a failure to introduce the English measures as directed by law exposed the retailer of liquor to the enormous fine of five thousand pounds of tobacco, and if he was also an innkeeper, to the cancellation of his license.[1]
In 1666, the difficult matter of placing the rates upon an exactly just footing to the buyer and seller of liquors alike was settled by the adoption of an entirely new regulation; this consisted of allowing the seller by retail to charge treble the amount which the spirits he disposed of had cost him, provided that this general rate was not in excess of the figures prescribed by law. Thus the charge for Spanish and Portuguese wines was not to exceed ten shillings, or one hundred pounds of tobacco a gallon; the charge for French wines was not to exceed eight shillings, or eighty pounds of tobacco a gallon; for rum, ten shillings, or one hundred pounds of tobacco; for brandy and English spirits, sixteen shillings, or one hundred and sixty pounds of tobacco. Permission was granted to ordinary keepers to secure as large a profit from the sale of beer as they could within a limit of four shillings a gallon, or forty pounds of tobacco. This price was extremely high, the privilege of larger gain in the case of this liquor being allowed on the specific ground that it was of domestic manufacture. What were described as “Virginia drams,” that is to say, apple and peach brandies, were to be sold within the restriction of the rates laid down for English spirits.[2]
It would seem that, for many years, the accounts of innkeepers for the liquors furnished to their customers had not been pleadable, although they had been charging at established rates. The right was now granted to them to sue upon these accounts in a court of justice and to recover judgment, but it was required that the action
