The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-09 00:00:00

Repeal of the Malt Duty.

A public meeting of the farmers of England and
of others desirous of promoting the repeal of the
malt duty was held yesterday at the Freemasons'
Tavern, Great Queen-street, Lincoln's-inn. The
meeting was convened by the Central Anti Malt-
tax Association, and was very numerously attended,
the large hall being inconveniently crowded. Sir
Fitzroy Kelly, M.P., occupied the chair, supported
by many members of Parliament, amongst whom
were Sir Bulwer Lytton, M.P., Sir
M.P., Mr. Sclater Booth, MT-, M. H. Beach,
Sir John Trollope,
M.P., the Hon. W.Duncombe,
111. P., Mr. Bromley, M.P., ford M.P.,
M.P., Mr. Goddard,
Major Beres ford,
Mr. Barrow, M.P., Col. Fane, M.P., ,Lord Holmer-
dale, M.P., Lord H. Thynnet M•P • Mr• Sturt, M.P.,
Lord Curzon, M.P., Col. Cartwright, M.P., Mr.
Jonathan Peel, M.P., Sir Montagu Cholmeley,
M.P Major Parker,
.7 M.P., Mr. Morritt, M.P.,
Lord A. Hervey, M.P., Mr. Alderman Sidney,
M.P., Col. North, M.P., Mr. Pierrepoint Bentinck,
the Hon. Ralph Dutton, Mr. Tomline, M.P.,
Mr. Cobbett, 111•P•7 Mr. Beach, :M.P., Sir J. Hay,
m.p., Mr. Abel Smith, M.P., Sir R. Knightley,
M.P., Sir Gerard Noel, M.P., Sir John Mordatuit,
M.P., Sir E. Bering, M.P.
In opening the proceedings, the CHAIR 1M rose
and said—Gentlemen, we are assembled here upon a
very important occasion—the first, I believe, at
least within our own times, upon which the agricul-
turists of England have ever met together in the
metropolis to consider of the mode in which they
could best approach the Legislature with their
petitions for the redresss of a great and heavy
grievance. (Cheers.) I trust that we shall not
have met in vain, and that without detaining
you by reading at length the purpose, as it has
been publicly announced, for which you have
been called upon to assemble, I may say, in a
word, that it is to devise the best means, and to re-
solve strenuously and promptly to carry them into
effect, to procure as early as may be the reduction,
—(hear)—and also as quickly also as may be the
total abolition, of the oppressive tax upon malt.
(Cheers.) I have been requested to appear in a
position of which I feel altogether unworthy—(no,
no)—that of your chairman. I presume it can only
be because I have the honour to represent an agri-
cultural constituency deeply interested in the ques-
tion which has brought us together, and because—
and this I may venture to say of myself—l am
known to be deeply and faithfully attached to the
cause in which you are met. When I see before me
an assemblage like this of the farmers of my country
—when I feel myself supported as I am by many of
the most distinguished members of the Legislature
(cheers)—I know that it would be unjustifiable in
me to detain you for many moments in the intro-
ductory observations that it is my duty to make.
First, let me express my regret for the absence of
two or three friends to the cause, who unfortu-
nately are not now here. Lord Berners, who lately
presided at a meeting at Leicester, is unable to be
here by reason of the alarming illness of a very near
relative. Your well-tried and never-failing friend
Colonel Barttelot is also prevented from being here
by an illness arising from a succession of accidents.
However, I rejoice to say he is recovering, and he
has requested me to say what is not necessary—
that his heart is in your cause ; and that, at the time
when the question in which we are all engaged shall
come before the House of Commons, he will, if he
is alive, be in his place to perform his duty. (Hear.)
Gentlemen, the state of the question is, perhaps,
known to you all. This is a tax which, from the
time of the conclusion of the war in 1815,
has continued substantially undiminished. It
was increased for a time during the Crimean
war, and afterwards reduced to its former
and, I regret to say, its permanent amount. This
tax, which has thus continued unmitigated, was suf-
fered to remain without even the consideration of
Parliament being applied to it, from 1835 to 1852.
