Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1944 )

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN QROYL” BLLLm”. 1Ro~“&!” (DIIIIAL Hon. Bert Ford, Administrator Texas Liquor Control Board Sustin 1, Tbxas Dear Sirr opinion No. 0 We have your letter Vie are submitit GrapesugfAr 0r Ltd., appare3ltl.y le almul salee a&ant8 to distr aa ‘Orapesaga mauuraeturing ..:..$‘: ,.;.: .I,,.;:. ~~,! ,Ti,.z,:irLi, oonalderlngthe matter wlll you klab- ly ad&k whether in your opinion ihe manuiaotur- em of this produet and their agenta aotfng dth- In the State of Texas in advanoing the sale of *Grapesugar*ror the purpose oi manufaaturingor .a.-4 ..i ’ / Hon. Bert Ford, p. 2 iermenting an alooholio beverage are aotlng In violation of+the State law in solicitingorders for this product from persons who are not the holders of permits privilegingthe manufaoture of alooholio beverages.* You enolose advertisingmaterial Baling the follow- lngolaims and represeqtations,among others: "Dear Sir; THIS IS IT.' Cut below shows faoe of paokage, aotual afee, "This package will fenaent;oolor and tlavor ,,,. TWU OALLOW of fresh fruit JUoe, dr@d rmlt juloe or other sweet liquide. The result is's' beverage of .lSto 14 peroent alo#ollo 4@+t wii$~spar~lng alear wine oolor and exoellent'~ . IMITBTIa :>i. :~.i~< side paokegs. VLctive~ingredient rrinegrep4 yeast devel- oped iram wine grapes with a mixture.or 4hkred saoeharoee,meal and U. S...bertifled aolor.~ The pa&e everywherearq oomple~telg OUT of &iidOEC&ICdx$Mo3 orverySRORTatekyhighgtiqa WFI.nereettlteare prddueed with frqeh $!ru%$ julo$, duta8~ fmxn boiled, d~A6d N&%&t~ezp%awed ~' llquide such aa ayrupe of et. any brd'atd fhe , maTket8 and steores are full of them. you d&Vi ne& an.np~ as eyruu& will do.Jn+t aa walli rxoelle . &any even ruport ilse results with just half syrup, halr water and this produot added, left in warm plaoe or etliving room temperature. Some use honey In ~$.a08ot- SrnPE. Stxteadd syrup to the fruit Juioe to in- orease its sugar oontent and thus get a beverage . Hon. Bert Ford, p. 3 . of a higher ALCOHOLIC oontent up sugar oontent is 28$ at start of Most brands of syrup contain 50% DIRECTIOWSARD ALL AEGLES ARE IW “AN8 OUNCE GLASS OF SUCRABEVERAOE 00% TAIRIHO 14~~ALOOHOL oontalns OVER ORE OUECE OF ALOOHOL. A one ounoe glass of 100 pr4ot whiskey oontalns only l/2 an ounce of aloohol. lhua you get OVER TWICE as muoh ALCOHOL In an 8 ounoe alaas of suoh a beveraae as you do in one ounoe sass of the strongest-whislciy made. THAT18 . WHAT MARES SALES. That~aooountsfor the demand. TRATISWBATCAEPUT$3OOO1MDE!lTIIRTOYDUR PBOEET IF YOU ARE EXl&EWCED AED A(ITQUICELY." "DIRECTIOES "SIMFLYPUTCYCZ?TEHTSOFTBISPAGKJ%E IWTO .AEYLBEl$Wi$I!NLIQUIDTOBEFERURTED. l@EPIE WARM PINE ARDIT WILL BE READY FOR USEWI!l?iIE OREORTW9lUYSAFTERFERMERT@IOEUEASES, TRUS CIVIROITTIblETOOIXARuP. USl!iALLoS’BiEPAUfC- AGE FOR l%Q tULLO~,ORRALF OF IT l!DR.OREGALLOW." There was also,enoloeeda letter from aerepresent- ative.of the manufaoturer,addreeeedto a pr4sp448ivs Texas agent, a part of whloh we quote: We have not as yet oloaed the Sxae tell rltory, but the little 3 line ad pulled so meny Inquiries that one would think there was not a lr=ps" eloohollobeverage In Bouston or in While we have quoted only a small portion of the advertising material It Is .suffloientto lndloate olearly that lte pui-pose~1sto enoouragepersons In this State to msnufaotie.wine. It is only by obtaining a Class A or B Winery Permit as presorlbedby subdivisions3 and 4 of Se41 Hon. Bert Ford, p. 4 tlon 15 'Texas Liquor Control A& that tuoh manufaaturewould be legai. The Tsxas Banal Code oontalns the following pro- vlsi$m3:' "Art. 70. Who is an aooomplioe.- - An aooomplioe is one who.is not present at the OQP- mission.of an offense, but who, before the aot is done advises commands or anoouragesanother to oommjt the of&se ; or . (I l . . .‘a *Who prepares arms or aid of any kind; prior to the ocsunlsslon0r an offense, ror the purpose of assisting the prinolpal in the exeoution of the same.. W "Art. 72. ~Punlshmentof aooanplloe.- - Ao- oomglloes shall, In all oases not otherwise ex- presalJr provided for, be punished fn .thesam4 manu4r as the-prinoipal orresdsr.* l!Wm the facts set forth, It seams legioal to .4on- olude that a person selling the produot desbribed~to,au un- lloensed Individual Is advising and-enoouraglnghim to manu- faoture wine. Su4h an aot of manufaotire Is a violation 6f: law and is punishable as a mlsdsmeanor. Art. 666-41, V.P.0, It seem8 olear, moreover, that a sale of ths pro- da& under the airoumstanossabove outlined would bring th4 shier within the .terms of the statutre abave quoted dotin- lng sn ao44mplloe. In Tsxasb howIIer, the dlstln4tionbetween prinolpalsand aooomplioes does n$ obtain in mlsdsmean4r~ aaserh It rollowe, therefore, that If the purchaser makes ah, oi.ths produot without a permit, then the s&l.leiend.the purohaser oould‘be proseouted as prlnalpals* 18 Tsx, SW., p. 3zu, Sea. 73. It is our opinion, ther4ror4,that in eaoh instanoe where a purohaser manufacturerswine without a psnait fkom the produot desorlbed,that both he and the seller may be ,-- Eon. Bert Ford, pi 5 prosecutedas prinolpals for violating the law0 Very truly yours ATTORNEY G-RR-ElUL OF TElEBE(