Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-06-15 00:00:00

THE WINE DUTIES

WE do not for a moment suppose that this is a
subject which has the slightest shadow of a chance
of engaging the attention of Parliament during the
present session. But it is one which has a strong
claim to the most careful consideration of the Legis-
lature, at the earliest possible moment that it can
conveniently be taken up,— and this upon other
grounds than merely those of finance. The present
state of the duties on foreign wines is injurious in a
sanitary as well as a financial point of view.
We see the same statistics have been republished,
which, though but brief extracts from Parliamentary
returns which had been before the country already,
are yet well calculated to replace the matter forcibly
in the public mind, and to carry conviction thereto of
the urgent necessity of immediately rectifying a
great mistake. It is stated, for instance, that "in
the years 1791 to 1800, with a population of fourteen
and a-half millions, the annual consumption of wino
averaged 6,513,019 gallons. In 1858, with thirty
millions, the consumption was 6,697,146 gallons, 11
per cent. of which was Cape. This wine has been
long known; but, although charged with only half
the rate on others, could make no progress until
every other kind had become very dear, and the
happy idea had occurred of changing its name to
South African. The low duty, the new name, im-
provement in the quality, and very frequent deterio-
ration in that of many others, have combined to lead
people to drink this hitherto neglected produce, and it
has thus placed the high duty wines in a most unfair
position, and which it is very unjust to allow to
continue, for it encourages every kind of fraud.
Those practised in the home trade are palpable and
notorious, but scarcely more so than in the shipping
part of the trade." Now here, in these few facts,
there are the elements of one of the strongest cases
for Legislative inter`'arence that could well be
adduced. Not that thJ increase of the consumption
of our Colonial, that is South African, wines is to be
objected to,—quite the reverse, if only it can be done
in a legitimate way. But when it operates fraudu-
lently, and this in a two-fold degree —by the evasion
of the higher duty, and by the practice of adultera-
tion—certainly it is an evil that calls for immediate
remedy.

There are involved in the question, as it now
stands, such financial considerations, we find, as
these,—" The duty on 1,000 gallons of Cape is £145,
and on the same quantity of every other kind £290 ;
and as a return of the whole duty that has been paid
is given back, 100 per cent, profit is received from
her Majesty's Treasury for every gallon of Cape that
is exported under the designation of Spanish, kiigilign,

&c. There are also large quantities of compounds
made here, paying no duty, mixed and sold as South
African, and benefitting also by her Majesty's
Treasury at the Custom House." Now this is.a state
of things most detrimental to the revenue ; while it
can do no good either to the health or the morals of
the community. As a subject of finance, it is not
only most absurdly, but most injuriously anomaldus ;
and as either a sanitary, or a moral question, it is
positively mischievous.

We entirely agree with the opinion, that "the
trade in wine will continue to languish, and will
become worse and worse, until, by a great reduction
of duty, wine is rendered accessible to a large class of
people, instead of, as at present, only one in 278
being able to have a bottle in a year. But the
differential rate should be immediately abolished,
which could be effected by raising the Cape
only one penny, and lowering others 2s. 9d.,
making an equal rate for all of 3s. per gallon."
Not only, indeed, will the trade continue to
languish, but there will also continue to be a virtual
prohibition, to the great body of the people of this
country, of the free and beneficial use of one of the
most health-inspiring beverages which man can
enjoy. For our part, we should like to see the duty
reduced to one shilling a gallon ; and we have it on
an eminent authority, that if this were done, the
duty, by the increase of consumption that must
ensue, instead of producing, as it now does, but
some million and three-quarters of revenue, would
produce, in ten years, six millions,—at the same time
that we should have a more genuine article, by
taking away the inducements to mix a low-duty
wine with a high one, and to pass off one kind of
wine for another. We do not, in saying this, intend
to cast any reproach upon South African wines.
They are, it is unquestionable, we believe, the pure
,juice of the grape, and generally they contain much
less alcohol than the wines, at any rate, of Spain
and Portugal ; while their increased consumption is
evidently having the effect of producing a manifest
improvement of their quality. But we want to be
sure of having the real thing, whether it be from
Southern Africa, or from Southern Europe.
It was the remark of Mr. GLADSTONE, in one of
the discussions upon this subject, we believe, in the
House of Commons, that " wine is one of the great
gifts of Providence to man ; and considering what a
place it occupies among the means of subsistence,
considering how many useful and wholesome ends it
subserves in connection with his physical tempera-
ment, considering the manner in which it might be
used as a competing article with alcoholic spirit, it
were most desirable to place it within the reach of
all classes." This, then, should be the primary
object in view, in any revision of the Wine Duties
that it may be sought to effect ; and let us hope that
in the very next session, the attempt to accomplish
it will be successfully made. Sure we are, that it
may be done with advantage, not only to the revenue
of the country, but, which is of infinitely more im-
portance, to the health and morals of the people.