In 1835, as some of you may remember, ineffectual
efforts were made by the late Lord Chandos (Duke
of Buckingham) to procure its repeal ; but that
well-tried and earnest friend of the agriculturist
failed in his efforts, and I believe he failed, among
other causes, because even at that remote period agi-
tation had begun for the repeal of the corn laws. He
was opposed, we were all opposed, by a body, I re-
gret to say, more powerful in the State and more
powerful in the Legislature than ourselves. In 1852
the Government then in power attempted to effect
the reduction of one-half of the tax. They, how-
ever, very speedily ceased to occupy the ministerial
benches in the House of Commons, and their efforts
failed. From that time till 1863, though the ques-
tion was partially from time to time alluded to, no
serious effect was made to call public attention or
the attention of Parliament to the mischiefs and the
injustice of this tax. In 1863 a deputation waited
upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and for the
first time for many years the Government became
convinced that the agriculturists were in earnest,
and that their voice must at last be heard. (Cheers.)
A committee was moved for by myself in the House
of Commons, and a committee was granted ; but
the session terminated before a report could be made.
We were anticipated in the beginning of 1864 by a
bill of which you have all heard, for feeding cattle
with untaxed malt. (Hisses.) I say nothing of that
Act of Parliament. It has failed, but it has had this
good effect among the community—it has satisfied
the people of this country, and the Government
themselves were compelled to admit—to some ex-
tent, at least—the injustice of this tax—(cheers)—
to admit that the agriculturists of the country were
entitled as of right to feed their cattle q_n untaxed
malt. And, gentlemen, this is a great step gained,
though, practically, the bill has had no effect in the
country. It is a great step gained, because now, after
one or two ineffectual struggles, we are at last going
before the Legislature in a body, representing
the whole of the agricultural interest of England, to
call upon the legislature at last to give effect to our
petitions. (Cheers.) I have, in the discharge of my
duty in the House of Commons, given notice of a
motion which willbe made in some three weeks from
the present time. (Hear.) All that I need now de-
tain you by saying on the subject of that motion is,
that you must not suppose that your representatives
are less alive than yourselves to the justice of your
entire claims. If they fail to ask at once and imme-
diately that which they know they cannot obtain.
We, gentlemen, have a very arduous and very dim_
cult task to perform. We have to satisfy our own
consciences, and we have to satisfy your just de-
mands ; but we have to take a position in the House
of Commons in which we do not dread that the Mi-
nisters of the Crown will be able to:say, " You know
you are asking for that which you cannot obtain,
because the necessities of the country are such that
it is impossible at the present moment that a conces-
sion could be made of your demands." But, gentle-
men, what I do venture to say we shall demand—
what I call upon you all to enforce by petitions, by
urging on
; your representatives in Parliament, and,
indeed, on the members of the other branch of the
Legislature,
influence,han or to whom
and on all on whom you can exercise
you even have access is that
you make shall at least amount to this
—that when any remission
indi-
rect
taxation, yourdemand shall be possible of
reduce the malt tax upon the Legislature to
shall be first considered. (Cheers
and cries of " N'n
my will, I should not have .11(ly Power were equal to
it an interruption, for knoinwcu.rred—l will not call
well meant—
the observations of some gentlfieTtaawnaso. n my
caloper
right. If
I had the power to direct the
that,s eidnafsmuch
the country, I do not hesitate to snaations of
as the income tax was originally
very purpose of
.enabling the Finance Minister the
we, now that the
the day to reduce taxationupon commodities chiefly
articles
Ought to
articles of general consumption,
income tax has been partially reduced,
stop where we are, and apply whatever surplus
may exist in the revenue of the country to the
reduction and to the extinction of the malt duty.
