The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-12-27 00:00:00

THE NEW EXCISE LAWS.

:The Act of the 6th Geo. IV, cap. 80, for granting a re-
. Assail duty on British sp. , and regulating the trade of
andd tillers dealers in spirits, corms into full operation on
I th of Jaauary next, And as many of its enactments are
eta novel and important nature, an abstract of the principal
euntents will no doubt be acceptable.

The new duty commences from and after the ath of
January, and is Is. per imperial gallon on all spirits made
la England. and the same duty on all spirits manufactured
its &oda nil or Ireland, and imported into this country.
Tim spirit to be of the strength of hydrometer proof, or,
if exeeeding cr falling short thereof, to pay in proportion.
. It being impeasible to ascertain the strength of sweetened
spirits with the hydrometer, it is enacted, that all such
spirits imported shall be deemed to be of the highest
. alpee of strength at which spirits can be made, and shall
Isrp ilaty accordingly. •
The laws relating to the internal management of dis-
tilleries next follow, but as they are not genera}ly interest-
,isg.thsty may be passed over. The most important altera-
tion emteista in the charging the duty on the actual quan-
tity of spirits produced, and not as heretofore upon 'the
wort put into the still.
• No r. etllier, or retailer of spirits, receiving any quantity
.J spirits nut exceeding SO gallons, shall break bulk or add
:.try watt r thereto, or in any way alter the same, or tap or
ellen any of the packages in which it is contained, until the
proper officer of Excise shall have taken an account of the
strength and quantity of the same. And for this purpose
Notice is to he given to the officer, and if he does not attend
withlu two hours after receiving such notice, the dealer is
lo be at liberty to open the packages, without being subject
to the penalty of 200/. otherwise provided.
This clause, if strictly construed and acted upon, will
vu'iject the dealer to much inconvenience, as it is not alone
necessary that he should leave a notice at the place where
the proper officer is usually', to be found, but it is also ne-
cessary that two.hours should elapse after such officer re-
c,king the notice, which possibly might nqt be for many
Hours after the original leaving of it.
The strength of all spirits emnpounded with syrup seed,
&c. must be marked on the packsges containing the same.
Itio spirit of this kind, excepting shrub, to be sent out by
the rectifier, of a strength exceeding 17 per cent. under
proof. No spirits of wine to be sent out of any less
strength than 43 per ceht. above proof, and dealers receiv-
itia the same to keep it in a cellar, or place apart from all
other spirits, Penalty for inixiig the same with *wine or
spirits, 200/. Na dealer to send out any spirits exceeding
in quantity one gallon without a permit, and such permit
to specify the kind of spirit, and the actual strength of the
same. If the permit does not truly state the•atrength, the
spirits to be forfeited, and the dealer subjected to a penalty
of 100/.
'This is an important clause to the public, who will in
future know exactly the quality of spirits they receive.
It is also provided, that if any quantity exceeding one
gallon be delivered without a permit, the same shall be-
come forfeited to the buyer, and the seller incapacitated
from recovering due same, or the value thereof, in any
court of law whatever. The evidence of the buyer is to be
. admitted in proof of this fact.
All and every person or persons whosoever who shall
have in his, her, or their custody, any quantity of spirits
exceeding eighty gallons, shall be deemed to be a dealer,
a:11 subjected to the survey of the Excise, and to all penal-
a'es. regulations, and forfeitures to which such dealers are
iitble. This clause is very severe on persons laying in a
stock for their own consumption, and will subject them,
besides much inconvenience, to an annual expense of 101.
for a dealer's license; at least such should seem to be the
meaning of the clause.

