CHAPTER I. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON PRACTICAL BUSINESS MATTERS. May the name "Distillery Company" be used on sign by company not distilling? How is sour mash distilled? May retail dealers mix liquors? What power has Congress in prohibiting liquor traffic? Liability of carrier for damage to goods in shipment. Do the words "interest and charges" in a warehouse receipt cover a purchase clause? Does air improve quality of whisky? Difference between license and mulct tax. Can tax on goods in bond destroyed by fire be enforced? Is wholesale tax based upon proof gallons or wine gallons? On construction of shipping under false name. Has dealer to give bond if goods are made under his name? Is new special tax required after dissolution of partnership? Must wine bottles be stamped? Must wine bottles and jugs be stamped? What is dividing date between fall and spring inspection? Who is liable for storage? Liability for special tax on sale of whisky in bond. Must buyer or seller pay drayage? Can retailer put up sign as wholesale dealer? How is tax on reimported whisky determined? Liability of salesman to special tax. Can tax-paid whisky remain in bonded warehouse? Can part of barrel be retransferred from retail to wholesale dealer? Must capacity of barrel and proof be put on bung stave when goods are shipped? Can reimported whisky be regauged in custom house? On correction of volume. What quantity can retailer sell of different kinds at one time? On restamping of packages. What quantity of liquor requires rectifier's stamp? Is revenue stamp required on any quantity less than five wine gallons? On refilling two-stamp and one-stamp whiskies. On reducing proof to original inspection. Can rectifier's stamp be changed for wholesale stamp? Can barrels be refilled and how to enter on Form 52. Quantity of peaches required to produce a gallon of brandy. Stamps in relation to prune juice. Outage on reimported domestic whiskey. Indiana state tax. Scale for remuneration of salesmen. Fifteen points on keeping Form 52. MAY THE NAME "DISTILLERY COMPANY" BE USED ON SIGN BY COMPANY NOT DISTILLING?— QUESTION. Our Internal Revenue Collector demands that we remove from our firm name on the front of our building the words "Distillery Company," claiming that it is contrary to law to put out such a sign when one is not a bona fide distiller. Kindly let us know whether such is the law? ANSWER. The collector is wrong. Your firm being incorporated, and hence authorized by law to conduct business as a distilling company, he cannot preclude you from making use of your own legal appellation. The law merely prescribes that you are not allowed to use the word "Distiller" if you are not a distiller. The term "Distilling Company" might apply to many other things besides distilling of spirits, such as distillation of herbs, essences, perfumes, and even of water, and if your collector were right in his contention, he could just as well preclude firms that did distill these substances as he could you from putting up a sign with their firm name in connection with the words "Distilling Company." If you were to put the word "Distillers" along with your firm name as "Distilling Company," you would be liable to the penalty of the law; without the word "Distiller," he cannot interfere with you. HOW IS SOUR MASH DISTILLED? QUESTION. Please give us the correct process of what is understood to be sour mash distillation. ANSWER. Distillers themselves are not agreed as to exact formula for this process. In order to avoid taking sides, we confine our answer to the statement as defined by the Internal Revenue Department, which is as follows: "Sour-mash distilleries may be briefly described as those in which no fermenting agent other than spent beer or slop is used, but the grain is mixed with the slop directly from the still and allowed to remain twenty-four hours, at the end of which period the mash becomes hard and sour. It is then broken up and reduced with water, and allowed to undergo a natural fermentation, and it is believed that where spent beer or slop is the only fermenting agent used, the fermentation is not so rapid as in sweet-mash distilleries, where yeast is used, and a fermenting period of ninety-six hours (and not more than sixty gallons of beer to represent a bushel of grain) will be allowed in all sourmash distillries, without reference to the manner of heating, stirring or distillation. "In the case of distilleries in which the mashing and fermenting are done in the same tubs the twenty-four hours used for mashing will be included in the ninety-six hours allowed by the statute for fermentation, and all the tubs in the distillery will be treated as fermenters, and be embraced in the estimate of the capacity. Where the distiller prefers, he may set aside certain of his tubs to be used exclusively for mashing, marking them each distinctly 'mash tub,' and in such cases the capacity will be estimated upon the tubs used for fermenters." MAY RETAIL DEALERS MIX LIQUORS? QUESTION. Is a retail dealer allowed to mix or compound liquors behind his bar in quantities of less than five gallons, without rendering himself liable to special tax as rectifier? Yes, he is. ANSWER. Under the law a retailer can mix and compound behind the bar in advance of orders in quantities of less than five gallons in the same manner as a rectifier. This must be done, however, merely for the convenience of his patrons and not for the purpose of putting the liquor up in bottles and setting it on the shelf for sale. He can draw from the stock so prepared and sell by the jug, bottle, or drink at the time the customer gives his order. WHAT POWER HAS CONGRESS IN PROHIBITING LIQUOR TRAFFICP QUESTION. Can Congress pass a law prohibiting the states from the manufacture or sale of intoxicating liquors? ANSWER. Under the constitution Congress has power to pass laws for the general welfare of the United States. It is therefore able without the co-operation of the separate states, or in spite of their opposition, to tax, or prohibit by means of taxation, the |