The Washington herald., 1911-01-15

SO vigorous that 'moonshiners' now play
one-night stands, as We say-that is, they
move their stills every day in wagons
Farmers will ferment their grain at home
and steal away after the sun goes down
to an itinerant still in some nook of the
forest. Before daylight next morning the
still has vanished and the farmer has
returned to his home with a supply of
whisky that is almost the color of al
cohol.'
Tragedy of Raidfng Stills.
"One of your officers was killed and
three officers were badly wounded" 1
last year.
Yes; in Walker County. Ala. A great
deal of 'moonshine' whisky is made
in and around the town of Admission
SUrber. our agent in Atlanta. took six
men and raided an active still in the
mountains. The still was approached
from three directions. Anderson and
Putnam, two of the deputies were to-
sether. They were fired on from behind
fallen tree in a tangle of underbrush.
Anderson was hit twice and killed in
stantly. Putnam was wounded in the hip
and his horse was shot from under him.
However. he got away. Surber organ
lied posse and caught the assassins,
three men and a fifteen-year-old boy.
Two of the men were sentenced to the
penitentiary for thirty years each. The
other man was sentenced to twenty
years imprisonment and the boy to fif-
teen years.
sale of Intoxicating liquors. but the Unit
ed States government does not hesitate
to license persons in that very same
State to sell such liquors.
PervertinE the Truth.
You seem to have read some inaccurate
temperance literature MIR. Cabell an
swered. "The United States does not Ii
cense any one to engage in the business
of selling distilled spirits or fermented
liquors. Prohibitionists often say that
it does, but they are either in error or
are purposely pervertinG the truth. I
have heard preachers assert that the gov
ernment is a partner of every saloon
keeper in the country. On each receipt
given to a liquor dealer by any of our
collectors will be found in plain type
the following statement: This stamp is
simply a receipt for tax due the gov
erDQent and does not exempt the holder
from any penalty or punishment provid-
ed for by the law of any State for carry
ing on the same business within such
State. and does not authorize the COM
mencement nor the continuance of such
business contrary to the law of such
State or in places prohibited by munich
pal law
Now. the Constitution of the United
States provides that all taxes for Federal
must be uniform. If Kansas
is taxed to support the national govern
ment. New York must also be taxed in
exactly the same manner. The license
as many good people call it. is in short. an
tax which the government
has seen fit to levy on wholesale and re-
tail liquor dealers. Manifestly We can
not ask John Smith, when he comes to
pay such tax. If his State prohibits the
sale Of Intoxicating beverages, or if his
city has restrictive or regulatory ordi-
But-and now mark what have to
John Smith pays the tax the
internal revenue collector of the district
posts John Smiths name in his office
and there the State city officials may
see it. We accept the tax. give A receipt.
and post the name: it is then up to the
State or city authorities to get the name
work up case. and prosecute John
Smith.
Liquor dealers pay the Federal tax.
and pay it promptly. They know that if !
hey fail to pay they will suffer the full |
penalty of the law. At the same time !
hey very often violate State and munich |
pal laws, believing they can do so with |
I venture to say that 90 per |
:ent of the prosecutions in prohibition or |
ocal option communities are based on |
obtained at the offices of the !
collectors of internal revenue.
IF there were no Federal tax on the |
of selling intoxicating bever- |
,geS local officers would not know the |
names of the dealers. As it is. for rea-
IONS easily understood. they do not al
ways use the information that is attain
lble without personal effort their
,art. The tax. in short, is a practical
emperance measure"
Copyright. 1911, by James B. Morrow.)