CHAPTER 25. - Statute on Illicit Taverns. In It Are 21 Articles.

1. If illicit spirits are removed from someone's possession for the first time, or if someone distills spirits for sale: for the first time, exact fines of 5 rubles each from those [people], and from the imbibers .25 ruble per person.

If illicit spirits are removed from someone's possession a second time: exact from those people the fines two-fold, 10 rubles each, and from the imbibers .50 ruble each. Moreover, beat with the knout around the market places those people in whose possession the illicit spirits are discovered a second time, and beat the imbibers with bastinadoes.

2. If illicit retail spirits are found in someone's possession along with imbibers a third time: collect fines of 20 rubles per person from those [people] and from the imbibers a ruble per person, and beat them with the knout. Moreover, imprison the sellers until the sovereign [issues] a decree.

3. Concerning people who are arraigned [for having been] in illicit taverns, and testify under interrogation that they purchased spirits from illicit tavern keepers; or having purchased from them, they drank them in [their] homes, but the illicit tavern keepers deny selling spirits: torture those buyers. If under torturings the buyers do not retract their accusations, torture the illicit tavern keepers to verify their accusations.
    If the illicit tavern keepers proceed to testify under torturings that they purchased spirits outside the legal taverns: having conducted an investigation, interrogate those people whom they have testified against under tortures on the basis of those testimonies of theirs given under torturings accordingly. Arrange an eye-to-eye confrontation with the buyers, and torture them [some more] after the visual confrontations.
    If under torture the sellers confess to selling spirits: after the torture, beat those keepers of illicit taverns with the knout around the market places, and also collect from them fines of 5 rubles per person for the first [offense].
    If they are implicated in such sale of illicit spirits a second time, beat them with the knout for that around the market places and collect fines from them of 10 rubles in cash per person accordingly. Release them on solid written bonds so that henceforth they will not engage in such a felony.
    If some [people] are implicated in such a felony a third time, beat them with the knout around the market places for that third offense and imprison them for half a year.
    Collect fines of 2 rubles per person for the first offense from those people who proceed to buy illicit spirits from them, and beat them mercilessly with bastinadoes.
    If some [people] are implicated in such a case a second time: collect fines of 4 rubles per person from them, beat them with a knout on the rack, and imprison them for two weeks.
    And for a third such offense, collect fines of 6 rubles per person, and also beat them with the knout around the market places, imprison them for a month, and release them on written bonds so that henceforth they will not buy illicit spirits from anyone and will not drink them.
    Concerning people who do not refrain from such a felony, and who are implicated in such a felony a fourth time: inflict a severe punishment on them for such a felony of theirs, having beaten them with a knout around the market places, exile them to distant towns, where the sovereign decrees, and confiscate all of their movable property, and houses, and service landholdings, and hereditary estates for the sovereign.
    Concerning those people who buy illicit spirits from them a fourth time: inflict a severe punishment on them, beat them with a knout around the market places and imprison them for a year accordingly.

4. Concerning people who proceed to testify against someone for selling spirits, but subsequently retract their accusations against those people; and it is established about that conclusively that they accused such people of selling spirits as an act of deliberate slander: inflict punishment for the slander on those people who deliberately slander someone in such a case, beat them with the knout around the market places. Those people whom they slander deliberately shall exact their dishonor compensation from them two-fold.

5. If people proceed to accuse someone of selling spirits; and the seller denies [the accusation]; and they both proceed to resort to torture in the case: in that [case] torture the buyer first. If under torture the buyer does not retract the accusation: torture the seller to verify [the buyer's testimony]. After the torture, compile the decree that is necessary.

6. If someone's slaves, or peasants, or custodians are brought in for arraignment with illicit spirits, and under interrogation those people who have been arraigned testify that they, having stolen from their masters, sold the spirits to someone: torture those arraigned slaves about the sale of spirits [to learn] whether their masters knew about it.
    If they proceed to repeat their former testimony that they, having stolen from their masters, sold the spirits, and their masters did not know about that, and it is established about that conclusively that their masters did not know about that sale of spirits: inflict punishment on such sellers of spirits, beat them with the knout around the market places and return them to those people whose slaves and peasants they are. Those people to whom they are returned shall keep watch over them and make very sure that those slaves and peasants of theirs henceforth do not sell spirits to anyone.
    If someone's slaves and peasants, or custodians, are implicated in such a case a second time through the negligence of those people with whom they live: collect a fine of 10 rubles per person for such sellers of spirits from those people with whom they are living. Beat those sellers of spirits with the knout around the market places and imprison them until the sovereign [issues] a decree.

