cases, almost exclusively depend upon the nature of the revenue systems, which should be so shaped as to insure the full collection of all taxes imposed."

"But a tax upon ardent spirits alone will not accomplish the desired object; in order to be fully effective, it must be followed by a systematic diminution and the ultimate abolition of taxes upon wholesome beverages."

The commissioners sum up their observations in the assertion that the only practicable method of diminishing the evils of inebriety by governmental measures should aim at:

1. The suppression of technically imperfect distillation;

2. A system of taxation and administration by which the manufacture of, and traffic in, distilled spirits can be controlled and, if need be, restricted, and by which the collection of high duties on spirits is rendered feasible;

3. The reduction or abolition of taxes on wholesome beverages.

Similar results in the United States.

Observations in the United States fully bear out the conclusions so lucidly stated by the Swiss commission. Notwithstanding all attempts to break up the habits of excessive drinking prevailing in this country under the free whisky regime prior to the war of the rebellion, it was only when at the breaking out of the war of the rebellion the federal government was once more compelled to resort to the highest practicable tax upon whisky—the excise on beer and wine being comparatively low, thereby reviving the principles of Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, Dr. Rush, Tench Coxe and other leaders in politics or temperance—that there was inaugurated that radical change in drinking habits to which the American people of to-day owe their position in the front rank of sober nations. Within this short space of time, viz., since July 1, 1862, the consumption of whisky, through the operation of the internal revenue tax law, has fallen from eleven to somewhat less than four quarts per capita, while in the same period the production of beer has risen from less than a million to more than thirty millions of barrels, and large quantities of domestic wines are consumed besides.

The statesmanship of the founders of the American republic appears in a new light when we remember the statement of Thomas Jefferson that "wine is the only antidote for whisky," or the conscious purpose of Hamilton to foster the brewing industry and reduce the production of spirits, to which end the first Congress and almost every session of the earlier Congresses was practically a unit as far as the moral ends to be achieved thereby were concerned.

High license.

The plan generally followed in the United States for the purpose of reducing the evil of intemperance is to license the liquor traffic. This principle is in line with that adopted by the Swiss government and observed, until recently, in the fiscal policy of the United States government.

While it is true high license reduces the number of drinking places, it has been conclusively shown that it does not correct the evil of intemperance. Observation, both in Switzerland and in the United States, as well as elsewhere, show that this policy fosters the consumption of ardent spirits while it represses the use of mild fermented beverages, and thus conflicts with the principle of true temperance as above laid down.

As early as 1879 the State Board of Health of Massachusetts said in its annual report:

"It is generally believed that light beer is used more and more each year, at least in our state, to the exclusion of the stronger liquors, a change which it is, of course, desirable to hasten by legislation so far as that can done, either by removal of restrictions on the sale of mild liquors and heavily taxing the stranger spirits, or by any other just and proper means."

Conclusions.

To sum up then it has been shown as to Switzerland:

1. That the highest degree of inebriety and alcoholism prevailed in localities which had the smallest number of drinking places, the drink generally used being ardent spirits.

2. That the highest degree of sobriety prevailed in localities where the number of drinking places was largest; the beverages used being fermented liquors.

3. That under the operation of laws designed to restrict the entire traffic, fermented drinks were driven out by distilled spirits.

The conclusion is that for the purpose of diminishing inebriety a reduction of drinking places is absolutely inessential, but that the nature of drinks offered for sale by retailers is of the utmost importance.

As to the United States it has been shown:

1. That whenever the system of high license reduces the number of licensed saloons its restrictive force falls almost entirely on the retailers of fermented beverages.

2. That under the operation of high license laws, the consumption of ardent spirits increases.

3. That the highest degree of drunkenness is found where ardent spirits are used most generally, while comparative sobriety prevails where fermented liquors are the common drink.