(Cheers.) But, gentlemen, let us deal practically
with the subject. (Hear.) Let us remember that
the agriculturists, though I venture to say with con-
fidence they are by far the most important body of
men within the Queen's dominions—(hear, hear)—
are not, numerically at least, or as represented in
the House of Commons, the most powerful. We
have many classes of the community to contend
with ; some among the commercial classes ; others

are influenced by political considerations that ought
never to operate upon their minds at all in a ques-
tion of the justice or tin injustice of a particular tax.
Looking at all these classes, and seeing that we
should be outnumbered, and that even many who
wish well to our cause would be unable to support
us, if we demand too much at once, I do beseech of
you and exhort you all to instruct as far as you may
instruct—l should rather say to urge upon—your
representatives not to go blindly into this battle, and
seek for what they know they can never obtain—or
not now—but make a just and practical demand
upon the Ministers of the Crown, that whatever
surplus can be applied to the remission of indirect
taxation shall be applied to the reduction and aboli-
tion of the malt tax. (Cheers.) In that gentlemen,
you will be well supported by reason, by experience,
and by justice. You have seen, in the 50 years of
peace which have elapsed since 1815, tax after tax
reduced and annihilated, upon articles sometimes of
general and sometimes only of partial consumption
—upon articles some indeed of home produce, others
entirely of foreign produce. (Hear.) It would be in-
vidious to enter into comparisons and computations,
but I may observe, without enumerating any other
articles, that you have lately seen, out of the surplus
arising from time to time in the revenue of the
country, the tax entirely taken off paper and largely
diminished on foreign wines. (Hear, hear.) I feel,
therefore, that your demand is founded in justice,
and I urge upon you to petition, to approach the
Legislature, to make your voices to be heard, to
satisfy your representatives—in whom I. know you
may confide—telling them that you trust to them,
that you rely upon their zeal and earnestness, and
that you will never afford your cordial support to the
policy of any Government, of whomsoever composed,
till measures are taken for the early and final repeal
of the malt tax. (Cheers.) In conclusion, the hon.
and learned gentleman said it gave him great plea-
sure to say that the people had begun to bestir them-
selves and give proof of their earnestness by sub-
scribing money to create a fund for carrying on the
movement until it should have attained complete suc-
cess. Within a few minutes the secretary had placed
in his hands £25 as the donation of Mr. Barrow,
M.P. (Cheers.) He would now call on Mr. Punnett,
of the county of Kent, to move the first resolution.
The resolution was as follows :
That this meetingis of opinion that the excise duty upon
malt inflicts great and serious injustice upon the growers
of barley, which is almost the chief product of our native
soil—is a grievous burden upon the consumers of our na-
tional home beverage, especially the working classes, by
whom beer is so largely used as a portion of their diet—and
is wholly at variance with the free trade policy of the
country.

Mr. PuNNErr, in the course of an able speech,
pointed out the great injustice the malt tax was to the
producer of British barley. The effect was shown by
a statement of Sir Robert Peel in 1836, that during the
previous 80 years to 1835 the consumption of beer had
fallen off from a barrel to half a barrel per head of the
population, while those articles which came into com-
petition with malt had largely increased. In that time
the consumption of tea had increased from one ounce
per head to 24 lbs. per head of the population ; the
consumption of coffee from 4 oz. to 11 lbs. ; the con-
sumption of spirits from half gallon to one gallon per
head. Since 1835 these effects had been more strongly
developed. He showed that, previous to 1800,
beer of the double-X quality, for which London
brewers charged is. per gallon, might be brewed at
4d. per gallon. That was a grievance of which
working men had good cause to complain. He de-
precated party feeling in the management of the
question, which was purely of a fiscal nature ; at
the same time pointing out to his brother-farmers
the advantage of making the repeal of the malt tax
a hustings test before they supported any candidate
for the House of Commons.

Mr. BALDWIN, of Birmingham, seconded the
motion, and expressed an opinion that any reduction
of the duty on malt would at once recoup the Trea-
sury, from the vast increase of consumption which
would take place.
