El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-07-01
CIGARET PACKAGES
CUT BY UNCLE
SAMUEL
Tobacco Packages Are Also
Made Smaller by the
New Tariff Law.

The same inverse process of reason
| ing on which the down east Yankee
J claimed to be a life saver because he
{ had shot at man and missed him,
| benevolent Uncle Sam has assumed the
| position of life saver in chief to the
American youth by reducing the num-
Der of cigarets in each package sold.
! Coffin nails have long been held to be
| the cause of various earthly ailments
I from bone SPAWN to tuberculosis. Now
comes this same Uncle Sam and levies
| an internal revenue tax effective July
! l. on the cigaret and cigaret max
| ms which reduce the consumption
| Of this commodity materially through
! out the country
! Section 1894 did it. This section of
the tariff law of August g. 1909, says
! that the tax on cigarets made of to-
bacco or substitutes therefor (sawdust
not excluded) and weighing not more
than three pounds per 1000, shall be
S1.25 per 1000, provided that all rolls
OF tobacco or substitutes therefor
(again not excluding saWdust) wrapped
in paper shall be classed as cigarets.
Another clause of the same section
applies to cigarets weighing more than
three pounds per 1000 But as these are
the overweight after dinner affairs
that are smoked only by the bloods, the
interest centers around the ones that
are packed 20 in a box and sell for
dime or Whereabouts, or the more ar
istocratic ones which sell for 10, 10
and % cents, according to the amount
of tobacco and rags in each cigaret-
In the future the 10 cent packs viii
contain Is instead of 20 cigarets and
the more expensive packages eight in
stead of 10 of the cork tipped variety.
The internal revenue increase on this
class of the tailor made cigarets is from
81 cents to s1.25 per 1000 and the deal
er has to edge either by reducing the
number in each package or increa sing
the price per package That was a mas
ter stroke of the old man in Washing
ton. For each package of these death
dealers sold the number smoked is re-
duced five. When the total number of
these paper sticks, which are smoked
daily throughout the United States are
taken into consideration, the extent OF
Uncle Sans life saving operations
among the cigaret smokers may be es-
timated. The reduction is not so great
in the Turkish kind with the cork
tips, which are made in far away Dur
ham, n. c. But it is probable that
care so much for the lives of the
smokers who persist in smoking the
cork tipped variety that smell like a
burning horses hoof while he is hav-
ing. his low shoes fitted at the black
smith shop.
Even the markings received a rap by
the man who framed the tariff law.
The package which formerly held l 2-3
ounces of the graduated tobacco for
rolling the home made pills, will con-
tain but l 1-2 ounces after Friday, July
1. The old l 2-3 ounce packs will not |
be used again. according to local |
wholesale tobacco dealer. and several !
cigarets less per package will result !
from the increased revenue tax on this |
brand Of the weed.
No difference in the internal revenue |
rate on cigars of standard size will re-
suit from the change in the revenue !
laws The small cigars Will be taxed |
a tariff more under the new law than
under the old, but the difference |
amounts to but a few cents per 1000.