Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 June 1878 — NEARLY $2,000,000 A YEAR. [ARTICLE]

NEARLY $2,000,000 A YEAR.

The Bell Punch to Reduce Intemperance and Taxation Simultaneously. A special committee of the City Council of St. Louis has made a report strongly in favor of the adoption of the bell-pnnch system of taxing malt and alcoholic liquors. They say that, “upon information furnished by a distinguished Virginian, they are’satisfied that the revenue in Virginia this year will be nearly double what it was last year, and the Auditor of the State asserts that its working is satisfactory to saloon proprietors and to the people to, such an extent that if it were put to a vote in Virginia now it would pass by more than nine to one.” The committee claims that the tax is not an involuntary one, but a voluntary tribute by the consumer. He is not compelled to take the drink, and the saloon-keeper is not charged with the tax until he has collected its from the consumer. The effect of the law would be measurably to decrease the number of cheap whisky shops, and to increase the consumption nf beer. The statistics in Richmond, Va., for two months, show that in that city, in September, 1877, the alcoholic registrations were 126,880, and the malt registrations 135,536. In the month of April, 1878, after the law had been some time in operation, the number of alcoholic registrations was 119,535, and of malt 156,807. The committee are of opinion that upon the diminution of alcoholic consumption may be safely predicted an increase of sobriety and a diminution of crime, thus decreasing the necessary expenditures for police and the criminal courts and jails. Coming to the important question of revenue, the committee estimates that $600,000 would be realized in St. Louis from beer alone, and that the sale of whisky and other alcoholic drinks would certainly double this sum, thus showing a revenue from this mode of taxation of near $2,000,000 a Besides the floating population, strangers as well as residents would thus help to bear the burden of taxation. The committee paint a glowiDg picture of the practical benefits likely to result from the bell-punch. The nowfilthy streets would be well paved, the bonded debt of the city would be rapidly retired, and St. Louis, independent of creditors, would be one of the happiest, as it is one of the most energetic and prosperous, cities of the Union.