The conclusions for the United States must coincide with those for Switzerland, viz., that the restrictive effect of the laws should be confined to ardent spirits so as to impart to the traffic in fermented beverages greater power of expansion, and to enable the people to gratify a craving for stimulants, ineradicable in its present state of culture, by using the mild and wholesome beverages which are so rarely productive of inebriety in its pernicious and dangerous forms.

The system of indiscriminate high license produces results diametrically opposed to those which are desired.

Revenue derived from the liquor traffic.

The twelfth annual report of the United States Commissioner of Labor contained a statistical investigation of the liquor traffic from which some of the most interesting data are here reproduced.

The investigation covered the year 1896. It may be added that although the amounts found to be paid by the liquor traffic to the various governments in the country are almost incredibly large for that year, they have been enormously increased since that time. When it is considered that the internal revenue tax on beer was doubled for three years and is now (beginning July 1, 1901) about two-thirds higher than in 1896, that special taxes are levied on tonics, that beer is being taxed in some states and license fees are everywhere rising, while brewers and liquor dealers share in the various stamp taxes generally imposed on business transactions since the Spanish war, it is safe to say that an addition of 25 per cent to the rate of contributions from the liquor traffic to the national, state and municipal governments on the basis of the figures given by the Commissioner of Labor would not be excessive. To this should be added the increase coming from the natural growth of the liquor business. It is likely that for the year 1900 the total would not be far from $240,000,000. (See tables on pages 1126, 1127, 1128.)

Summary of capital invested, taxes and rent paid, and persons engaged in the liquor traffic, by states, for the year ending June 30, 1896.

In compiling this table, representative internal revenue districts were canvassed. The facts given in this table relate only to the establishments within such districts from which reports were secured. The state totals show the facts, not for complete states, but for the parts canvassed only.

Total annual revenue derived from liquor manufacture and traffic (for the year ending June 30, 1896).

Financial importance of liquor traffic.

With respect to the table giving a summary of capital invested, taxes and rent paid and persons engaged in the liquor traffic, by states (see pages 1126 and 1127), the Commissioner of Labor says:

It is impracticable to give estimates of the capital, employes. etc., representing the liquor traffic in each state and territory. Such estimates would have to be based on average conditions for all the states canvassed and would not correctly represent the individual states and territories where widely varying conditions are known to exist. This may be seen by an examination of the table. But the facts given in this table, covering as they do a canvass of parts of 14 states and including nearly one-fifth of the entire number of establishments in the country, are believed to be fairly representative of the whole country. And it is believed that an estimate for the 161483 establishments in the whole country, if based on an average of the facts shown in this table, will be substantially accurate. Estimates have thus been made.

For the year ending June 30, 1896, the capital invested exclusively in the liquor traffic by the 161,483 establishments as estimated by the method just described was $957,162,907. Of this amount $412,188,729, or 43.06 per cent, represented the value of land and buildings, fixtures and other properties owned by the persons or firms carrying on the liquor traffic, and $544,074,178. or 56.94 per cent, the value of the property rented by them. The estimated annual taxes paid on the property was $10,075,120, and the rent paid on the rented property $51,265,465. For the reason heretofore given the estimated amount of taxes should not be used as a basis to estimate the rate of taxation, or the estimated rent as the basis to ascertain the per cent of return on rented property used in the liquor traffic. All of these values pertain exclusively to the liquor traffic and not to any other business that may be conducted by the different establishments. The estimated number of proprietors or firm members engaged in the liquor traffic was 191,519 and the employes 241,755. If the employes had devoted their entire time to the liquor traffic, it is estimated that it would have required 172,931 to carry on the business of the 161,483 establishments.

Internal revenue receipts from fermented liquors, July 1, 1898, to June 30, 1900.

Production of fermented liquors in the several states and territories of the United States for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1900.

Statement of fermented liquors removed from breweries in bond, free of tax, from July 1, 1899, to June 30, 1900, under act of June 18, 1890.

Fermented liquors removed from breweries in bond for export during the year ended June 30, 1900, by districts.