Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1907-10-18
Its Magnitude Causes Federal GOV.
eminent to Make Changes.
MAY GREATLY REDUCE REVENUES
If the Anti-Liquor Traffic Sentiment
Continues to Grow in the South, the
National Government Will Lose Mil.
lions of Dollars Annually.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17.-lf you
think there is nothing TO the prohibit
ton wave which is sweeping the
South and Southwest. ask Capt. John
G. Capers, commissioners of internal
revenue, who has just returned from
II trip through the South AS q re-
suit of this trip il is reported that
the commissioner will consolidate sew
cral of the collection districts of the
internal revenue service because of
lack of business. The report has il
TINT Georgia. and South Carolina will
be first consolidated and all the work
placed under Micah Jenkins at Coum.
bia, S. c., the Georgia offices being
abolished ana the collector retired
After January l, Georgia will be
dry, while half of the South Carolina
counties still sell whisllcy under the
dispensary law. 1t is practically adj
mittcd that after January there will
DO little or no need of collector i'm
Georgia. In the fiscal year 1906 the
total collections of revenue in Georgia
were $5950S5. With these collections
gone. the total collections probably
will not exceed $4,000 IL year.
Owing to local option. both Alaba.
ma ana florida practically have gone
INTO the prohibition column. the latter
hcing little the wettcr owing to n
Few recent minor prohibition defeats.
lherolore. In case OF n consolidation,
winch Is in contemplation. the head.
quarters for the two states would he
In FLORIDA. OF course, the commits
sioner has no definite idea at this time
ms to Just how much prohibition will
affect tho revenues of the nation. So
long ms the wave of prohibition Is con
llreu largely To the Southern states.
where tho distillerics are not of great
PROPORTIONS, II is not believed that the
nh'ioral income Will he seriously af.
iccted, But when the wnve reaches
INTO the regions where revenue re.
ceipts amount TO millions of dollars
= year Uncle Samuel viii i'agin to feel
INC ninch and he compelled to devise
other means OF taxation
onlv one thing will prevent the con.
solicitation of Southern revenue dis.
iricis tho first of tho year and that
is me fact that such a move would
hccessitate the adjustment of the hip
sllce OF government machinery bv
which the Republicans hone To con.
trol the Southern vote In the next pn.
'lonnl convention. Heretofore. the
collectors of Internal revenue and
'hoir forces oc mon have ho,n imnort.
ant factors in the selecting OF dele.
gates to national conventions. Since
commissioner Gamers himself is ono
Iof the administration leaders In South.
crn notifies, he Is exnectod not to act
too hastily In tho matter.
Oklahoma and Arkansas also are
slated for consolidation on the ground
that the now state is prohibition ont
nnd ont while Arkansas Is nj least
three-fourths dry. But Oklahoma Re
nnbl'cnns don't like the idea of con.
so'idation. having saved so small =
remnant that they nrc catching M
every straw in an effort to build ur
some sort OF state machine But Their,
VIII he little or nothing for internal
revenue collectors to do in Oklahoma
ana the expectation is that the con
solidation will l'e made eventually.