The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-10 00:00:00

SEWAGE OF TOWNS.

Lord R. MONTAGU obtained leave to bring in a bill
for facilitating the more useful application of town sewage
in Great Britain and Ireland.

The bills for which leave had been given having been
read a first time,

The house adjourned at a quarter before eight o'clock.

Repeal of the Malt Duty.

Yesterday afternoon one of those very numerous
and influential deputations with which the Chancel-
lor of the Exchequer is occasionally honoured before
the delivery of his Budget waited upon him at his
official residence in Downing-street. The deputa-
tion was as numerous as the celebrated one which
filled all Downing-street to oppose the tax on chari-
ties, and, besides a long list of members of Parlia-
ment, it comprised a perfect crowd of gentlemen
and agriculturists from all parts of the country.
As a matter of course, no room was sufficient
to accommodate the crowd, which filled all the
passages and lobbies and squeezed forward with
painful eagerness towards the apartment where the
deputation was to be received. It was altogether a
scene of very great confusion, and of no little dis-
tress to those who were involved in it. Except dur-
ing the two minutes when the Chancellor was speak-
ing silence was at no time observed, and the diffi-
culty of hearing the speakers was only exceeded by
the difficulty with which even the most fragmentary
notes of what they said was jotted down.
The deputation consisted of Col. North, M.P.,
Sir E. Dering, M.P., Sir E. Filmer, M.P., the Hon.
W. G. Duncombe, M.P., Mr. Surtees, M.P., Sir M.
Cholmeley, M.P., Major Parker, M.P. , Lord Holmes-
dale, M.P., Mr. Du C.ine, M.P., Mr. Cobbold, M.P.,
Capt. Jarvis, M.P., Hon. R. Dutton, M.P., Mr. A.
Smith, M.P., Mr. Davenport Bromley, M.P., Mr.
Barrow, M.P., Sir John Trollope, M.P., Mr.
Ormsby Gore, M.P., Lord Stanhope, M. P., Colonel
Fane, M.P., Colonel Cartwright, M.P.,. Lord
Augustus Hervey, M.P., Mr. E. B. Hartopp,
M.P., Mr. J. Handley, M.P., Mr. Darby Griffith,
M.P., Mr. Hodgkinson, M.P., Major Beresford,
M.P., Mr. W. 0. Foster, M.P., Sir Chas. Douglas,
M.P., Mr. Gurdon, M.P., Colonel Bathurst, M.P.,
Mr. Banks Stanhope, M.P., Sir E. B. Lytton,
M.P., Mr. John Peel, M.P., Mr. Cobbett, M.P.,
and Mr. Punnett, Mr. Umbers, Mr. Bacon, Mr.
Arkill, Mr. Fry, Mr. Everett, Mr. Seels, Mr. Storer,
Mr. Brandram, Mr. Fell, Mr. Stanton, Mr. Gilbert,
Mr. Hemsley, Mr. Brown, Mr. Savory, Mr. Plumbe,
Mr. Everett, Mr. Cayley, Mr. Baldwin, Mr.
Fielden, and others from Kent, Sussex, Surrey,
Warwickshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Bucks,
Berks, Oxford, Glocestershire, &c.

Colonel Noirni undertook the somewhat diffi-
cult task of introducing the deputation, which, in
fact, could scarcely be introduced at all, and, amid
much noise, very briefly explained the leading ob-
jects with which the interview had been sought.
The gallant colonel also produced a memorial,which
embodied the views and arguments of the deputa-
tion—a document which was " taken as read," and
only handed to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Mr. FIELDEN, who opened the discussion, which
throughout was most indistinctly heard even by
those near the speakers owing to the general move-
ment which prevailed among the crowd, said that as a
manufacturer employing upwards of 1,000 hands he
felt himself bound to oppose the oppressive and ob-
noxious duty on malt, on the ground of the benefits
which would certainly result from its repeal to the
working classes. He believed that in his manufac-
turing district private brewing was carried on to a
considerable extent among the factory operatives,
and the general effect of the tax was most prejudi-
cial. Anything which would tend to improve the
condition of the working classes was entitled to the
serious consideration of the Government and the
Legislature. As the law now acted a man could
purchase a bushel of barley for 45., but for a bushel
of malt he had to pay Bs. This heavy additional
cost of malt virtually represented the amount of
duty, the cost of malting, and the profit of the
maltster. But, if the laws were repealed, for a
bushel of barley sent to the maltster he would
give in return, and with no additional charge, a
bushel of malt, because in the process of
malting the barley swelled so much in bulk as
to repay in its remeasurement the cost of the
operation by which it was converted. According to
this, therefore, the barley was practically subjected
to a tax of nearly 100 per cent. The duty on coffee
was but 33i per cent., and on wines of the highest
quality only 54 per cent., while on the ordinary
qualities of French wines it was no more than 12
per cent. On champagne, which was as a rule only
drunk by the wealthy classes, the duty was 7 per
cent., on port 32, and on sherries and other wines
about 19. The working classes consumed beer, and
upon this, as he had shown, a heavier duty was
levied by the Government than upon any other kind
of beverage that was drunk in the country.
Mr. CAYLEY wished to call attention to the mo-
nopoly in brewing, wl lich he believed was entirely
caused by the operation of the malt-tax, and said
if it were not for the duty, the beer now sold at 16d.
a gallon could be brewed for Bd. The effect of the
reduction in price would be to gradually increase
the consumption of beer, and with it, of course, the
consumption of barley. This would be of immense
benefit to the farmer. There was a great extent of
land now laid down in grass, which could be devoted
most profitably to the cultivation of barley. If a
larger extent of land were devoted to cereals a great
number of live stock would be maintained, and
here, again, the public would have the benefit in a
reduction of the present high prices of meat. The
malt tax acted most prejudicially on the balance of
trade, and was injurious alike to the producer and
consumer.

After a few words from Mr. BALDWIN, of Bir-
mingham, who pointed out how the removal of the
malt tax would generally benefit the whole commu-
nity,

Mr. BIDDEL (Suffolk) urged that the effect of the
duty was to discourage high farming, and said that
by increasing the yield of an acre of land from 40 to
48 bushels of barley and converting them into malt
he would lose (as we understood) 7s. by the opera-
tion. The return of the last census:showed that the
agricultural population was on the decrease, and
this important fact he described in part to the gene-
ral want of comforts experienced by the labouring
classes of the country. If the comforts of the work-
ing man were increased, if he were enabled to obtain
cheap and wholesome beer in addition to his other
articles of food, a stop would be put to the gradual
movement from the agricultural districts, which was
diminishing their population.

Mr. OSBORNE (Tamworth) said that,
of view
looking at
the question from a manufacturingpoint
only, and regarding himself as a manufacturer of
beef and mutton, he had found that the production
of meat did not pay. The Government had last
year repealed the duty on malt prepared for the
consumption'of cattle, but the new law was so ham-
pered with Excise rules and regulations that its prac-
tical value was almost nil. The agriculturists, he
considered, had as a class been systematically ex-
cluded from their share in the benefits of remission
of taxation, which had been given to all other por-
tions of the community.
Mr. EVERETT said he wished to call attention to the
operation of the malt tax, by which labourers were
quite excluded from brewing in their own cottages