The morning call., 1893-09-08
Help for California's
Grape DistiIlers.
WINE COMMISSIONERS WORK
Provisions for Transfer, Indefinite
Bonding, Blending, Bottling i'm
Bond and Drawbacks.

of Congress to aid the development of the
brandy industry in California. The bills
are seven in number, an analysis of which
with comments of Vitieultural Commis-
sion officials is appended.
The bills were formulated by the Witt
cultural Commission and were subjected
to long discussion and examination. Mr..
Scott, the secretary of the commission,
who gave valuable assistance in drawing
up the measures, took them with him to
the East and submitted them TO leading
dstillers in Kentucky, ETC., and received
their cordial approval.
These bills have nothing to do with any
combination like the whisky trust. They
are simply designed to help out growing
California business.
The first bill provides for the transfer of
brandy in bond. and substantially asks
that distiller of fruit brandy which is
deposited in a special bonded warehouse
may sell, convey or transfer it while so
deposited. The purchaser of the brandy
is 10 execute new warehousing bond,
which, If acceptable to the Collector of the
district, will relieve the distiller from all
assessments and liabilities, the right of
withdrawal, expectation, ETC., thereupon
resting in the purchaser. As matters now
stand at present the responsibility rests
on the distiller until the tax is paid. al
though the brandy may have been sold
and resold several times.
The second bill provides for an indefinite
bonding period. 1t enacts that the tax on
all distilled spirits shall, unless previously
paid. be due ana payable at the time of their
withdrawal, and that all Limitation on
time of spirits remaining IN bond shall be
removed. except in case that the quantity
is less than nifty proof gallons. Allow
ances, specified, are to be made for leak
ages, with the provision that the aggregate
allowance on packages of forty or more
wine gallons shall not exceed fourteen and
a half proof gallons. Specified allowances
are also made for loss or leakage in pack
ages OF less than forty and more than
twenty and more than ten gallons. The
dIstiller or owner of distilled spirits must,
before or at the time of entry in the
bonded warehouse. execute a bond in
duplicate. with at least two good and suffi-
Client sureties, to be approved by the Col
lector of the district, and In penal sum
not less than the tax on the spirits and
conditioned that the principal will comply
with all tbs requirements of the law. and
this bona shall be executed, strengthened
and renewed at any other such times, and
shall contain such other conditions not in
consistent with the act as the Internal
Revenue Commissioner, with the approval
OF the Secre tary OF the Treasury, may pre-
scribe.
In case of noncompliance the Collector
shall dist:ain for the full and aggregate
amount of the taxes on spirits These
provisions are extended to distilled spirits
in warehouse on the date when the act
shall take effect. provided the distiller or
owner shall have complied with the con-
ditions. This bill is very important one
for the brandy men. At present distiller
or owner must pay the tax at the end of
thiIty-six months. Ii not paid the Revenue
Department takes charge of the spirits
and sells them for the tax. Under the
existing law spirits are sent out of the
country to foreign warehouses and kept
there, and on their return to this country
the tax is paid. By this means an i'm
mense system of bonded warehouses has
been built up at Hamburg, Bremen and
other European ports. If this bill be
passed the warehousing will be done in this
country. more employment will be given
to labor and the enormous amount of
freight charges paid to foreign steamship
companies will be kept at home and used
for the extension of the warehousing busi-
ness in the United States. For by this
law spirits, instead of being forced TO be
Withdrawn and forced to pay the tax of
90 cents gallon at the end of three years.
can remain indefinitely and will be per-
mitted TO grow old and mellow and good
in the United States.
The third bill provides for reduction at
the time Oh WlI.tuEdWdl Oh TIE SpiTItS 10 the
degree of proof at which they were depos-
tied, without payment of rectifiers, tax,
and such reduction shall not cause the for
felt of right to wareh0using stamps or
other authorized stamps nor the right of
expectation. This bill is simply to facili-
tate trade and provides for making the
Bpirits agree with the original marks and
stamps. Spirits or brandy warehoused at
102 degrees proof at the end OF three years
may have increased to LOG degrees proof:
the marks and stamps denote the former
proof and the bill authorizes the reduction
to that standard.
The fourth bill enacts that1nnder pre-
scribed conditions the distiller or owner
may mix or blend brandies in the bonded
warehouse, whereupOn new stamps shall
be attached without forfeiture of author
lied withdrawal stamps or right of export
or right of drawbacks, allowance being
made at the time of blending for loss or
leakage. This bill is based on the law by
which cognac is regulated in France. 1t
will permit the brandy-maker to have a
standard of his own, to which he can de-
velop his spirits and will tend 10 make our
brandies as good standard ones as French
cognac.
The fifth bill provides that spirits In
bonded warehouses may be put into bottles
or jugs under prescribed conditions, the
gauge of the spirit TO be asceT;ained by
weight at the time of bottling; the bottles
are not to contain less than pint, a siamp
is TO he placed on each bottle and jug with
specified marks. After bottling and stamp
ing the bottled spirits are To be removed
back to the warehouse. No allowance
is to be made for leakage or loss on bottled
spirits and provision is made for with
drawal. This bill is framed on Canadian
one and is very important for spirit dis
tilers and owners California wines have
already wide sale in Central America.
double that of French wines, and it is only
a question of time, should this bill pass,
when California will have a similar hold
on the brandy, whisky, ETC., trade in that
region.
The sixth bill inserts in section 1855
Revised Statutes, after "apples, peaches
and grapes" the words ''and all seed and
stone fruits" and provides that all laws
relative TO fruit brandies made from an.
piles. peaches or grapes hereafter shall ap-
ply to brandies made from seed and stone
fruits. This bill will tend to build ufJ
trade for California. trade in pear, plum.
cherry, apricot. ETC.. brandy. and probably
lead TO great production of such fine
Drandies, and Gamers and dryers of fruit
by this means will be able to use what
hitherto they have thrown away as refuse.
The seventh bill provides for drawbacks