No dealer to keep or sell any plain British spirits of a
strength.exceeding twenty-five per cent. above proof, or
below seventeen per cent. under proof; nor any corn-
pouti ied spirit, excepting shrub, of a greater strength than
seventeen per cent. under proof. All spirlis sold or sent
out contrary to this regulation to be forfeited, together
with the casks containing the same.
Britian and foreign spirits to be kept in separate vaults
or places. Penalty for mixing the same, loot. Dealers to
he at liberty to reduce foreign spirits by admixture with
water, in the presence of the officer, to the strength of
seventeen, per cent. under proof, but not lower. •
No retailer shall bo, directly or indirectly, interested or
.concerned in any distillery, &c. Penalty, 2001.
This is an effectual blow to the projected Distillery
:Company, to be formed by subscriptions among the licensed

Either of the parties to any offence under this Act shall
h acquitted of his share of the penalty on it•.forming
.against the other.—Precious morality this!
Armed persons opposing the law, or violently reselling
offenders, or assaulting officers, informers, or witnesses, to
be 4eemed guilty of feluny, and may be transported for
'seven years.

Any constable not executing this Act on receiving notice
so to do, to forfeit, on conviction before a magistrate, 20/.

• OTILANGIC COXDAT BETWEEN A HAWK, ANOTHER
HAWK, AND A MAN.—Some days sitice the attention of
•• respectable farmer in Kingston was attracted by an un-
common noise in the air, which he soon discovered to pro-
'reed from a couple of hawks at a considerable height,
apparently clinched fast to each other. The farmer re-
mained watching their movements for some time, when, to
•lils astonishment, they fell into a small Brook, where they
remained still unwilling or unable to break their holds,
until the "elger eyed" farmer, armed with a lonely club,
proceeded to the creek, where he found them engaged in a
aniotte war, first one and then the other below the surface
of, to them, an unnatural clement. The farmer, perceiving
from their apparent hardihood that they were likely to be
some time in taking life, and fearing their escape, die-
'patched them without ceremony, supposing that they had
'taken twice the worth of their lives from his hen-coop a
then time previons.--Wilkesharre Democrat (United
States paper).
A Curie roe Lear xess.—On Sunday morning last,
!luring the hours of divine worship, the constables and.
police officers, attended by a party of special constables,
perambulated the streets in the vicinity of St. George's-
road, for the purpose of repressing those breaches of the
peace and violations of the Sabbath which are somewhat
too common in that uproarious neighbourhood. Amongst
°trier places to which their attention was directed was a
• cellar, where a party of Irish were having a prette regular
sera of a row ; arid on the constables entering the piece to
restore peace. they soon diecoveied that the good company
they beheld had not assembled without sufficient cause.
:.The fire-place was evidently constructed to receive a still
•Itbd, •though that useful utensil was not to be seen, yet the
presence of half a dozen white herring barrels, filled with
..erseh, a number of bottles of different sizes standing about,
and a powerful smell of whisky diffused through the at-
mosphere of the cellar, produced an irresistible conviction
tiat the place was one of those where the great solace of
• lie is manufactured without the aid of the exciseman ; and
. then the Putlaudersbad come for the purpose of procuring
a modicum of whisky at a more reasonable price than if
• it had pazsed the Customs at Liverpool. The constables
• ;linmeiliately set themselves to work, and demolished, with-
. cut remorse, all the implements of this illegal manufactory.
They then all departed, with the exception of Worthing-
• .-ton, one of the beadles, who lingered behind the others to
make thaervatione. As he looked rather curiously about
../,;m, his attenties was attracted by a woman who eat, ap-
parently on a low stool, before. the fire, and who appeared
to regard his motions with more than ordinary anxiety and
• italieittole. Suspecting that she was concealing something,
Ite. went to her and desired her to rise? on which she re-
: plied, " and its me that you want to get up, is it ? Me,
that hive got such a bad hip, that I can't get up, nor sit
• down myself at all at all." Oth, true it is, every weed
-af it," added a rough-headed Irishman ; " if rill touch
'• lon/ you'll have a grate big docther's bill to •Ptiv ; for her
very bail."--" I sea sorry for it," said ‘Vorthington,
• ". but I'll help her up very gently ;" and be raised the
.irocaaa upon her feet with all the tenderness imaginable,
*hen he was rewarded for his humanity, by finding
• thit, instead of a noel, she had been stun*. upon a great
battle full of whisky, which! no sooner made its appear-
ance than she eCected a seemly retreat. quite forgetting the
ailment in her hip, and iVorthingtmecarried off his prize
au triumph.—Manchester Guardkut.