purchaser being allowed afterwards to have them repacked in small boxes and re-stamped without incurring any liability. To this inquiry I have to state that by the act of June 30, 1864, as amended by subsequent acts, all cigars are required to be packed in boxes or paper packages, before used or removed for consumption, inspected and stamped in a manner to denote the kind, quantity, or number contained in each package, with date of inspection, and the name of the inspector, and the collection district where the same were manufactured. Any manufacturer of cigars who shall allow his cigars to pass out of his hands, except into a bonded warehouse, without the inspection marks or stamps affixed, is liable to have them seized, ferfeited and sold for the benefit of the United States. To this requirement of law there is a single exception. A manufacturer of cigars may apply to the assistant assessor or inspector of the district to have his cigars counted, and on receiving a certificate of the number, he may sell and deliver such cigars to any purchaser in the presence of said assistant assessor or inspector, in bulk, or unpacked without payment of the tax. In this case the purchaser is required to pack the cigars in boxes or packages, have them inspected and marked or stamped, make a return of them to the assessor, and pay the tax on them to the collector of the district where they were manufactured. The mode of packing preparatory to inspection, if not clearly defined, is sufficiently indicated by the language of the law. They cannot be packed or sold in bulk, except as above indicated. They must be packed in boxes or paper packages. These boxes, or packages, must be such as are ordinarily used, and put up in the manner or style generally adopted for placing them upon the market. Ordinarily cigars are put in packages or boxes of 25, 50 or 100, sometimes 250 or 500, seldom more than 1,000, unless they are intended to be repacked. The tax upon cigars is so much per thousand, and if the manufacturer packs more than 1,000 in a box, they must be regarded as cigars in bulk. And even that number, or half of that number, if thrown together loosely, or not packed with that care ordinarily employed for putting cigars in a saleable condition, they are to be regarded as being in bulk, and not packed as the law requires, and therefore not in a condition to be inspected or branded. Very Respectfully, THOMAS HARLAND. Duties of Assistant Assessors in Charge of Distilleries. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Office of Internal Revenue, } Washington, January 1, 1866. The following rules are prescribed for the guidance of officers super vising distilleries : Inventories of Distillable Material, Barrels, and Distilled Spirits on hand 1. The assistant assessor, on commencing his duties, should take an inventory of the kind and quantity of grain, or other distillable material, on the premises of the distiller for purposes of distillation. He should also take an inventory of the number of new and old barrels on the premises, giving the number of each kind. He should also take an inventory of the distilled spirits on the premises, whether in barrels or in cisterns, giving the number of inspected and uninspected barrels of spirits, and the inspection marks on each inspected barrel, viz: the name of the inspector, the date of inspection, the proof and the number of gallons of spirits it contains. He should ascertain personally, or through the inspector, the proof and number of gallons of spirits in each cistern, and include them in his inventory. He should also ascertain from the proprietors of the distillery the quantity of spirits in bond or in store belonging to them, together with the number of barrels in each lot, and the inspection marks on each barrel; and he should include this information in the inventory. He should also take an inventory of the number or kind of stock (as swine or neat cattle) on the premises, stating whether they are owned by the distiller, or brought there to be fed. upon He should submit the inventories, when completed, to the agent, owner, or superintendent, of the distillery for certificates of their correctness. If the certificates are refused, he should note the fact the inventories, which, without delay, he should copy in his diary and send to the assessor of the district, who should file them as records of his office. Diary. 2. He should make the records hereinafter prescribed in his diary, each day, never amending it by erasure or interlineation, but, if he has any correction to make, stating it in a foot note, letting his original entry stand untouched. On retiring from office, he should turn his diary over to the assessor of the district. Record of Distillable Material brought on the Premises. 3. He should know, and record each day in his diary, in tabular form, the quantity and kind of grain, mill-feed, molasses, or other substances, brought into the distillery upon that day for distillation. Record of Barrels brought on the Premises. 4. He should know and record the number of new and old barrels brought on to the premises daily, and he should state, after personal examination, that there is no inspector's mark remaining on any old barrel. Record of Contents of Mash Tubs. 5. He should record the quantity and kind of grain ground each day, and, separately, the quantity put into the mash tub; and, where there is more than one mash tub, he should designate them by numbers (as tub No. 4;) he should have this information of his own knowledge, where possible; otherwise, from the masher or miller; but he should never take it from the owner, agent, or superintendent. He should enter in his record the capacity of each mash tub, and he should make a new record when a change is made in the capacity of the tubs. Record of Miller and Masher. 6. He should record each day the names of the miller and the masher on that day. Record of Fermenting Tubs. 7. He should number each fermenting tub, (as No. 2 or No. 5,) and should record the capacity of each, and the number of each tub into which the mash is run, and the hour (as 9.30 a. m.) when the mash is run off. He should record how many fermenting tubs are full each night, specifying them by their numbers, as No. I, No. 2, &c. He should record the number of each fermenting tub as its contents are run into the receiving cistern, the time when this is done, and the name of the man then in charge of the still; and he should give the number of hours in which the stills run every twenty-four hours, and should specify, as near as may be, the quantity and proof of the spirits produced during that time, taking his data, when possible, from personal inspection. Record of Barrels Filled. 