The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-12-28
REGISTRY BOOKS
WILL OPEN TO-DAY
IN COURT OF ORDINARY
ALI. LIQUOR AND CIGARETTE
DEALERS MUST REGISTER.

Those Who Give Cigarette Papers
With Tobacco Required to Regis
ter-Many other Kinds of Business
Held Under the Law-The Showing
Made Last Year-The Amount OF
Taxes Paid In by the Different
Dealers to the State.
The registry books will open in the
Court of Ordinary at o'clock this
morning. All liquor and cigarette deal
ers. all dealers in cigarette tobacco,
and those who conduct certain other
kinds of business, are required to reg
lister.
Preparations have been made in the
Ordinary's office for the work of reg
istering these dealers. Under the law
all must register before Jan. 1,
and usually there is rush
of business on the first day the books
open. The registry fee is 81. Clerk
Joseph Molina has arranged the office
so that the work can be handled quick
ly and rapidly, and so as to avoid all
delays.
After the first of the year all deal
BILE to prosecution under the INSIDE
meanor laws of Georgia, on a charge
of conducting business without pay
ing taxes and without the license. The
action of a recent Superior Court grand
jury in this regard will hereafter prob
ably be followed closely, as it seems
the only way in which delinquents can
be brought to time.
AS soon as the Ordinary's registry
book closes the list will be made out,
and one copy forwarded to the AttOr-
ney General of the state and dupli-
cate to Tax Collector Thomson. The
matter of collecting the taxes and
license fees. as far as the state and
county is concerned, will then be en-
tirely with the collector.
Registration Last Year.
Last year at this time there were
2SS liquor dealers who registered and
this number will probably vary little
this year. Last year only 142 cigar
cite dealers registered but it is prob
able that this year the total in this
line will be largely increased, owing
to the fact that dealers in cigarette
tobacco, whether they sell or give
away cigarette papers, must register
The law requires that all dealers in
tobacco, who either directly or indi-
rectly aid in supplying the smoking
public with cigarettes or cigarette ma
terials, must register This will cause
many who do not sell the ready-made
cigarettes to be brought under the law
and they must register.
Those now engaged in any business
for which it is necessary to register
are cautioned not to do so if they do
not intend to continue the business
throughout the year. Once their names
have been placed on the registry books
they cannot be removed, and even if
the proprietors retire from business
shortly after the beginning of the
year, they are still liable for the tax.
Some Registry Statistics.
Besides the 2Ss liquor dealers and the
142 cigarette dealers who registered
last year, the showing made by those
conducting other business concerns
was large There were five auction
GERS, five packing houses, thirteen pool
tables, twenty-five dealers in pistols.
ten loan negotiators, six photograph
ers fifteen pawnbrokers, eleven BIZ
cycle dealers, five dealers in futures,
two commercial agencies, one ticket
broker, one brewery. four typewriter
companies, twenty-five real estate
agents, one bowling alley, three shows
and show houses, twelve slot machines,
and three automobiles.
In the amount of state and county
taxes the 2SS liquor dealers lead, pay
ing over total of $4,000. Despite the
fact that there were only five who
registered as dealers in futures, their
taxes were so high that they rank
second in the amount paid with "a to-
tai of $1,000. The fifteen pawnbrokers
come third, paying over a total of
$1,5OO The fourth place is held by
the cigarette dealers who paid out