Distiller, definition of.

Distilled spirits, definition of.

proof spirits;

SEC. 3247. Every person who produces distilled spirits, or who brews or makes mash, wort, or wash, fit for distillation or for the production of spirits, or who, by any process of evaporization, separates alcoholic spirit from any fermented substance, or who, making or keeping mash, wort, or wash, has also in his possession or use a still, shall be regarded as a distiller.

SEC. 3248. Distilled spirits, spirits, alcohol, and alcoholic spirit, within the true intent and meaning of this act, is that substance known as ethyl alcohol, hydrated oxide of ethyl, or spirit of wine, which is commonly produced by the fermentation of grain, starch, molasses, or sugar, including all dilutions and mixtures of this substance; and the tax shall attach to this substance as soon as it is in existence as such, whether it be subsequently separated as pure or impure spirit, or be immediately, or at any subsequent time, transferred into any other substance, either in the process of original production or by any subsequent process. Standard of SEC. 3249. Proof-spirit shall be held to be that alcoholic prevention of liquor which contains one-half its volume of alcohol of a specific gravity of seven thousand nine hundred and thirtynine ten thousandths (.7939) at sixty degrees Fahrenheit. And for the prevention and detection of frauds by distillers of spirits, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue may prescribe for use such hydrometers, saccharometers, weighing and gauging instruments, or other means for ascertaining the quantity, gravity, and producing-capacity of any mash, wort, or beer used, or to be. used, in the production of distilled spirits, and the strength and quantity of spirits subject to tax, as he may deem necessary; and he may prescribe rules and regulations to secure a uniform and correct system of inspection, weighing, marking, and gauging of spirits.

frauds.

Gallon as used in sales, definition of.

Tax on distilled spirits.

SEC. 3250. In all sales of spirits a gallon shall be held to be a gallon of proof-spirit, according to the standard prescribed in the preceding section, set forth and declared for the inspection and gauging of spirits throughout the United States.

SEC. 3251. There shall be levied and collected on all distilled spirits on which the tax prescribed by law has not been paid, a tax of seventy' cents on each proof-gallon, to be paid by the distiller, owner, or person having possession thereof before removal from the distillery warehouse: Provided, That distilled spirits lawfully deposited in a distillery bonded warehouse prior to the first day of August, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, may be withdrawn on payment of the taxes thereon at the rate, within the time, and in the manner provided by law at the time of such deposit. The tax on such spirits shall be collected on the whole number of gauge or wine gallons when below proof, and shall be increased in proportion for any greater strength than the strength of proof spirit, as defined in this Title; and any fractional part of a gallon amounting to one-half gallon or over in a cask or package shall be taxed as a gal

1See act of March 3, 1875 [Sec. 3251 a.]

lon, and any fractional part of a gallon less than one-half gallon in any cask or package shall be exempt from tax. Every proprietor or possessor of, and every person in any manner interested in the use of, any still, distillery, or distilling apparatus, shall be jointly and severally liable for the taxes imposed by law on the distilled spirits produced therefrom, and the tax shall be a first lien on the spirits distilled, the distillery used for distilling the same, the stills, vessels, fixtures, and tools therein, the lot or tract of land whereon the said distillery is situated, and on any building thereon from the time said spirits are in existence as such until the said tax is paid.

1875.

spirits-90 cents

[SEC. 3251 a.] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Act Mar. 3, Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passage of this act there 18 Stat., p. 339. shall be levied and collected on all distilled spirits thereafter produced in the United States, a tax of ninety cents on each Tax on distilled proof gallon, or wine-gallon when below proof, to be paid by per gallon. the distiller, owner or person having possession thereof, before removal from the distillery bonded warehouse; and so much of section three thousand two hundred and fifty-one of the Revised Statutes of the United States as is inconsistent herewith is hereby repealed.

stances to create

SEC. 3252. Every person who adds or causes to be added Adding subany ingredient or substance to any distilled spirits before fictitious proof; the tax is paid thereon, for the purpose of creating a ficti- penalty. tious proof, shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars for each cask or package so adulterated, and imprisoned not less than three months nor more than two years; and every such cask or package, with its contents, shall be forfeited to the United States.