7. If people of various ranks are arraigned with spirits; and those people who have been arraigned testify under interrogation that boyars, or okol’nichie, or stol’niki, and striapchie, and Moscow dvoriane, and state secretaries, and chancellery officials, and deti boiarskie gave them such spirits gratis, as an act of friendship, or [as compensation] for some work; and those people about whom they testify that they had given [them] those spirits also proceed to say that they gave them the spirits to honor them, because they were acquaintances, or to artisans and forced laborers, in addition to the gift usually given in a transaction, to honor them a little more: free those people.

8. Concerning people who are ordered not to keep undeclared spirits in their houses, but who proceed to keep spirits at their houses without declaring them, and they [the authorities] remove those undeclared spirits from their houses: collect a fine from those people of 5 rubles per person, and confiscate the spirits for the sovereign.

9. Concerning people who have been arraigned and under interrogation proceed to accuse someone of selling spirits; but under torture they retract [their accusations] against them and testify that they testified against them at the instruction of the confiscators [of illicit spirits and tobacco]: torture those people.
    If under torture they also proceed to say the same thing, that they are deliberately slandering those people at the instruction of the confiscators: on the basis of that testimony under torture of theirs, torture the confiscators.
    If the confiscators confess to that under torture: in addition to the torture, inflict punishment on those confiscators, beat them with the knout on the rack so that they will learn henceforth not to do that.
    If the confiscators do not confess to that under torture: after [torturing] the confiscators, torture those people who testified against them a second time. If those people do not confess to that under torture: compile for them the decree that is necessary.

10. Concerning people who have been arraigned in Moscow whom they proceed to send from the Musketeers Chancellery to the Spirits Chancellery, and musketeers have brought those people in for arraignment to the Musketeers Chancellery; and concerning those people whom deti boiarskie bring in for arraignment without spirits and tobacco to the Spirits Chancellery; and at the arraignment the deti boiarskie and musketeers testify that they arrested those people drunk; but those people drank in respectable houses; and others were drunk arrested near respectable houses; and the deti boiarskie testify about other arraigned people that various merchants and shopkeepers forcibly seized those drunks from them; and the people who were arraigned, in opposition to their testimony, proceed to deny everything, [and allege] that the deti boiarskie and musketeers are slandering them deliberately; and others testify that they drank while visiting their relatives or as guests of a friend, and not in places where illicit spirits are dispensed; and those people at whose houses they testify that they drank as guests, upon coming to the Spirits Chancellery, proceed to clear those people who have been arraigned; and they testify that they drank at their houses as guests, and not in places where illicit spirits are dispensed: conduct an investigation about all of those people who have been arraigned. After investigation, compile the decree, depending on the case, that is necessary.

11. In the past year 1633/34 by the decree of the great Sovereign, Tsar, and Grand Prince of all Russia Mikhail Fedorovich of blessed memory, a strict prohibition on tobacco was enacted in Moscow and in the provincial towns on pain of the death penalty, that Russians and various foreigners were not to keep tobacco in their possession anywhere, to sniff it, or to trade in tobacco.
    [If]  Russians or foreigners proceed to keep tobacco, or proceed to trade in tobacco: it has been ordered that those people, sellers and buyers, are to be arrested and sent to the Spirits Chancellery. Inflict the supreme penalty, the death penalty, without any mercy, on those people for that. Having seized their houses and movable property, sell [them], and take the money to the sovereign's treasury.
    Now the Sovereign, Tsar, and Grand Prince of all Russia Aleksei Mikhailovich has decreed and the boyars have affirmed: compile a decree for those people in whose possession tobacco is discovered like the one decreed about that in the past year 1633/34.

12. If people are arraigned with tobacco, and testify that they purchased that tobacco from travelling Lithuanians for resale: torture those people [to discover] whether they really purchased that tobacco from Lithuanians.
    If under torture those people also proceed to testify that they purchased that tobacco from Lithuanians, and they are arraigned with a large quantity of tobacco: torture them a second time. If under second torturings they proceed to repeat that same testimony: compile a decree for them for the tobacco, as is written about that above this.

13. Concerning people who are arraigned with tobacco and testify under interrogation that they purchased that tobacco from someone among the Russians, or from foreigners, foreigners who are serving the sovereign: having found those people whom they proceed to accuse of selling that tobacco, interrogate [them] , and arrange an eye-to-eye confrontation. If it becomes necessary to use torture: torture them accordingly and compile the decree that is necessary.

