The Topeka state journal., 1904-06-23
TAX DRUG STORES
Plan to Levy Special Tax on
Those Selling Liquor.
Rate Proposed Is Two Hundred
Dollars a Year.
LESS FOR THE OTHERS.
No Permit PrOprietOrs Would
Pay Only Ten Dollars.
Believed that Many Would Give
Up Permits.

Under the terms of the new license
law which is being considered by the
city officials, a tax of 5000 year viii
be imposed on every drug store which
sells whisky, while the drug stores
which do not have a liquor permit will
get off with $40 a year
Druggists generally do not know
that there is such a provision being
considered, and when they ind it out
there is likely to be a large bouquet
of protests filed with the ways and
means committee of the city council.
Mayor Bergundthal said today:
think it is a very good provision of
law. The drug stores which do no
whisky business should be let OIL with
a small tax, but am in favor or max
ing the ones which have a permit to
/ sell whisky pay for the privilege. Ihey
do a great deal more business as a
result of holding their permit
One leading Topeka druggist, who
/ does a strictly legitimate liquor bust
ness under his permit, said today:
/ Il am glad the council is consider
/ ing such a measure hope they VIII
put on just such a tax as they pro-
pose. The effect would simply be to
drive every legitimate drug store hold
ing a liquor permit out of the whisky
/ business We could not. afford to pay
the license. I know that would
simply surrender my permit and quit
trying to handle liquor. would be
very glad to get rid of the whole
thing. I don't like to handle liquor,
and it would not make me feel bad
at all to have them take the whole
business out of my hands"
Another druggist did not take such
a view of the case, and he too, was
one of the men who has the reputa-
ton for doing liquor business strictly
/ according to law He said:
Such an eXorbitant tax on drug
! lcfo ha1 a IiU11O1- hermit is
fair and unjust. i shall be opposed to
it. / think it would be all right to
impose some additional tax on drug
/ stores holding a liquor permit, but
5000 is out of all reason. could
not afford to keep my permit on such
! a basis. There is not enough profit
| in the business. The government
! charges US $25 year tax, and 1t IS
paid without protest But there would
be fight on such a high tax as 5000.
'The effect of such a law would
drug stores out of the liquor busi-
ness. We could not supply our pa
irons with any kind of liquor. 1t is
well known that in order to get pure
( liquors, a man must come to a le-
gitimate drug store He can't get pure
stuff at the so-called whisky drug
stores or any place else It would
have the effect of shutting off the
supply of good liquors for medicinal
purposes.
Another thing I anticipate would
result from such a. law. The whisky
drug stores would feel the necessity
stronger if they had to put up 5000
for the privilege of selling it at all.
1t would make these drug stores con-
Siderably worse than they now are.
They would devote still more attention
to selling liquors and still less to le-
gitimate business. Whether the city
intended it SO or not, this 5000 a
year license would be considered by
the drug stores a license to sell
liquor about as they please. The city
should either make the drug stores
obey the law strictly, and keep the
joints shut, or else it should allow the
joints to run, and get some revenue
out of them. 1 think the latter plan
/ would be the best"
If the city council takes a notion
to pass the whisky drug store" tax.
it will not do the drug stores much
good to make a fight in the courts.
The thing has been tested, and found
@. X. Not more than a year ago,
the supreme court decided a case ex-
actly parallel to this. Some Kansas
town passed law levying a low tax
on the nO-permit drug stores, and a
high tax on the permit stores, and
the stores which had permits united
to carry the case to the supreme court
to test the validity of the discrimf-
native provision. The result was that
the theory of this law was sustained.
The court held that as the liquor per-
nit gave the drug store holding it an
; increased opportunity to make money.
it might be taxed higher for that
privilege. The court did not decide,
however, just how high the license
: might be lacked up without becoming 2
contrary to the United States consti-
tuition, or some other legal obstacle.
1t may be that $500 is too high even
: for the whisky drug store
r One thing is sure. If the council
passes such a law, it will tend to make
the drug store business less popular
; in Topeka. There would in all prob
! ability be a marked decrease in the
/ number of drug stOr es which now con-
; tinue to operate and make money out
: of the profits of their whisky sales
Not only would the legitimate drug
stores have to throw up their permits
but lot of the small fry who now
f do business in whisky with drugs as
a side line would be seriously ham
pered.