removed without deposit in ware

SEC. 3253. The tax upon any distilled spirits, removed Tax on spirits from the place where they were distilled and not deposited in bonded warehouse as required by law, shall, at any time, house. when knowledge of such fact is obtained by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, be assessed by him upon the distiller of the same, and returned to the collector, who shall immediately demand payment of such tax, and, upon the neglect or refusal of payment by the distiller, shall proceed to collect the same by distraint. But this provision shall not exclude any other remedy or proceeding provided by law.

tillation contain

SEC. 3254. All products of distillation, by whatever name Products of disknown, which contain distilled spirits or alcohol, on which ing spirits. the tax imposed by law has not been paid, shall be considered and taxed as distilled spirits.

or

SEC. 3255. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with Brandy made from apples, the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, may exempt peaches, distillers of brandy made exclusively from apples, peaches, grapes. or grapes, from any provision of this Title, relating to the manufacture of spirits, except as to the tax thereon, when in his judgment it may seem expedient to do so.

[SEC. 3255 a.] SEC. 5. *** The Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, may exempt distillers whose distilleries have a daily spirit-produc

Act Mar.

1879.

Mar. 1,

Distilleries hav

producing capaci

ing a daily spirit- ing capacity of thirty gallons of proof spirits, or less, from such ty of thirty gal- of the provisions of existing law in regard to grain distilleries lons proof spirits which require the processes of distillation to be carried on

or

Evading tax; penalty.

Distiller defrauding or at

States of tax on

through continuous closed vessels and pipes, or which require the cisterns to be connected with the outlet of the worm or condenser by suitable pipes or other apparatus or which require certain clear spaces about the cisterns and other vessels of the distillery, or which require the distillers to have or furnish a plan of the distillery, as he may deem proper.

SEC. 3256. Whenever any person evades, or attempts to evade, the payment of the tax on any distilled spirits, in any manner whatever, he shall forfeit and pay double the amount of the tax so evaded or attempted to be evaded. SEC. 3257. Whenever any person engaged in carrying on tempting to de- the business of a distiller defrauds or attempts to defraud fraud United the United States of the tax on the spirits distilled by him, or of any part thereof, he shall forfeit the distillery and distilling-apparatus used by him, and all distilled spirits and all raw materials for the production of distilled spirits found in the distillery and on the distillery premises, and shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dollars, and be imprisoned not less than six months nor more than three years.

spirits.

Registry of stills, &c.

Notice of inten

business of dis

SEC. 3258. Every person having in his possession or custody, or under his control, any still or distilling apparatus set up, shall register the same with the collector of the district in which it is, by subscribing and filing with him duplicate statements, in writing, setting forth the particular place where such still or distilling-apparatus is set up, the kind of still and its cubic contents, the owner thereof, his place of residence, and the purpose for which said still or distilling-apparatus has been or is intended to be used; one of which statements shall be retained and preserved by the collector, and the other transmitted by him to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Stills and distilling-apparatus shall be registered immediately upon their being set up. Every still or distilling-apparatus not so registered, together with all personal property in the possession or custody, or under the control of such person, and found in the building, or in any yard or inclosure connected with the building in which the same may be set up, shall be forfeited. And every person having in his possession or custody, or under his control, any still or distilling-apparatus set up which is not so registered, shall pay a penalty of five hundred dollars, and shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than one thousand dollars, and imprisoned for not less than one month, nor more than two years.

SEC. 3259. Every person engaged in, or intending to be tion to carry on engaged in, the business of a distiller or rectifier, shall give tiller or rectifier. notice in writing, subscribed by him, to the collector of the district wherein such business is to be carried on, stating his name and residence, and if a company or firm, the name and residence of each member thereof, the name and residence of every person interested or to be interested in the business, the precise place where said business is to be carried on, and whether of distilling or rectifying; and if such