Lord CURZON, M.P., supported the resolution,
which was also spoken to by Mr. MORRITT, M.P.,
who gave an account of his reasons for having
brought forward his motion for the repeal of the
malt tax last session, and stated that he was proud
to be able to demonstrate to the whole length and
breadth of England that he was dead against the
injustice of the malt tax.

Mr. BANKS STANHOPE, M.P., also supported the
resolution, insisting that the malt tax was, as re-
garded the farmers, a tax upon wages—a tax which
was contrary to the principles of every statesman.
Major BERESFORD also spoke in support of the
resolution. He would not enter upon the injustice
of the tax, because it was too manifest to require
proof. But if the tax was in itself unjust, it was
still more unjust at the present time, and under the
present system of free trade. It had been said that
this was not so much an agricultural as a general
question. He was ready to acknowledge that ; but
at the same time he thought it very much an agri-
cultural question. It was contrary to the whole
principle of free trade, under which the agricul-
turists of England now laboured. They had been
told by the late Sir Robert Peel and Sir James
Graham that the adoption of free trade must en-
tail the reduction and abolition of the malt tax.
Twenty years had now elapsed since that decla-
ration, but the impost still remained firmly
fixed on their shoulders at present. It was to their
earnestness and energy that the reduction and
ultimate abolition of the tax must be due.
If they only exhibited half the energy which the
manufacturers had shown, the tax would not long
be so fixed. The manufacturers had shown that
they would not stand any impost which they dis-
liked. They met, coalesced, agitated, and brought
forward any measure that seemed desirable. But
the agriculturists, the yeomen and farmers of Eng-
land, tamely submitted to this injustice. They
should rise like one man—agriculturists, yeomen,
tenants, landlords, aye, and labourers, for it was a
question for them too—be earnest, be determined,
be constant, and they might depend upon it they
would then gain those advantages which the example
of the manufacturers had given, and which he trusted
they would follow. They were told they were to
yield to this injustice, because it was a large amount
of tax—nearly six millions. If it was a very large
amount, and it was unjust, it was a great and
damnable injustice. (Cheers.) The larger the
amount the greater the injustice, and the greater
ought to be their determination to get rid of that
which was large and unjust at the same time. Their
powers ought to be now larger than usual, for a
general election was coming on. Let them then
remember who were their friends, and not allow.
themselves to be humbugged by fine-spoken words.
Let them look to the men who had stood by them
hitherto. If they properly used their power they
would obtain the repeal of the malt tax, if not this
year, at least next. (Cheers.) A Cabinet Minister
had told his constituents that the duty upon malt
was only 12j. per cent. Let them listen to his rea-
soning. He talked of the manufactured article, with
all its expenses, like porter. The truth was that the
malt tax was a killing duty upon the produce of the
land. It was for them to be determined and ener-
getic, and they would find that their friends would
stand by them, and all that then would be wanted
would be for them to stand by their friends.
(Cheers.)
Mr. RALPH DUTTON, M.P., said that if he were
to presume to make a speech on the subject to such
practical men as composed the meeting, he should
only be travelling over ground that had been tra-
versed before. It was said in the Times that this
was a landlord's tax. Now he considered it to be
essentially a tenant-farmer's tax. (Hear.) As a
proof of that he might mention that on Monday
last he had attended an anti-malt-tax meeting where
he himself and the chairman were the only landlords
in the room. lie appeared now to give a guarantee
of his humble efforts to obtain a remission and then
the total repeal of this tax. Every argument that
ever existed against the tax was more than ever
f financial The orcibleonl now, with barleyt at the price it was. (Hear.)
y arcriune
fke however'
that was brought
against them was I
• argument of how
this large sum of money
was to be recouped to the
Treasury. He thought that if the y were allowed to
malt inferior barleys the loss to the Treasury would
not be so large by one-half as it was now computed
to be. Moreover, there was always a large sur plus
that ought to go in part to the reduction of the