PRESIDENT WILLIAM H. TAFT - DOCUMENT SIGNED - HFSID 48437

WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT
His signature on an unused distillery warehouse stamp
Document signed: "Wm H Taft" as Collector, 7x3. Unused blue, printed United States Internal Revenue Distillery Warehouse Stamp #8291277. Engraved vignette of Zachary Taylor to left of Taft's signature. (The triangular remainder punches were applied to unused stamps, to prevent their misuse.) Additional printing on verso states that this stamp was purchased from the Treasury Department by the firm of Deats and Sterling in 1890. The public resumé of William Howard Taft, which would ultimately include US Solicitor General, state and federal appeals court judge, Governor of the Philippines, Secretary of War, 27th President of the United States (1909-1913) and 10th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1921-1930), began with his appointment as assistant prosecutor of Hamilton County, Ohio, and in 1882, Collector of Internal Revenue there. Revenue stamps, many but not all of them imposed as "sin taxes" on products like tobacco and alcohol, were a major source of government revenue in the 19th century. Revenue stamps, which predate postage stamps by 200 years, were proof that a tax had been paid, or was exempt from taxation. Revenue Distillery Warehouse Stamps were applied to sealed warehouses after liquor had been transferred there from a distillery. His signature on a liquor stamp might have been an embarrassment to some politicians, but William Howard Taft was a longtime opponent of Prohibition, correctly predicting that a sumptuary law imposed on the entire nation against the wishes of a majority would be widely disobeyed. Punch holes touches "Wm". Otherwise, fine condition.