business is carried on in a city, the residence and place of business shall be indicated by the name of the street and number of the building. In case of a distiller, the notice shall also state the kind of stills and the cubic contents thereof, the number and kind of boilers, the number of mashtubs and fermenting-tubs, the cubic contents of each tub, the number of receiving-cisterns, the cubic contents of each cistern, the number of hours in which the distillery will ferment each tub of mash or beer, the estimated quantity of distilled spirits which the apparatus is capable of distilling every twenty-four hours, a particular description of the lot or tract of land on which the distillery is situated, and of the buildings thereon, including their size, material, and construction; and that said distillery premises are not within six hundred feet, in a direct line, of any premises authorized to be used for rectifying or refining distilled spirits by any process. In case of a rectifier, the notice shall state the precise place where such business is to be carried on, the name and residence of every person interested or to be interested in the business, the process by which the applicant intends to rectify, purify, or refine distilled spirits, the kind and cubic contents of any still used or to be used for such purpose, the estimated quantity of spirits which can be rectified, purified, or refined every twenty-four hours in such establishment, and that said rectifying-establishment is not within six hundred feet, in a direct line, of the premises of any distillery registered for the distillation of spirits. In case of any change in the location, form, capacity, ownership, agency, superintendency, or in the persons interested in the business of such distillery or rectifying-establishment, or in the time of fermenting the mash or beer, notice thereof, in writing, shall be given to the said collector or proper deputy collector, of the district within twenty-four hours after such change; and any deputy collector receiving such notice shall immediately transmit the same to the collector of the district. Every notice required by this section shall be in such form, and shall contain such additional particulars, as the Commissioner of Internal Revenue may, from time to time, prescribe. Every person who fails or refuses to give such notice shall pay a penalty of one thousand dollars, and shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than two thousand dollars; and every person who gives a false or fraudulent notice shall, in addition to such penalty or fine, be impris oned not less than six months nor more than two years.

Act Mar. 1,

1879.

Rectifier's

[SEC. 3259 a.] SEC. 7. Every rectifier shall, on filing with the collector his notice of intention to commence or continue business, after the passage of this act, and on the first day of R May of each succeeding year, make and execute a bond in form prescribed by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with at least two sureties; said bond to be approved by the collector of the district. The penal sum of said bond shall not be less, in the case of a rectifier who rectifies by the process of redistilling or of leaching, or both, than double the amount of tax imposed by law on the spirits that can be rectified by such rectifier during a period of ten days; and the penal sum of the bond required of any rectifier by any other process than those hereinbefore

Distiller to give bond.

named shall be fixed under such regulations as may be prescribed by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue; but in no case shall the penal sum be less than five hundred dollars nor more than fifty thousand dollars. The condition of said bond shall be that the principal shall faithfully comply with all the provisions of law in relation to the duties and business of rectifiers, and shall pay all taxes, penalties incurred, or fines imposed on him for violation of any of the said provisions. A new bond may be required in case of the death, insolvency, or removal of either of the sureties, and in any other contingency affecting its validity or impairing its efficiency, at the discretion of the collector or Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Any rectifier who, after the passage of this act, shall commence business without giving the bond required by this section, or who shall continue to carry on business, after demand made for such bond, without giving the same, or who shall fail to renew such bond when lawfully required, shall, on conviction, be fined not more than five thousand dollars; and any rectifier who shall give any false, forged, or fraudulent bond shall, on conviction, be subject to the penalties provided for in section fiftyfour hundred and eighteen of the Revised Statutes. [See Sec. 3451. Also, Secs. 5418 and 5479, Appendix.]

SEC. 3260. Every person intending to commence or to continue the business of a distiller shall, on filing with the collector his notice of such intention, and before proceeding with such business, and on the first day of May of each succeeding year, execute a bond in the form prescribed by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, conditioned that he shall faithfully comply with all the provisions of law relating to the duties and business of distillers, and shall pay all penalties incurred or fines imposed on him for a violation of any of the said provisions; and that he shall not suffer the lot or tract of land on which the distillery stands, or any part thereof, or any of the distilling-apparatus, to be incumbered by mortgage, judgment, or other lien, during the time in which he shall carry on said business. Said bond shall be with at least two sureties, approved by the collector of the district, and for a penal suin not less than double the amount of tax on the spirits that can be distilled in his distillery during a period of fifteen days. The collector may refuse to approve said bond when, in his judgment, the situation of the distillery is such as would enable the distiller to defraud the United States; and in case of such refusal the distiller may appeal to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, whose decision in the matter shall be final. A new bond shall be required in case of the death, insolvency, or removal of either of the sureties, and may be required in any other contingency at the discretion of the collector or Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Every person who fails or refuses to give the bond hereinbefore required, or to renew the same, or who gives any false, forged, or fraudulent bond, shall forfeit the distillery, distilling-apparatus, and all real estate and premises connected therewith, and shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dollars, and imprisoned not less than six months nor more than two years.