Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-11-30
MANILA LIQUOR TRAFFIC
Z III
GOOD EFFECT OF AMERICAN REGU-
LATIONS.
Bar Rooms Made More Orderly and Sa
10Onkecpers Rendered More
Careful.

Department has made public a summary
of that portion of the annual report of the
department of licenses and municipal reve-
nues Of Manila which relates to the liquor
traffic in that city.
Al the time of the American occupation
the law in force required all persons, firms
or corporations doing business Of any ma
ture within the municipal radius to have a
license Lieutenant Harry S. Bishop, in
charge of that department. states that prior
to January !, 1900, saloons, and in fact all
licenses to sell liquor of any class, both
wholesale and retail, came under the class
of general business licenses, the fee for
which was only $500, with a 500 stamp
attached.
Up to June 80. 1892 there had been issued
since the establishment of the office on
September 2, 1898, pa saloon licenses, four
teen of which had been Cancelled, leaving
200 outstanding. In addition to the above
there were one brewery and fifteen So
called dstilieries From that time up to
February I, 1890, there were issued twenty
eight more saloon licenses, of which four
were Cancelled. leaving a total outstanding
of 224 at the last mentioned date.
Dividing the City.
The officer in charge of licenses made
certain recommendations in November, 1899,
relative to change in the law, which were
carefully considered and embodied in gen.
eral order No. > of the military governor,
ated January I, 1902 which provided that
the city should be divided into two dis
trcts, to be known as the first license
district Grcluding the business portion Of
the city,, and the second license district
Including the residence part of Manila and
its immediate suburbs).
The license fee for saloons selling beer
and Intoxicating liquors
$500 (MeXican) in the first district, and
$50 in the second; for saloons selling only
beer and light wine. the fee was 500 in
the first district and $50 in the second.
These licenses were all limited to period
of six months, and strictly forbade the sale
in the saloons so licensed of the native
wine. commonly called vino, "ansado'
and other intoXicants usually known as
native drinks.
Additional and stringent police regulations
We're provided and special provision made
for hotels.
Saloon Licenses.
All saloon licenses in Manila were can
celed January 81, 1869, between which date
and June 80 new licenses were issued as
follows:
Licenses for wine, liquor and beer
saloons .............- ~
Licenses for wine and beer saloons... 81
Revoked or surrendered II
Total outstanding June 30, 1900. 100
This number includes hotel and restau-
rant liquor licenses.
Lieutenant Bishop states that the effect
of this order was to decrease the number of
saloons from 224 to 1875. to make the bar
rooms more orderly, and to make saloon
keepers in every way more careful In COM
plying with the terms of their licenses, re-
gardlng sales to drunken persons ana sales
out of hours.
The report shows that of the 1J5 saloon
licenses sixty-siX are held by Spaniards,
twenty-three by Americans twenty-six by
F'ilipinos and MestiZos, two by negroes
eight by Chinese, three by japanese and
twenty-sevcn by persons of unknown
nationality.
None of these licenses is held by soldiers
discharged from the army in the Philip
pines.
The Native Drinks.
With regard to the native drinks the re-
pert says:
The sale Of native wine is not regulated
by any set of regulations referring to it
alone. I.iceEses for its sale come under
the head of general business licenses. II
must not be supposed that a native Wine
shop is anything like saloon, or conducted
as a Wineshop alone; the sale OF liquor Is
invariably connected with that of other ar
tiCes, u'ually native groceries or cooked
food. The stock in hand will rarely exceed
SO being usually half dozen bottles of
the various brands and an equal number OF
glasses of different sizes.
The wine is known by various names
anisado. vino. beno, tuba, etc. The per
ccntage Of wood alcohol is extremely high.
The natives drink il moderately, and it APP
pears to have no deleterious effect upon
them An American drinking large Guanti
ties Of it as he would so much whisky, is
speedily rendered temporarily insane, and
then passes into a state of coma until the
effects have worn off. The regulat tons
gariIing its sale to soldiers are very Strin-
gent involving fine, imprisonment and for
fixture Of license. Licenses for the sale of
native wine are issued only to natives, Mes
ties and Chinese.
THE NATIVES have drunk this liquor for
generations, and ii has not been thought
best to prohibit the of it by them"