Nogales international., 1941-06-14
LIQUOR Dealers To Blame For Stop
page OF -Four Quarts A Month"

Central Arizona liquor dealers, and not old age pen
gionars are the persons to blame, we believe, 1ol
sudden enforcement by the Arizona Tax COMMISSION
Of the law forbidding importation Of untaxed liquor
into Arizona from Mexico.
We are of this opinion for the following reason:
On Nav 80 Phoenix paper carried an edltorla
headed. "Officials Fail to Curb Flow OF UntaXee
Liquor
The editorial went on to say, in part, as follows:
stThonsands of dollars are lost annually TO
iouor retailers and taxpayers OF Arizona
through failure of public officials to stop un-
taxed liquors entering the state
s.Countless gallons Of untaxed liquor are enter
ing Arizona daily in two ways
''First. each citizen returning from Mexico Is
entitled to bring back, duty free gallon Oh
houor. Second, there is an organized group r''ii,
ming liquor across the border TO aVolo pay ynleNV
Of luxury taxes to Arizona.
3sWhen YOU consider that each gallon OF liquor
bronoht into the state means 80 cents IN revenue
that some retailer paying license TO 90 ousl-
ness in the state and employs help, whom ne
mnst nav each week. lost that sale OF liquor ana
the proft thereon it is easy to figure that the loss
ON this illicit importation runs into thousands
upon thousands Of dollars each year.
'.Dealers charge that the agency responsible
for the collection Of taxes upon liquor Is making
M effort to collect luxury taxes on liquor
brought into the state They say this shoulo De
done for the protection of retailers and to aug
ment state treasury funds to help relieve the
present heavy tax load.
That editorial had the effect OF arouslng the Cen
tra Arizona liquor dealers and tive Gays 1aler ''t
+av commission and liquor enforcement department
cracked down by sending to Nogales three agehs u
stoD the flow from across the lme
Two Of the agents sent here-George s. Martin ano
Seth Dodge-are among Arizona's most promlnen'
;+izons and nioneers Martini field agent Of the lux
ury tax division of the tax commission, is brother
of Mavor Frank G.. Martin Of Clifton, and l)oo@e
1iouor enforcement agent, is partner OF the WIDOW
of the late William T. Webb Ia the cattle buslneS
near Wilcox.
That enforcement of the law will hurt the tours
business at Nogales, is the contention OF some NO
gales business men, and they have set up hoWl an(
launched an attack on the tax commission.
It seems to us that more diplomacy or tact. a1it
less yelling, might get somewhere i'll this 'battle
the bottles''
Because of the impossibility of thoroughly enforc
ing the law under the tax COMMISSION present SeC
of an insufficient number of agents. we believe tina
eventually the tax commission will Withdraw 1t
agents from Nogales and trust to Uncle Sam doln
the enforcing here if the old gent be induced t
do so.
If the tax commission had enough agents to ell
force the law as laws are undoubtedly supposed t
be enforced it would mean big thing for Nogale
for it would take not less than 20 agents to handl
the job and twenty agents would mean twenty NOR
families permanently located here
There would have to be three eight-hour shifts an
agents stationed at entrances to all streets leadln
from the international strip.
REGARDLESS of whether the law is enforced remen
ber that:
Tourists will continue to come here even if the
can't bring over four quarts month.
Not all tourists are liquor drinkers Thousand
come here each year. not for liquor, but for curio
novelties, and other things, obtainable only
Mexico