The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-07-20
THAT BEER TAX QUESTION.
Retail Liquor Dealers of the State Me
 Yesterday and Discussed it.

Yesterday and Discussed it.
 A meeting of the State Association of Retail Liquor Dealers was held yes- terday afternoon in Elks hall in the Insurance building to consider the mat ter of the payment of the special tax on beer. It seems that New Haven is the only place in the state where the retailers have arranged for the brew CTS to stand one-half of the tax and the dealers in the other towns desire to arrange so that they may receive like benefits, and it was at their request that President J. J. Hogan of this city, alderman from the Seventh ward, call ed the meeting for yesterday.
 The question was discussed at length and committee of five members was finally appointed to arrange and report a plan for starting a cooperative brewery in case satisfactory arrange ments cannot be made with the brew CTS whereby they will agree to pay at least one-half of the special tax. This committee will meet in Danbuary in about two weeks and will then prepare a report to present to the State Retail Liquor Dealers convention to be held in Danbury on September 21. The re- tail dealers of the state have now defi- nitely decided that unless the brewers will stand one-half of the special war tax on beer they will either start CO., operative brewery of their own or pa- tronize a cooperative brewery which will probably be started in New York by the retail dealers of that city.
 of Tnnneof inr,t Retail Dealers association yesterday received letter frem National Organ izer P H. Nolan of New York in which he states that a movement is on foot in New York to start a cooperative or consumers brewery, and that one of the prime movers is B. T. Kearns, cor her of Fourteenth street and Third avenue, New York, who has had eXpe- rience in brewery business. MT. Nolan says that a cooperative brewery in New York is now practically assured, and that if such a brewery is started Connecticut retailers may buy from it at the old prices in vogue before the special war tax was imposed. The spe- cial committee appointed yesterday will confer with the New York dealers who
 
 brewery there, and it is very probable that if brewers will not accede to the demands of the Connecticut retail deal CTS these latter will buy from the New York cooperative brewery instead of starting one in this state. A plan has been proposed for starting such a brew cry in this state whereby each retailer would put in $100, receiving stock to this amount.
 In his letter to Mir Hogan, MT. Nolan says that in Wilmington, Del, and in Lancaster, Pa, the brewers pay all the special tax, while in many other places about the country the brewers pay a percentage which amounts to more than one-half of the tax In New York James Everard and some of the other brewers have agreed to sell beer to re- tailers at the old price-that is, the brewers standing the tax, but most of the New York brewers are holding out and refusing to bear any part of the tax, endeavoring the force the retailer to bear the full amount.
 The members of the state association present at yesterdays meeting were: From Danbury E. J. Burke and Will liam Henneberry; Ansonia, John H. Schumacher; Port Chester, John Moon- ey; Meriden, John w. Holmes and P. J. Griffin; Middletown, s. B. Chaffee; Thompsonville, Thomas Hayden; Stam- ford, Edward Duffy; New Britain, Jo- seph Ream and James T. Dawson; !; Bridgeport, James Sheridan; New Ha- ven, J. J. Hogan, James Kelleher, Will liam Clarkson, George Stanford and William Dwyer.
 At the conclusion of the meeting yes- terday the members of the state asso- citation went to Gillern & Quinn's hotel at Morris Cove, where they enjoyed a fine shore dinner.