8. He should record the number of barrels filled from each day's distillation, stating whether the barrels were old or new, and how many of each were filled. What constitutes a Day. 9. He should regard the day as consisting of twenty-four hours, and as commencing at midnight. Record of Inspections. 10. He should record the day on which the barrels so filled are inspected, giving the name of the inspector, and stating that he saw the barrels properly marked by him with such marks as are required in section 59 of the internal revenue law and the regulations of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. He should record, not in his diary, but in a book to be kept for that purpose, the inspection marks put on each package inspected in the distillery each day by the inspector, and should preserve the book for reference, turning it over to the assessor on retiring from office. Record of Spirits Removed 11. He should record the number of barrels of spirits removed from the premises each day, stating whether by railroad, canal, river, &c., stating whether for sale, storage, or bonding; if for sale, stating to whom consigned or sold; if tax-paid and stored, stating where stored; if for bonding, stating in what bonded warehouse, and in all cases recording the quantity and proof of each barrel, with date of inspection and name of inspector, to be taken from the barrels themselves. Numbering Barrels of Spirits. 12. He should number each barrel removed with stencil plate and paint, or brush and paint, marking the first barrel removed after his entry upon his duties in that distillery as No. 1, and continuing the numbering consecutively until the first of the next January, when he will again commence with No. 1, thus making a new series of numbers for each calendar year. Stock Record. 13. He should record each day the number and kind of animals (as swine or neat cattle) brought on to the premises on that day, stating whether purchased or brought there to be fed, also the number sent away, and whether slaughtered, sold, or returned to the owner. Record of Slop Sold. 14. He should record each day the number of barrels of slop sold on that day, if any. Record of Grain Sold or Feed Cut, &c. 15. He should record the kind and quantity of grain fed out to cattle, the kind and quantity sold, and, where a grist mill is connected with the still, and they use the same grain for both still and mill, the quantity of flour, meal, shipstuffs, middlings, &c., sold, or removed for sale each day. Record of Accidents. 16. He should record the fact if a mash is spoiled, or partially spoiled, and state what is done with it; if it is run he should give separately the quantity and quality of its product as above. He should record any unusual proceeding or accident which may increase or decrease the product of the still. Distillers' Bonds. 17. He should at the time of entering upon his duties at the distillery, ascertain, and record in his diary the amount of the distiller's bond, the names of the sureties, their residences, and the amount for which each security justified, where they have been put under oath. And he should, on ascertaining the amount of the penal sum named in the bond, compare it with the amount of the monthly tax, and if it be not double that amount, should, at once, in writing, call the attention of the collector of the district to that fact. Tri-Monthly Report. 18. He should submit his report on Form 50 to the owner, agent, or superintendent of the distillery, and ask a certificate of its correctIf it is refused, he should note the fact by inserting the words declined to sign," in the blank left in Form 50 for this signature. ness. Trial Balance of Spirits Made and Removed. 19. He should enter upon a page in his inspection book, in parallel columns, the footings of each of those columns of his returns on Form 50 which show the number of gallons of spirits made, and the quantity removed during the ten days for which report is made. On Entries in the Distiller's Book. 20. He should see that the entries in the distiller's book are made on each day that the distillery is in operation; that they are correct on all points; that they conform literally to what is required in section 57 of the internal revenue act now in force; and that the quantities of all kinds mentioned in the entries have been ascertained by actual weighing or measurement. He should, at the end of each ten days, compare these entries with those made by himself in his diary; and should, if any error exists, require that it be corrected by new entry, or by a foot note-but he should not permit any erasure when entries are once made. He should, also, in administering the oath to the agent, owner, or superintendent of the distillery, or the book-keeper, as to the truth of these entries, use the forms prescribed in sections 62 and 63, and in all points exact a full and literal compliance with their provisions. He should also be sure that the person proposing to sign as agent, owner, superintendent, or book-keeper, is properly and legally entitled to sign as such, before administering the oath. Distillers' Tri-Monthly Accounts. 21. When the tri-monthly accounts of the distillery are rendered to him, he should see that they are made out in all points in the form and manner specified in section 57, and Form 14; also, by personal inspection that they are a correct transcript of the entries in the distiller's book. If the accounts are found correct in all points, he should administer the oath in the form and manner provided by law. No person, except the agent, owner, superintendent, or book-keeper, should be allowed to verify the tri-monthly account, under any circumstances. The assistant should also see that a duplicate of the tri-monthly account is forwarded to the collector immediately after it is verified. Concerning the Transportation of Spirits in Bond. } TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Office of Internal Revenue, Į Under former statutes and regulations, if a person who had executed a bond for the transportation of distilled spirits to a bonded warehouse, paid the amount of tax due upon such spirits to the collector holding |