San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1879-12-20
SATURDAY DECEMBER a No6

to come down to thin pota
tions" but continues to drink 'whiskey
as long as no is able, and consequently
the liquor dealers sales and profits ar
not decreased.
The liquor dealers should bo the
last to denounce the ''patent clock
work" thrust upon them by wander
ing adveuturer from abroad. For thi
"clockwork'' is.a most excellent book
keeper in keeping accounts between
employer and employe and prohibits
almost entirely the credit system, &c
detrimental to liquor dealers.
Civilization can not be maintained
without government; government car
not exist without money, and none!
can be raised only by taxation. Ger
tainly the best method for levying
tax is that by which it is voluntarily
and oheerfully paid; and the Moffet,
Register INTRODUCES the only system oi
taxation ever invented by the inge-
nuity Of man by which the taxes will
be paid promptly and without the 90
ercion Of the government.
Towards the liquor dealers, as q
class the writer entertains no feeling
of prejudice. Iu q dram drinking
country like ours their vocation is,
perhaps, q necessity. At all events il
is recognized by the laws Of the land,
and the rights Of the dealers should
be protected by the government to the
same extent as are the rights of the
bankers, merchants and other trades
people. But when they so far forget
themselves as to openly set the laws at
defiance and boldly appropriate the
money of the government to their own
benefit, they should be hold to strict
accountability and be punished to the
full extent of the law Notwithstanding
the great influence they claim to pos.
sess in the elections.
It having been shown that the tax
levied by the Moffett Register is not
a tax on the liquor dealer, but is tax
paid directly by the person who buys
and pays for the drink, then every
wilful failure on the part of the liquor
dealer or his employe to turn the crank
of the register, when q drink is thus
sold is PETIT LARCENY, for the per.
son who pays for the drink, pays the
two cents government tax and the
dealer by bis refusal to register it, roba
the government of chat amount after
collecting it and applies it to his own
benefit.
Every patron of the liquor dealers,
believing in law and order, and having
the welfare of the State at heart,
should make it, as it really is, his du-
ty to see that every drink, bought by
him, is properly registered according
to law,-for it is the law and is just as
valid as any law upon the Statute
book, and must remain 30, no matter
how unpopular it may be, until it is
repealed, or declared unconstitutional
by the courts of the country.
This idea of violating or setting at
defiance law. because it is unpopular,
is one fraught with great danger to
the State; for it inevitably leads to
lawlessness and crime. The best mode
of getting an unjust or an unpopular
law repealed is to enforce it strictly.
[Col. Swisher appends a tsbulated
statement of the number of registers
with tax collected in October in thir-
teen counties of the State which clear
ly shows the injustice Of the operation
of the law. According to this official
Collin county, with IL alco
holic and ~ malt registers, paid tax
for October of sl,O1l 81. an average
Of s4S 16 each, while Galveston, with
IS alcoholic and 81 malt registers-five
times as many alcoholic registers as
Collin county, and nearly ten times as
many malt registers, paid only 1858 II.
or an average of s. G5 each. Now, it
IS more than reasonable to suppose
that the saloons of Galveston county
do much greater business than those
in Collin county, but admitting that
the average is the same, is there any
reason or justice in making the pro-
prietor Of each register 10 Collin coun-
ty pay SiS 16, while those in Calves
ton, with an equal amount Of business,
pay orly s. Gj? The law clearly needs
to be enforced, not only generally, but
impartially.l