The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1905-03-21
THE HALF MILLION
DOLLAR DECISION

We'd on the enumerated article which
it most resembles in any of the particu-
lars before mentioned"
Sake is beer, product of the fer
mentation of rice, produced by a pro-
cess similar to that employed in max
ing beer i'm this country, rice being
used instead of barley. An analysis of
sample of the Importation in ques-
ton shows it to contain seventeen per
cent of alcohol, 1874 per cent of solids
and .O64 per cent of an; the, remaining
1850 per cent being water.
Polariscopic and other tests discloses
the presence of maltese, which is the
first product of the change of starch
under the action of the disastatic fer
ments, and indicates that the fluid is a
product of a starch bearing substance.
Sake is amber colored, has a sweet
taste, has no bead, and is always heat
ed before being drunk
Still wines are produced from the nat
ural saccharine juices of fruits and do
not contain starch or maltese which is
a product of starch. They are always
fermented in closed casks in the alb
sence of air and contain from seven
and a half to sixteen per cent of alco-
hol. &
Beer is produced by a process SINH
lar to that which produces sake; it is
usually effervescent, is cold when drunk
and it contains from three and a half
to nine per cent Of alcohol The name
sake is apparently arbitrary and not de-
scriptive and conveys little or no intel
ligence to the mind. The record, too, is
very meager as to the points of SINH
larity between it and other beverages
with which it is compared, many of the
characteristics being untouched by the
proof.
Taking the criteria of Section Z above
quoted, we find sake to be similar to
beer in material and the use to which
ii is applied and similar to still wines
in quality and use. comparison in
texture would seem to be papplica-
BILE to liquids.
Sake resembles beer in it's process of
manufacture and in the presence OF
maltese, i'm the extract which is a char
acteristic of beer but is never found in
still wines. 1t resembles still wines in
the large percentage of alcohol and IL
has many points of similarity to both
wine and beer. 1t is also true that in
many particulars it is wholly unlike
anything mentioned in schedule H Of
the Tariff Act
The similarity to still wines based up
on the large amount of alcohol found II
the imported merchandise presents thu
strongest reason in justification of tn,
Collectors classification. In other re
spects we incline to the opinion that tn,
importer presents the stronger argu
ment. Taking everything into consid
Grafton there are certainly as man!
points as resemblance between SAX
and beer as between sake and still
wines. If there We're no alternative bu
select one or the other of these simili
tudes, it is probable that the decision
would be in favor of the appellee unde
the rule that resolves a doubtful ques
ton of tariff Interpretation in favor o
the importer. But sake has so man!
characteristics which are not found il
either beer or wine, its ingredients ar
so unusual and the process of its man
ufacture so unique that 1t may fairl,
be held that it is no where describeu
except by the general language of Sec
tion 6.
The decision Of the Circuit Court /
affirmed.