14. If discharged musketeers, or foreigners, or slaves, and peasants, and custodians, and various wanderers are brought in for arraignment with tobacco; and under interrogation those people who have been arraigned testify that they found that tobacco; of if they [the authorities] remove tobacco from the houses of any people; and if someone proceeds to inform [the authorities] that other [people] have tobacco; and those people who have been denounced testify that they are not trading in tobacco; and those people from whose houses tobacco is removed testify that that tobacco is not theirs, but they do not know whose it is, [and allege] that perhaps someone planted it on them out of enmity, or the confiscators planted it on them: torture those people about the finding of tobacco accordingly.
    If they proceed to give that same testimony under torture as in the interrogation: release them without sanction.
Beat [someone] with the knout on the rack for tobacco found [at his house].
    Inquire about the tobacco of unknown origin at torture. Only if they proceed to give that same testimony under torture as in the interrogation: release those people accordingly.

15. Concerning any merchants, and musketeers, and foreigners, and slaves, and people of various ranks who are arraigned with tobacco; and they proceed to testify under interrogation that the tobacco was planted on them by those people who brought them in for arraignment with that tobacco: arrange an eye-to-eye confrontation of them with those people who brought them in for arraignment and interrogate-them.
    If it is necessary to use torture, torture them. If under torture they do not proceed to say anything against themselves: torture those people who brought them in for arraignment to verify their accusations.
    If those people who brought them in for arraignment confess under torture that they planted the tobacco on those people who were brought in for arraignment: in addition to the torture, inflict on them punishment for such a felony, beat them with the knout on the rack so that they and others like them will learn henceforth not to do that.

16. If musketeers, and wanderers, and various people are brought in for arraignment with tobacco twice, or thrice: torture those people many times, beat them with the knout on the rack, or around the market places.
    For many arraignments slit the nostrils and cut off the noses of such people. After the torturings and punishment, exile them to distant towns, where the sovereign decrees, so that others looking on will learn not to do that.

17. If police officials and deti boiarskie arrest illicit tavern keepers and tobacco dealers; or they remove spirits or tobacco from people's houses; and those people, where [the contraband] is seized, give the police officials and deti boiarskie a bribe of 5, or 10, or 20, or 30, or more rubles so that they will not bring them with the illicit and undeclared spirits and the tobacco into the Spirits Chancellery; and those police officials and deti boiarskie, having taken the bribes from them, bring them to the Spirits Chancellery and declare the bribes: do not take that bribe away from them.

18. Concerning police officials and deti boiarskie, who, having taken the bribe, release the illicit tavern keeper or the tobacco dealer, and do not bring them for arraignment to the Spirits Chancellery; and that becomes known in the Spirits Chancellery, and that is established conclusively: torture those [police] officials and deti boiarskie and inflict a punishment on them, beat them with the knout. Henceforth they shall not serve in the [Spirits] Chancellery.

19. Concerning various people who proceed forcibly to seize illicit tavern keepers, and tobacco dealers, and imbibers, from [police] officials and deti boiarskie: inflict a punishment on those who forcibly seize them, after interrogation and an investigation, beat them with the knout on the rack and around the market places. Beat the others with bastinadoes so that others looking on will learn not to do that.

20. The taxpayers of the taxpaying hundreds and settlements annually shall elect among themselves decurions who shall be responsible for the confiscation of illicit spirits. Bring the signed election documents for those decurions to the Spirits Chancellery so that those elected decurions of theirs will look out in their units of ten and guard vigilantly that there be no illicit sale of any kind of drink, spirits, and beer, and mead, and tobacco, and that there be no undeclared spirits and no felonious conduct at anyone's house.
    If people are given declarations for spirits, and for beer, and for mead: those people shall buy no additional spirits above [what is allowed in] the declarations, and shall not brew beer, and shall not make mead.
    If any kind of drink for sale, and tobacco, and any other felony comes to light in anyone's house in the unit often, or if anyone proceeds to keep additional drink, above [what is allowed in] the declarations: the decurions shall inform the Spirits Chancellery about those people.
    If they do not proceed to inform on those people: collect a fine for the sovereign of 10 rubles per person from those people at whose house the felony comes to light and from the decurions. [Collect] 5 rubles per person from the remaining eight men of that unit often.
    Decurions in their own units of ten shall be on the lockout and on guard vigilantly if dvoriane and deti boiarskie are billeted at people's houses. If they have spirits on the basis of declarations, those dvoriane and deti boiarskie shall have no additional spirits above [what is listed in] the declarations, and they shall not allow people at their houses without declarations.
    If spirits for sale come to light at anyone's house: inform the Spirits Chancellery about those people accordingly, and, after examination, compile the sovereign's decree for those people in the Spirits Chancellery.

21. In the provincial towns compile that same decree for illicit tavern keepers and tobacco dealers as is written above this. This book [scroll] was written down at the order of the great Sovereign, Tsar, and Grand Prince. Autocrat of all Russia, Aleksei Mikhailovich, in the third year of his reign protected by God, and during the life of his royal, blessed son, Tsarevich and Grand Prince Dmitrii Aleksandrovich, in the first year of his life, January 29, 1649.