Connecticut western news., 1878-04-04
The Whisky Register.
A newspaper correspondent, who

A newspaper correspondent, who has been in Richmond, Va., speaking of the bell register used in liquor saloons, says that the plan seems to work we'll. The farmers favor the tax because it removes burden from their shoulders The officials favor it on the ground that it promotes public morals and gets tax out of people who never paid one. One man termed it the best temperance law that had ever been drawn. The liquor dealer backs it because it does away with the credit system, and the indicator acts as a check upon his bartender, for the amount of money in the drawer must tally with the register. In every case liquor sellers claim that their receipts have been increased. A proprietor in Richmond told me that his gain in re- ceipts for the first eighteen days was $39.5O. In Culpepper a hotel keeper claimed that through the decrease in the credit system, it raised his receipts 600 per cent. Of course, the dealers have raised the price of whisky from ten to fifteen cents glass. If man takes a drink alone he pays bis fifteen cents, thus giving two and one-half cents to the State, and adding @ like sum to the profits of the seller. If two take drink together they get it for twenty-five cents, the State in this case receiving the extra five cents. If man treats two persons besides himself, he pays forty cents, the State getting seven and one-half cents, and the seller an additional profit of 1 two and one-half cents. For every odd drink the liquor dealer secures this extra profit, and it would be singular indeed If he should revile law that puts money in his pocket. Besides this, it keeps bummers away from his saloon, and en- tirely stops the credit system for man must have hard cheek who asks another to pay two and one-half cents for the privilege of trusting him. So much for the dealer. The bartender is satisfied, probably because the law gives him an opportunity to '' knock down" the
 extra two and one half cents without fear
 of detection.
 The law is enforced as strictly as the
 circumstances will permit, but some
 dealers have been indicted for attempts
 to evade it. In Norfolk indictments are
 pending for direct violations. It is thought that there is some cheating in
 Petersburg and Lynchburg, but in Bev'
 erly Douglas Congress District it is said
 to work to a charm. A prominent pro
 prietor in Lynchburg made his returns
 at the end of the first month. The
 assessor analysed the figures, and found
 that they turned out only two drinks {
 day. He mentioned the matter to the
 seller, saying that there must be some
 mistake, as he knew.hi saloon was on' of the most popular in the city. Th'
 proprietor colored and threw the blam'
 on his bartenders. He declared that the, must have mjsapprehended the terms o
 the law. After privately examining then
 he struck the bell of the alcoholic regis , ter 500 times, and thus added $125O t the months tax. The assessor accepte the figures and the collector got tn
 AOACJs AAO OPOA0G1OAo LII b40 uOuUA license as retail dealer and keeper of barroom gives dishonest men an oppol
 tunity to "beat" the law, but it is 3 small business. They sell half pint t ] 8 customer; who leaves the room wit the liquor and divides it with his con l rades outside the premises. Under tn 8 retail license the taX is two and one-ha q cents per pint, while under the barrool
 license it would be two and one-ha l. cents for every drink into which 1t .- divided.
 - But the favorite mode of cheating t to ring the bell of the malt register fc e alcoholic drinks, giving the dealer clea :, two cents on every imbibation. The la
 provides that the bell shall be rung D the presence of the buyer. While he n busy pouring down his drink the ba n keeper turns the malt crank. I'll q buyers eye is not on the alcoholic dia d but as he hears the bell he supposes V all right, pays his money and slope z If he detects the imposition and protest IF the bartender declares that he inat a vertently rung the wrong register an corrects the mistake. The severe pail t. and penalties are imposed for @ willf1 IS violation of the law, and plea of ina. g vertence can easily be sustained.