Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1905-09-20
IMPORTANT TO RURAL MERCHANTS
Dealers in Certain Patent Medicines
Must Procure United States Re-
tail Liquor License.

Z. S. Internal Revenue Collector
Henry P. Bardshar has received from
the commissioner of internal revenue
a circular which contains important
directions to the many merchants, es-
pecially in country towns, handling
patent medicines. Under this ruling
of the commissioner all such must
procure United States retail liquor
licenses. The circular reads:
Among the various alcoholic COM
pounds now on the market, advertised
and sold as medicine under the name
of whiskey, bitters, tonic, cordials,
etc. there are some that are COM
posed chiefly of distilled spirits or
mixtures thereof, without the addition
of drugs or medicinal ingredients in
sufficient quantities to change materi-
ally the character of the alcoholic
liquor.
The fact that these compounds dur
ing the existence of the statute I'M
posing tax on proprietary medicines
were, without the necessity of inves-
tigation into their medicinal charac-
ter, by the terms of the law made sub
ject to that tax, because they We're
held out to the public as medicines,
does not afford ground for relieving
the manufacturers from special tax as
rectifers and liquor dealers, or deal
ers therein from special tax as liquor
dealers under the provisions of Sec
tion 3244, Revised Statutes, and
amendments.
1t is held that the statute requires
the exaction of this special tax from
the. manufacturer of every compound
composed of distilled spirits, even
though drugs are declared to have
been added thereto, when their pres
ence is not discoverable by chemical
analysis, or it is found that the guam
tity of drugs in the preparation is so
small as to have no appreciable ef-
| feet on the alcoholic liquor of which
the compound is mainly or largely
composed.
The same ruling applies to every al
cohoic compound labeled as remedy
for diseases and containing, in addi
ton to distilled spirits, only sub
stances or ingredients which, however
large their quantity, are not OF a char
acter to impart any medicinal quail
| ty to the compound; but where sub
stances undoubtedly medicinal in theil
character are combined with whiskey
or other alcoholic liquor. and are used
in sufficient quantity to give a medi
cinal quality to the liquor other thar
that which it may Inherently possess
such compound is, of course, not tt
be included in this ruling.
The question in each case, arising
under the terms of this circular viii
be determined by this office, not mere
ly upon examination of the formula
Submitted by the manufacturer OF thu
compound, but upon result of thu
analysis made in the chemical labora
tory here of samples obtained in thu
Iopen market and sent in by the loca
internal revenue officers and agents
IL u * II y
But in order that no injustice ma.
be done to those druggists and mel
chants who, without holding specia
| tax stamps as liquor dealers, now hav
in stock these compounds for sale a
medicines, this circular will not b.
|put into effect until December /, 1905
| In accordance with the above rulin
|all druggists and merchants dealin
in proprietary medicines who do nc
| hold the requisite special tax STAN
as liquor dealers are notified that o
and after December /, 1905, they wi
be required to pay special tax fo
!, selling the alcoholic compounds con
ing within the ruling now promulga
!, ed, even when they sell them in goo
faith for medicinal use only, neve
, selling them as beverages, nor sellin
them knowingly to those buying thel
for use as beverages.