On the Wine Question on the Upper Adige

On the Wine Question.

From the Upper Adige, Nov. 11. Throughout our region, the most gratifying reports are being heard concerning this year's grape harvest. In quantity, the yield generally fell short by a third compared to last year's, though in this regard it still counts as a good year; in quality, however, it may equal the finest vintages. Sweetness is rarely or not at all present, much to the sorrow of delicate palates, but it will distinguish itself by robust vigor and longevity, which lovers of a "fine drop" will be pleased to hear. Thus the noble treasures of the vine now lie in the presses and cellars, awaiting the call that should bear them from their vaults into the distance. Yearningly the farmer listens for every movement and every sound, unable to fathom why it takes so endlessly long until the message reaches him: "The tariff is gone, the wine is free!" That is the alpha and omega of his wishes, and with complete justification, for it is a vital question for him. A glimmer of a better time finally dawned on him in the widely discussed proposals of the Wiener Zeitung, and even if it was only a faint light, it did good after the long night in which he had hitherto been left to sigh in vain. At least he has seen that the government is preparing to establish closer relations with Germany, to achieve a community of material interests, beginning with the free exchange of raw products and foodstuffs. Yet it was high time, especially given the oppressive sacrifices now demanded of him. A more comforting prospect for the future would thus be gained, but the present remains sad and burdensome as ever, compounded by the provisional state of our internal tariffs and the uncertainty regarding the wine taxation soon to be introduced. Complaints about the pre-March excise duties gave rise to the barriers at the Spondigna bridge, at the foot of the Jaufen, and at Kollmann; and when especially our brethren outside these borders lodged fierce protests against this threefold March achievement, there arose in Vienna the twelve-paragraph draft, which retreated back into its cradle at the unanimous outcry with which it was received within our mountains. It was accompanied by the remonstrances of the delegates, and subsequently, upon special invitation, by the provincial governor of Tyrol himself. Such is the state of affairs now, time is pressing, and it is impossible to see how a favorable way out of the chaos of conflicting wishes between North and South Tyroleans can be found, unless adherence is kept to the immutable principle that North and South Tyrol, with their substantially different conditions, cannot and will never tolerate equal treatment in this matter. In the northern part, wine is above all a luxury drink, found solely in the cellars of the wealthy and of innkeepers; in the warm southern part, it is an indispensable necessity of life: it appears on the table of the rich just as it does on that of the simplest townsman and vintner, and even the humblest laborer does not eat his bread without a draught of wine; that a basic necessity of life and a luxury item cannot be placed on the same level requires no further discussion. It is therefore not enough for the twelve-paragraph draft to exempt the wine-growing peasant only with respect to the quantity of wine required for running his farmstead, for just as the peasant requires it, every master of the house needs the same concession for his domestic servants, every tradesman for his journeymen, and so on, since the same reasoning applies to them. Should this circumstance not receive due consideration in the forthcoming fiscal report, and should southerners and northerners be subjected to equal taxation—that is, should the southerner, whether poor or rich, have to pay the same tax that only the wealthy pay in the northern part—a tax burden so disproportionate would be placed upon the south relative to the north that it would have to be termed downright unjust. If one further considers that a measure treating the winegrower as a surveilled tradesman would necessarily generate widespread illicit concealment, to which the layout of scattered farmsteads affords ample opportunity, and that the army of control officials to be appointed would cause widespread dissatisfaction due to the expensiveness of such an institution, while the enforcement of controls itself would encounter universal resentment, one readily concludes that the government would reap no good fruit from such a decree. The near future will teach us how far Vienna has "deemed" it necessary to take our circumstances into account. Meanwhile, there remains ample matter for critical reflection on how much more calmly we could await the outcome of this matter if the decision were entrusted to an assembly of representatives "knowledgeable about the land." For the moment, however, the long-promised diets unfortunately remain among our pious wishes, and the imperial parliament has vanished entirely into the misty distance.