Daily Arizona silver belt., 1907-12-20
BLENDED WH|5KEY NOT REAL THING
 SAYS PRESIDENT
PRESIDENT INSISTS ON ENFORCE. MENT OF FOOD LAW-REv-
 ENUE STAMP MUST TELL.
President Roosevelt Acts Promptly When His Attention Is Called to Dis regard of Attorney Generals Ruling by Collectors of Treasury Depart ment.

| " btNtHlDcI iJ.--lt became apparent yesterday that the president is taking more active inter. est in the administration of some of the departments. The president directed the internal revenue department of the treasury department to put into fleet immediately the ruling of the attorney general last April on the subject of straight, blended, and compound whis kies
 This action, it is said, followed q ative of civic organization, who cx. plained to the president that blended whisky was still being sold under the protection of the internal revenue stamp as ''whisky.''
 This guarantee, it is claimed, is not in conformity with the provisions of the recent pure food law, now being encr. getically enforced by the department of agriculture.
 If this report should prove true and there was no reason tO doubt it's accuracy--the treasury regulations will be so changed that its wording will show precisely the character of the "blcrd V or the compound" The importance of this action lies in the fact that the revenue officials have ignored the ruling of the legal officer of the govern ment, and that the change has only been made upon the peremptory order of the president v
 Two Manufactured Whiskies. Under the revenue laws two kinds of whisky arc manufactured. One is known as single stamp and the other as two-stamp whiskcy. The two-stamp whisky is the straight goods, upon the barrel of which the serial package stamp is placed when it is put in bond, and then the tax-paid stamp before i; is taken out of bond.
 Singlc-stamp whisky contains the Icctifier $ stamp. When it goes to the rectifcr the tax paid is taken off and rectifer g stamp pat on. In both cases the wording of the stamp is to the effect that the contents of the pack age is "whisky.' v The rcctiiier pays tax on the spirits as they are with. drawn from the bonded warehouses. The product of the rcctificr may he barrclci or bottled, but if bottled it must be done under the pure food law The barrel product bears the single stamp, The rectilicrs who blend whiskics have advanced the argument against the enforcement of the purc-food law as against whisky that for years the gov ernment has stamped their product as to designate it as whisky and gives them standing in court.
 Ruling Upsets Argument.
 The ruling of the attorney general upscts this argument, and if the treas luIy department makes the change, as directed by the president, the stamp will designate this product in accord. ancc with the ruling of Secretary Bonn partc. The internal revenue office has never made this change. and the ruling of the attorney general has been ig norcd.
 ] The interference of the president works change in the entire policy of the internal rcvcnne department anu will compel the product of the rcctiiier. to show on the stamp whether the con tents of the package is blended or com pound. It was said last night to bt the purpose of the president to insis; that the government stamp should nc longer characterize this product as whis | ky, if under the definition of the attor- ney general, some other name should Dc given it.
 To Collect Revenue Only. The contention of the internal rev enue office has been that that depart mcnt had nothing to do with the CT forcemcnt of the pure food law, ana was concerned only in seeing that the proper revenue stamps were affixed to packages containing rcctiiied products Tho position taken by the president will have no bearing on the ease m Baltimore, where several barrels of al | legged whisky were recently seized under the pure food law, in the warehouse of | a wholsale dealer in liquors. In this case it was claimed the product was | blended goods, whereas the dealer pur chased it as "whisky,' and had sold the same brand of goods for years a' such The issue so sharply drawn for months between the ''straight goods people and the rectifiers will now be- come more acute than ever, and it is not improbable that the whole question may find it's way into the courts for adiudication. A writ of mandamua may be asked to forbid the treasury officials from changing the wording of