The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-04-27
WILL NOT OPPOSE IT,
The Local Revenue Office in
Favor of the Brandy
Mems Law.
A Good Measure Which VIII Benefit
One of the Big Industries of
the State.

There will not be much opposition on
the part of the Government, or at least by
the Government officers on this coast, to
the passage Of the law allowing the bot
Ting of spirits in bond, as the trainers of
the measure anticipated. 1t was expected
that serious opposition would be shown on
the ground ofinexpediency, expense and an
increased liability to fraud, but instead of
this it is considered good measure by
Internal Revenue Collector o. NJ. We'll
burn, and his office will support it,
1.-The law has never been presented to
u.s." said Louis Loupe, Mr.. Welburn's
chief deputy, land so we know but little
about it. From what l do know, how
ever, think the law would be good one
and it would not be difficult to put it in
practice. On the issue OF expense, | don't
see how it will cut much of a figure, for
the United States storekeeper in each
bonded warehouse has nothing else to do
but keep track of the packages in bond.
Cases of bottles can be looked after Just
as well as casks, and the only additional
expense can see is the necessity for sepa-
rate departments in each warehouse
where the bonded cases of bottles may be
kept by themselves.
The proposed amendment to the in
ternal revenue laws - Tor that is the
shape in which the new measure will be
presented-is not very generally under
stood by the Government officials, and
much Of the opposition which it has met
with is the result OF ignorance regarding
the details of the law. The expense of
gauging the spirits in glass and the impOs-
sibility OF gauging 1t accurately has been
pointed out and urged as an argument
against the law; but under the terms of
the amendment the spirits bottled will be
drawn from casks already in bond and
already gagged, and further gauging is
entirely unnecessary. The only extra ex-
pense and trouble which the law will i'm
pose will be the printing of more bond
stamps for the bottles and affixing them to
the filed packages.
The spirit trade of South America, which
is an extensive one, is carried on almost en-
tirely in bottles, and it is this trade which
the local brandy men are seeking to secure
for themselves, and they have framed this
law with a view to make that possible. In
foreign countries, where it is permitted to
bottle in bond, the shipper may ship his
goods in bottles from bond, without the
expense of taking it out and paying the
tax on it before bottling. In addition, he
receives the benefit of the bond stamp on
the bottle, which is proof positive of the
purity of its contents. In this country,
there being no law permitting the bottling
of bonded spirits, the shipper must either
ship in wood or he must pay the tax, with
draw his spirits and bottle at his own Gel
lar He therefore loses the amount of the
excise tax, 80 cents a gallon, and also the
moral value OF the bond stamp on his
package.
The whisky men from the East are very
anxious to have their product included in
the law, and, in the opinion of the revenue
officers here, if this be done, there is no
doubt of its adoption. The local revenue
office will not oppose the measure in any
way, as it is believed by the Collector to be
law which will benefit the brandy inter
est of the State materially.