The Hawaiian gazette., 1917-09-11
Washington Officials Presume
That Japanese Drink Is lncIud-
ed In Prohibition Of Import
Under Food Control Law

Importation of sake appears TO be
prohibited under tine regulations of the
Food Control Law which will stop the
importation of distilled LIQUORS and
which went into effect at midnight last
night. SO far AZ can be- learned no Off.
cial specific ruling on the question has
been made, but it is cassed with other
strong liquors which cannot be import
ed. A direct ruling to this effect may
be required and it is possible that a
ruling on the subject from the Supreme
Court may be secured to finally deter
mine the question.
Washington oficials Questioned
Yesterday afternoon The Advertiser
queried the Associated Press to learn
whether or not sake is prohibited from
importation as are distilled spirituous
liquors, since no advices on the subject
had previously been received here and
the Supreme Court had ruled that il
was to be taxed as "still wine. - The
message went in the words at the head
of this article, and last evening the re.
ply came from Washington that the pre-
sumption Is il comes within the prohib.
tied class of liquors. Evidently the As.
sociated Press at San Francisco aueried
its Washington Office and that ofice in,
terviewed government officials on the
question and forwarded their reply
Collector Here Not Advised ..
Before making mainland inquiries on
the subject of sake, The Advertiser
collector of customs for the port of
Honolulu. He had said that rs yet he
had received no advices on the subject
and had not received n copy Of the law.
No impOrtations were expected to ar
rive for a week or ten days, and in the
meantime be expected to receive a copy
Of the measure with instructions for en-.
fOrcement of the prohibitive TEXTURES
so far as they apply to his Office.
In the Tariff Act, now in operation
Mr.. Sharpe added, sake is not included
with wines, liquors or beers but is
specifically mentioned under the name
of "sake." The Supreme Court had
decided that for the purpose of collect,
ing customs duties IL was to be consid.
cred as "still wine" That was all he
had to go on, until officially Instructed
for the admission of the liquor or for
its exclusion under prohibition provis
ions. -, a D
Sake imports are large and important
to ports of entry where there are Japa.
nese communities contiguous, as is the
case at San Francisco, the chief seapOrt
of the Pacific Coast and az is the case
here in Honolulu, the port for the Ter.
ritory of Hawaii with its large Japa
nese population. r.... .ta.
Deuletes Supply Needed Food
II had been said that the manufac.
ture of sake here would probably not
he interfered with under the Supreme
Court ruling that for taxation purposes
il was TO be considered as n still wine
The question therefore arose whether il
would be barred from import. In that
case it seemed strange that its manu-
facture should be permitted when the
purpose of the law under which import
would be prohibited is to conserve the
food supply and since rice il one OF
the most important of the food staples
used in the Islands.
Since Washington officials presume
that sake is included in the prohibition
Of imports as spirituous liquor It il
probable that the instructions which
Mr. sharpe will receive from Washing
tom will be to prohibit it's importation
here. II may be, and probably will be.
that importers here, or in San Francis
90. viii seek more definite ruling on the
subject from Washington and that If
such ruling be adverse TO them, as il
is now indicated that il will be. ma
carry the question up TO the United
States supreme Court. e."