Distillers, manufacturers, dealers and all other persons furnishing, handling or using alcohol withdrawn from bond under the provisions of this Act shall keep such books and records, execute such bonds and render such returns as the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, may by regulation require. Such books and records shall be open at all times to the inspection of any internal-revenue officer or agent.
Sec. 2. That any person who withdraws alcohol free of tax under the provisions of this Act and regulations made in pursuance thereof, and who removes or conceals same, or is concerned in removing, deposting or concealing same for the purpose of preventing the same from being de-natured under governmental supervision, and any person who uses alcohol withdrawn from bond under the provision of section one of this Act for manufacturing any beverage or liquid medicinal preparation, or knowingly sells any beverage or liquid medicinal preparation made in whole or in part from such alcohol, or knowingly violates any of the provisions of this Act, or who shall recover or attempt to recover by redistillation or by any other process or means, any alcohol rendered unfit for beverage or liquid medicinal purposes under the provisions of this Act, or who knowingly uses, sells, conceals, or otherwise disposes of alcohol so recovered or redistilled, shall on conviction of each offense be fined not more than five thousand dollars, or be imprisoned not more than five years, or both, and shall, in addition, forfeit to the United States all personal property used in connection with his business, together with the buildings and lots or parcels of ground constituting the premises on which said unlawful acts are performed or permitted to be performed: Provided, That manufacturers employing processes in which alcohol, used free of tax under the provisions of this Act, is expressed or evaporated from the articles manufactured, shall be permitted to recover such alcohol and to have such alcohol restored to a condition suitable solely for reuse in manufacturing processes under such regulations as the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, shall prescribe.
Sec. 3. That for the employment of such additional force of chemists, internal-revenue agents, inspectors, deputy collectors, clerks, laborers, and other assistants as the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, may deem proper and necessary to the prompt and efficient operation and enforcement of this law, and for the purchase of locks, seals, weighing beams, gauging instruments, and for all necessary expenses incident to the proper execution of this law, the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be required, is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, said appropriation to be immediately available.
For a period of two years from and after the passage of this Act the force authorized by this section of this Act shall be appointed by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, and without compliance with the conditions prescribed by the Act entitled “An Act to regulate and improve the civil service,” approved January sixteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-three, and amendments thereof and with such compensation as the Commissioner of Internal Revenue may fix, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury.
Sec. 4. That the Secretary of the Treasury shall make full report to Congress at its next session of all appointments made under the provisions of this Act, and the compensation paid thereunder, and of all regulations prescribed under the provisions hereof, and shall further report what, if any, additional legislation is necessary, in his opinion, to fully safeguard the revenue and to secure a proper enforcement of this Act.
Approved June 7, 1906.
DE-NATURING REGULATIONS
Under the Act of June 7, 1906
Under the Act quoted above, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue was empowered to make regulations whereby the law might be carried into effect.
In the first place it may be said that those who are permitted by this Act to manufacture de-natured alcohol must be distillers; in other words, those who have regularly licensed and registered distilleries. This does not mean that the plant must be large or costly—as witness the numerous little “stills” to be found throughout the South; but that the still, whatever its size, must be under constant supervision, and regularly licensed to manufacture alcohol. The requirements to this end can be had from the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Treasury Department, Washington.
Pursuant to the law regarding de-naturing, rules and regulations have been drawn up of which the following is a synopsis with extracts where deemed advisable.