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The director general and councilors of New Netherland, to all those who see or hear these presents read, greetings, make known, that they are informed and told that diverse persons, as well within the city as in the countryside, in the villages and hamlets of this province, undertake and assume to begin taverns, public houses and to sell beer and wine by the small measure and to continue to do so without having applied for or received any license from us or from those authorized by us, which is contrary to the good order and polity of our fatherland. Besides, such tavern keepers, tappers and retailers of wine, beer and distilled spirits [are opposed to, and refused to pay and satisfy the usual excise imposed on the consumption of wine and beer.^[i]

In order to prevent this, the director general and] councilors of New Netherland [ do hereby ordain that ] no person within this province shall undertake to keep any inn, public house or retail any beer, wine, distilled spirits by the small measure, before and until he has applied to and notified the director general and councilors, or their deputies, to wit, the subaltern court of the village to which he is subject, and, in addition, has declared with the farmer or his collector the beer, wine, brandy or spirits to be laid in by him and consumed, and thereon paid, for the common good, the usual excise imposed thereon by the director general and councilors and publicly let to the highest bidder, whereof Warnaer Wessels is the farmer for the coming year, and Jan Teunissen is, with the consent and approbation of the said director general and councilors, his collector for the village of Vlissingen on pain of forfeiting the wine, beer, brandy or distilled spirits and five times the value thereof in case any tavern keepers, tappers or retailers are found to have smuggled or laid in any beer, wine, brandy or distilled [ spirits without entry or excise permit, and 25 guilders additional for the first offense to be forfeited by those who attempt tapping ] or retailing [ of wine, beer ] or distilled spirits by the [ small measure ] without having demanded and received a permit or a license for it from the director general and councilors or their [ qualified ] subaltern magistrates; the fine to be applied one-third for the officer who shall make the complaint, one-third for the farmer [ of the excise ] and one-third for the common interest.

Thus done in the session of the director general and councilors held in Fort Amsterdam in New Netherland. Dated as above.

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References

Translation: Gehring, C., & Venema, J. (Ed.). New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch, Vol. 8, Council Minutes, 1656-1658 Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press: 2018.A complete copy of this publication is available on the New Netherland Institute website.