The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1863-03-03 00:00:00

DORSET COUNTY EXPRESS

DIRCHFSTMR. TUESDAY. MARCH 3, 1343.

THE MALT TAX.

The question of the moot ot the Malt Duty
is like • snow-ball-6e farther it is rolled the
more it increases in magnitude. But a short
time since we west told that the (semen in
Dorset and a portion of those of two or three
other counties, being the onliparties affected by
the tax, it would be impoiei?, beget dp • um-
venal cry for its •bolitiou. he last few weeks,
however, have ehoten that the imitation set on
foot afresh by Hr. Damen is rapidly gaining
pound, upon principle, even among those who
rt was supposed would rep= apathetic in re-
ference to the matter, and that there is every
probability of there being, ere long, a strong
pull throughout the country, and a pull alto-
gether, for the removal of the impost That
the "monster" will die hard there ran be little
, doubt. We do not recollect Many of the excise
1 duties on British indestry, skill, and capital being
repealed without & long process of grumbling,
and by numerous petitions that were thrown
under the table of the HOUND of Commons. But
they are all gone now all, save the tau 1
upon the "poor man's" beer. We him got rid I
of the duty on soap, and bricks, and glue, and
paper, and hops; and during the peat week the
Chancellor of the Eichequer has been professing
some tittle amount of sympathy about the "poor
man's pips." But why compel the poor man to
smoke a "dry piper' Why should not the
labourer, after his day's work is finished have an
opportunity of enjoying • glass of ale with his
pipe at his own fireside I It is well-known that
we have all along been uncompromising free
traders. We were amongst thole who from the
Bret readily acknowledged the great adrantaires
of the principle, having nete; been able to bader-
ctand why a tax of nearly 100 per cent. shonldhe
Imposed upon an article of British growth, the
produce of British labour, and raised expressly
for British isonstimption. In regard to beer,
Englishman knows that it is the national
teverage, and that its consumption throughout
the country is almost universal How is it,
then, that hitherto no successful effort has been
made to get rid of the Platt Tax I In 1881 the
brewers succeeded in getting rid of the eaMee
man, but the manufacturer of the tie material
was still kept in bondage, while the prude=
was prohibited under the severest penalties to do
what he liked with his own. The maltase has
for many years past u
bell the Mostiliorougle
wing friend of the Chan or of the xcuer.
Wh that personage found his hauling
amount likely to be reduced below the ordinary
minimum, the =Rater has been called on to
render him, to the utmost extent, the assistance
required. During the Crimean war this tax was
increased from 2s. 7d per bushel to 44., with an
additional he. percent. for credit making the rate
about equal to NO per cent, per quarter. True, at
the end of • couple of ran, this increase was re-
pealed, but the prevent tax Is en etorbltant and
an unreasonable charge. During the recent de
bate for extending the period of "Malt Credit,"
from six to twelve weeks, several hon. members
most unmistakably manifested their ignorance of
the practical nature of the malting trade. As a
contemporary justly observe*, there is no business
of the present day that more clearly exhibits the
despotism of Government than the excise
1 duties; and why Became a 'member of
officials under the authority of Government
I undertake to instruct a certain class of
manufacturers how they Me to isondbct their
operations. Them officiate enter the premises
1 of the manufacturer at any hour, day or night,
end in the process of malting this regulation is
enforced by the most stringent laws. How any
country professing to be governed by freedom
of trade can so long have submitted to the
Malt Tax is • matter of utter astonishment.
The malting ot barley is, in itself, a very simple
and easy process; but before it can be com-
menced it is subject to a code of the most
stringent laws. Science and judgment are quite
out of the question. The mode of action is pre-
scribed by law. Everything must be done accord.
fog to Act of Parliament. We ridicule the ides
of having our coats cut and boots made accord-
ing to Parliamentary rules, as our forefathers
were obliged to—we laugh at the absurdities
of the legislative enactments of two centuries
ago' and fancy that we lire in a mote free sail
liberal age ; yet here we find tlie narrow,
crabbed, end confined prescriptions or the olden
times In the first pis.* You must enter every
room by the number that you intend to occupy
in the buena., and the rooms so numbered are
accessible at all times to the various officers ear-
-1
ployed in the excise—surveyon, supervisors,
I generals, and what not You begin by steeping
the barley in water, but the law allows you only
to do so for a certain number of hours. ilhder
this promo the excise Aker chArges the amount
of duty, and he has the the privilege of abort
lug the duty when the malt is in its unfiniehed
state • and if any difference cad be shown
his calculations in favour of the GoVernment,
Ibe has the power to surcharge. By the laws
1 laid down the barley can only be steeped in
a rectangular cistern, and afterwards emptied
on la rectangular conch. All the floors must
be kept in • rectangular shape, and the kiln, for
drying, must be in a rectangular form. Now,
suppose a similar code of laws were put into
operation in regard to the mode in which the
bacon manufacturer should cut his hams, the
cheese factor store his cheese, or the horticul-
turist should grow his plants ; suppose
that all
our houses and places t,4' 'business, and the
various utensils used by the cook in her culinary
department had to be made rectangular, who
would not see the absurdity of the law I But let
us only imagine this were the case, and we should
have a tolerably clear definition of the effect of
excise laws upon trade and commerce. The
Commissioners of Inland Revenue have
attempted sonic amelioration of the tax by per-
mitting exportation and importation ; but this,
instead of being an amelioration, operates as a
hardship to the home manufactivert The
system is fraught with all the e'rile of which we
complained in the unnefacture of paper. A
matombouse duty can never be an equivalent
to an excise duty on the same article, inasmuch
as the Customs duty is not imposed until the
article has completed the process of mauufae
ture and is required for use--whereas the
article produced in this country under the excise
laws, is interfered with In every stage of its
manufacture, and the duty must be paid within
. . .

a limited time, whether that article:- be sold or
not. Far be it from us to desire to cripple the
Chancellor of the xchequer in regard to raising
a sufficient amount of revenue for carrying Co
the affairs of Government, but an laws re-
lating to the excise are Li absurd in principle as
they are in oonistent with common esnee.and no
time ought to be lost for a to unite, heart and
hand, to secure their entire repeal.