Washington sentinel., 1898-03-26

discount.
No discount allowable on stamps pur-
chased July "a, IS97-The act Of July
"a, 1897, operative by relation from
and after midnight OF IulY 73, 1897
Discount not allowable on beer stamps
unless purchased and used by brewers
prior to the taking effect of the act Of
July "a, 1897, which repealed the pro.
vision Of section 334I, Revised Stat.
utes, allowing such deductions,
TREASURY DEPARTMENT.
OFFICs OF COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL
REVENUE,
WASHINGTON, d. c., Mar. IL, 1898.
SIR The claim Of the Dallas Brewing
Company for the refunding of S247 so,
collected Of said company as tax on beer,
II per cent. of the face value oI beer
stamps purchased July "a, 1897, is hereby
rejected for the following reasons:
First. That the act of July "a, 1897,
repeating the provision of section 334I,
Revised Statutes, which allowed a
deduction of7H per cent. on beer stamps
sold 70 and used by brewers in their
business, became operative by relation
from the first moment of the day OF its
apprOval--from and after midnight of
July zs, 1897 (Arnold q. United States, 9
Cranch, Io4; United States U. Williams
skak,, Paine c. c. Reports, 26I; Lap
eyre q, United States. II Wallace, I9I;
ID OPin. Atty. Gen., S42, az Int, Rev.
Rec, 20, and Department Circular No.
los. dated July 80. 1879
Second, The provision dissection 334I,
which was repealed by the act Of July
~, 1897, provided that "tbe Commits.
sioner of internal Revenue shall allow
upon all sales of such (beer) stamps to
any brewer, and By him used IN his 6HSi.
ness, deduction of seven and half
per centum: 1t is not alleged in this
case that the stamps purchased July "a,
1897, were used by the company in its
business as brewers prior to the repeal
Of the provision above referred to. In
fact, It is understood that the said stamps
were not so used until after the approval
Of the repeating act.
Respectfully yours,
N. B. SCoTT, Commissioner.
P B HUNT, Esq,
Collector Fourth District, Dallas, Tex
The first section applies to such
brewers as bought, or received,
stamps on the a4th of July prior
to 4 o'clock in the afternoon, when
the President signed the bill and
the new law went into force.
The Commissioner claims that
the new law became operative
at midnight OF July a3, 1897,
i, e., sixteen hours before it was
born The Board Of General Ap-
praisers in New York, at the insti-
cation OF the importers, has de-
cided this question against the
Government, but the latter has
taken, or will take. an appeal, as
we are informed at the department,
and thus the matter pends.
The secoud section is even more
serious. Here the Commissioner
assumes an entirely new and differ
ent position from that taken by
his predecessor, Mr.. Forman, who
decided that brewers who had
bought and received stamps prior
to July "a, 1897, should be allowed
rebate
Commissioner Scott refuses to
grant the rebate or to refund the
money collected from the Dallas
company for stamps purchased
July "a, 1897, because the stamps
were not used until after the ap-
proval Of the repeating act. He
construes the words in the old law
THE Commissioner OF Internal
Revenue shall allow upon all sales
OF such beer stamps to any brewer,
and 6I hsm used IN his business, a
deduction Of III per centum"-as
if the stamps had FIRST to be used
before the rebate could be allowed.
Evidently that seems to be his
opinion, though those words sim
ply say that those stamps should
be used in the brewery OF the
purchaser, and nowhere else.
Whether the Commissioner OF In
ternal Revenue will overrule his
predecessors rule above men
toned, we cannot say as yet. We
have merely performed our duty
and called the attention OF the
brewers to this matter. Our future
acts depend upon the brewers
themselves.
Worse than War