Fort Wrangel news., 1898-10-05
THOSE REVENUE STAMPS.
instruments whlch are Exempt cd from the War Tax. VIII
 Answer many Questions.
INFORMATION FOR ALL

| regard to certain details of the revenue stamp law sent by register of deeds Frank Stevens to the commissioners of Internal Revenue at Washington, a lot ter was received yesterday which con veys much information of interest to | the public.
 Many inquiries have been received by parts of the state asking for explanA- tions of some of the following points.
 Perhaps the most important ruling Is the following:
 "43. Certificates of acknowledge. ments of deeds and mortgages are not required to be stamped. The memo randum on the back of a deed or mort gage made by the register or recorder, that the instrument has been placed upon record, Is not a subject of taxa tion. It Is not certificate such as Is contemplated by law. It Is brief note on the back of the deed or mortgage citing date of filing and date and place of record"
 Many unnecessary revenue sta mps have been used in stamping the ac- knowledgement of deeds. In the Shaw nee office alone every acknowledge ment up to the present time has been stamped. This will no longer b0 TO- quired.
 Another important ruling, affecting the legality of great many mortgages already on file is as follows:
 "49. A mortgage, no matter what the date, should not be admitted to regis tration when presented on or after Ju- ly l, 1899, unless there Is attached and cancelled the proper revenue stamp"
 It will therefor be necessary for par ties who have filed mortgages upon which no revenue stamps have been attached to see to it that the proper stamps a re attached and cancelled in order to insure the validity of the in strument.
 In the case of deeds, this rule does not apply. Deeds signed, acknowledged and fully executed in June do not re- quire stamps, though delivered in July, unless by state law, registration is nec- esssry to pass title.
 Another ruling which prevents an avoidance of the tax by mentioning a merely nominal consideration as the price of property in deeds, as for in stance, lone dollar, love and affectioh," is as follows:
 "50 In cases where the considera- tion of deed is nominal, the actual value of the property conveyed should govern the amount of the stamp re- quired."
 It will therefore be necessary for the register to determine by whatever means he sees fit, the value of the prop erty conveyed and assess the tax ac- cordingly.
 Other important rules included in the list of over sixty, are the following:
 "4.- Real estate mortgage notes re- quire to be stamped, in addition to the stamps placed on the mortgages"
 20. The person who signs and is- sues bank check, without affixing the proper stamp, becomes involved in lia- bility to penalties under section 10 of this act, unless it is shown that he had no design to evade the payment of the stamp tax, and that the requisite stamp was affixed and cancelled by the bank or persons upon whom it was drawn, before payment"
 "2l. Where a check is presented at a bank, without having the stamp af- fixed, the bank, if it pay such unstamp ed check, becomes liable to the penalty provided by section 10 of this act. Banks may cure defect by atfixing the proper stamp"
 "28 It is the duty of carriers to is sue bill of lading or receipt for goods accepted by them for shipment, and to aff1x the stamps, and a penalty is pre- scribed for failure to do so."
 '35. A telegraphic message or dis patch is required to be stamped by the person who makes, signs or issues it."
 "61. In regard to the cancellation of internal revenue adhesive stamps, which the law requires by writing or stamping the initials of the persons us- ing the same, and the date upon which the stamp shall be attached or used, it