MINISTERIAL ARRANGENIENTS.—The Daily HEIM believes
that the Secretaryship of the Colonies has been offered to
the Earl of Elgin. Mr. Cobden will have the option of the
Board of Trade ; and Mr. Milner Gibson will enter the
Cabinet. Mr. Sydney Herbert will probably take the
Secretaryship of War; Sir G. Lewis the India Board ; and
Mr. Gladstone the Exchequer. No arrangement has yet
been made as to the Chancellorship. Sir R. Bethell
can ill be spared from the House of Commons. The
Daily Hews learns that Sir James Graham, the Duke
of Newcastle, and the Duke of Argyll have sever-
ally declined to join the new Administration ;
and adds that it is the Foreign Secretaryship which gives
most trouble, as a final arrangement respecting that office
has not yet been effected, The Daily News also observes
that, though a good deal of the success of the government
will depend on the choice that is made of a Chancellor of
the Exchequer, the selection of a Minister for Foreign
Affairs is of still greater importance at the present moment.
The Times, in a leading article, asserts that, of all the
rumours afloat, one thing alone is definitively settled, and
that is, Lord J. Russell has accepted the Foreign Office. The
Times remarks that this places beyond any doubt, if doubt
there should be, of the policy of England on the Italian ques-
tion. Lord John Russell has ever been known as an arden
riend of the Italian race—ltalian freedom and Italian
unity. He has always aspired after influence in foreign
affairs. His views are as near as may be identical with
those of Lord Palmerston, so that it is difficult toimagine
a disagreement between them on the Italian question. He
will have to deal with a race newly conscious of indepen-
dence—with a victorious deliverer and a discomfited foreign
master. There could not be a grander occasion for the
display of ability. The Post also announces, in a semi-
official form, that Lord John Russell will hold the office of
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the new adminis-
tration. The Post says, the other ministerial arrangements
are proceeding so rapidly that it hopes not many hours will
elapse before a complete list of Lord Palmerston's Cabinet
can be published. The Advertiser speaks of Lord John
Russell's demand of the Foreign Secretaryship as having
been an obstruction to Lord Palmerston's course. Lord
Clarendon, it says, put forth his claims to the foreign
office. Lord Palmerston waited on her Majesty on
Monday, to announce the new difficulty, and the
Advertiser affirms that it is at her Majesty's desire that
Lord Clarendon has relinquished the Post to Lord J. Russell.
The office of Chancellor, according to the same journal, has
caused some embarrassment, Lord Palmerston being desirous
ofappointing Sir R. Bethell, while LordJ. Russell has strongly
urged the claim of his brother-in-law, Sir John Romily.
The Court Circular announces that Lord Palmerston and
Lord Clarendon had each an audience of her Majesty on
Monday. After dining at the Marquis of Donegal's, Lord
Palmerston received the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, who
was engaged with him for some time. Lord Brougham
had an audience of her Majesty on Monday afternoon at
Buckingham Palace. The Herald publishes a list of new
ministers, as circulated at the clubs on Monday evening ; bat
these lists, possessing no official character, vary from one hour
to another. The Herald suggests that Mr. Stuart Wortley
be put up to oppose Lord John Russell for the City of
London.

THE ITALIAN QUESTION AND THE NEW CABINET.—The
Daily News says the French Government is prepared to
give the new Foreign Minister of England the most com-
plete proofs of the moderation and disinterestedness of its
policy in Italy. It is ready to declare anew that not only
does it seek no territorial aggrandisement for France. but
that it desires no thrones for the relatives of the Emperor,
or princes dependent on France. Far from wishing to
prolong the war, the desire of the French Government is
that it may be short. The war has been begun for the
liberation of Italy, and will he carried on till that object is
attained ; but only for the sake of the end. Should any
powerful neutral—the Prince Regent of Prussia, for instance
—put himself in a position to offer his mediation, the
French Government would be ready to engage to leave
Italy entirely to itself, after securing its independence. The
Times, in a leading article, counsels Austria to yield in
time. The Timis says Austria is king homewards, Prauoe

and Sardinia pursuing her across the Adda. Three corps
are molesting her in the north Venice is about to be
attacked immediately on the east and on the south. The
whole peninsula is rising against her, her allies, and her
garrisons. The only advice to be given is that Austria
should accommodate herself to these painful circumstances,
just as England admitted the independence of the United
States.