The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-04-28
MOFFETT REGISTER.
rs FAILURE IN vsRGINIA-A RAPID
DECKEAsE IN THE REVENUES
YIELDED ny 1T,
FRichmond Correspondence N. Y. Herald

Gtadl dealer OF liquors to have two OF these
egisters, one for spirituous liquors and wine,
he other for malt liquors. For every drink
old by the barkeeper or half pint sold by the
etail dealer the crank Of the register Is
urned, the bell sounds and the hand on the
init dial moves one point The commissioner
il revenue visits each place and takes the
tate OF the register three times month, just
IS the state of the gas metre is taken at stated
,eriOds. The tax on each drink OF spirits or
vine sold by the barkeeper, or on each half
lint sold,by retail dealer Is two and half
ents, or on each drink or half pint Of malt
iouor one-half a cent. When it is known that
he people of Virginia consume S15,OOO,OO9
worth of liquor each year, Of which certainly
,1O.OOO,O0O worth is subject to this tax, and
when 1t is further known that the tax is GER
ainly thirty three per cent nd ralorem on the
iquor sold 1t will be seen that the Moffett
register ought to produce In Virginia rev.
Bnue OF S3,3Oo0Oo. The friends and sanguine
advocates Of this tax never could consent to
.dmit that it would yield less than from one
million to half million annually.
AMOUNT OF THE REVENUE.
It is difficult at this time to form an esti-
mate OF what will be actually paid under the
present inefficient system of enforcing the
Moffett liquor law, but 1t seems probable that
bhe total net income this year will not exceed
100000, which Is about two thirds more than
was previously received from the tax on
liquors. The Auditor of Public Accounts in
pis report to the General Assembly January
8, 1878, furnished statement of partial re-
urnS from twelve cities and from thirty
three counties, and estimating the annual
yield from those places for whole year, on
the basis OF what had been returned, placed
The amount at SPILL II. He then estimates
That the other sixty-six counties will produce
100000 more, making the total yield for the
current year $341 i'll II.
1t is quite apparent now, with an expert
ence extended both In time and territory, that
his estimate was excessive. AS the liquor
dealers, particularly the saloon keepers,
found In time great falling off in their bust
ness on account of the crushing nature Of the
tax, they have been impelled more and more
to evade the payment of it, and the returns
have steadily diminished since January. The
cause OF this Is the prodigious amount Of the
levy made on the liquor trade and the inelfi-
ciency of the law itself. The statute is crude,
viii dlgested, easily evaded, and provides no
fadequate means OF self-enfOrcement and no
| effective machinery by which it can be en-
forced.
An average of So 80 per month for each
register, which will not be unreasonable, will
produce 800 per annum, and for 5000 regis
ters will yield an income of S5OO,OOO for the
first year. But the nOn-executOn of the law
in many counties, In disregard and evasion of
1t generally, would make it more reasonable
to estimate the aecruing revenue for the cur
rent year at not more than $500, 900. When
returns can be had from every county and
some idea can be formed Of the rate of tax to
population, then more just estimate can be
made.
OPPOSITION OF THE SALOON KEEPERS.
AS set forth in the Herald soon after the
register went into operation in this State the
n nnGt yr ff,
the Moffett liquor law. / have yet to see the
first one OF this class who favOrs it. They
have opposed In every conceivable way, in the
City Council, in the Legislature and in the
courts They have gone so far as to propose
a new specific license law as a substitute,
which they guarantee will realize to the State
($450000 annually The great mass of the
eP e wh sn Dot the + s m Of the sp ub b
the saloon Keepers and the readjusters are
opposed to it. The keepers Of saloons and
bar-rooms are the most bitter in
their opposition They regard the
ness and as an intoerable nuisance. 1t is to
them neverending source of annoyance "a
legal. pest that they would do anything to be
rid OF. They are in q state OF constant terror
lest they should, in the hurry and rush of
dealing out beverages, forget to turn the
crank, and thus lay themselves liable to pros
ecution and open to the tender mercies of an
informer. Once reported and brought before
be heavily fined. Whatever Is operative in
the law Is rgidly enforced and the courts
never fail to impose the heaviest penalties for
failing to neglect the register. Nor has the
instrument all the merits that was claimed
for it in favor of the saloon keeper. 1t
has not, as was supposed it would, done away
with the credit system. The inevitable
'slate' and "the score are as much institu
Itions In rum mills" now as ever they were.
The saloon keeper realizes nothing upon the
Increased price of drinks, as a system of
drawback checks has been established which
places the actual charge for the drink at ten
GENTS, as formerly, with the two and a half
cents tax added. 1t was also claimed that the
register would act as check upon the bar
Render, and would prevent this class OF patri
iOtic citizens from knocking down." but it |
does not do anything of the sort. In nearly |
Every saloon in Richmond. lunches, oysters,
snacks and sandwiches, and frequently
cigars, are sold in connection with
kiquor and the receipts all go into the saloon, |
30 that 1t Is an impossibility to balance the
bash with the register. ! do not believe that |
makes a daily or even weekly record of his
register. There is no doubt that the register
Injures their business, but it increases the
trade of the liquor dealer. The tipplers who
Drink Of whisky rebelled at.the imposition Of
The two and half cents additional tax, and
instead of patronizing a bar they invariably |
30 to a retail dealer and purchase pint or a
quart bottle, as the case may be. lh1S Is |
Economy. Allowing that there are four
hverage drinks In a half pint of
whisky, the barkeeper, for the sale
u that quantity, would have to register
our times, making tax equivalent to ten
tents. For the sale of the same quantity the
etail dealer only registers once-a saving to
he tippler of seven and a half cents on a half
pint, fourteen cents on pint, and twenty |
light cents on quart. While the business
II the barkeeper has materially decreased,
hat OF the retail dealer has increased and In
much greater degree than the falling off OF
he former. A gentleman informed me the
bther day that he saw no less than thirty-tive
bottles and demijohns ranging from pint to
We gallons in capacity, being filled at one
etail establishment for regular customers.
hat he took Of the register was not at all
lvorable to the cold water cause he advo-
ated. He rather thought that in the pro-
nnfinn of nrirntn finnlinp the register in