The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-10 00:00:00

French Wines at One Penny per Bottle
Customs Duty.

By WILLIAM RAY SidEE, ESQ., F.S.A.

In 1846 the writer suggested the introduction of the
wines of France into England at the customs duty of 6d.
per gallon, or ld. per bottle. This appeared to be very
sound policy, and one that would almost immediately give
excellent results. The British climate cannot produce wine.
The importation would have increased the commerce be-
tween England and France ;—would have given to the
middle and upper ranks a cheap and wholesome beverage
which at a former period they certainly possessed ;—and
would have supplied the money to the wine growers to
purchase many English manufactured articles they greatly
wanted.
At that time the duty was ss. 9d. per gallon, 11id. per
bottle, and produced in 1844 £136,000.
At present the duty is 2s. 6d. per gallon, 5d per bottle for
all wino imported in bottle ; but for wine in cask is only
ls. per gallon, at the rate of 2d. per bottle, provided it
holds, according to the Hydrometer of Sykes,l less than
26 per cent. of the spirit of proof, which contains 50 per
cent. alcohol, and therefore to pass at Is. the wine &lust
hold loss than 13 per cent. pure alcohol. This duty in
1862 produced £158,000, and in 1863, £165,000.
The existing rates of duty only commenced on the 4th
April, 1862, and were thus in operation only nine months,
but during that year 1,385,000 gallons of red wine were
charged at the average rate of Is. sd. per gallon, and 516,000
gallons of white were charged 2s. 4d.
But in 1863 the duties were in force throughout the year,
and 1,315,000 gallons of red wine were charged ls. sd. per
gallon, and 625,000 gallons of white 2s. 4d., exactly the
same as the previous year.
This is not properly,speaking a financial question. If
the duty were reduced at once to a penny per bottle, the
revenue would not be £120,000 less, even if there were
no increase of consumption. But every year would show
an increase, and the revenue would quickly return to
its present amount, and even go far beyond it. But
should it fall somewhat short, the loss would be inappreci-
able ; as the whole amount is only 38. 6d per cent. on the
revenue of the United Kingdom.
Hence it is most earnestly contended that all French
wines, the liqueurs alone excepted, should be admitted into
England at the customs duty of 6d. per gallon, or id,. per
bottle. _ _ _

The present system of duties causes two distinct rates to
be charged for the same wine, one being two and a half
times greater than the other, and has a most prejudicial
operation upon commerce. The great mass of French
wines are cheap, exceedingly wholesome, and form a most
delicious drink during dinner. They almost all contain
when pure less than 13 per cent. alcohol, and would pass
into England at ls. duty, when not placed in bottle.
Now it is frequently very desirable that the wine should
be imported in bottle. It comes in exactly as it is made. It
cannot profitably be adulterated in England. It travels
with perfect safety and without the probability of being
damaged. It loses none, or at least very little, of its fine
flavour. And the English consumer would constantly have
the preference, and would have much of the good wine the
French merchant could send in bottle if the legislature
permitted him advantageously to do so, and made no
difference in the rates of duty charged.

Moreover, there are some reasons why the wine should
be allowed to come into England at a less duty in bottle
thin in cask. The carriage is more expensive. Wine when
conveyed wholesale, by special tariff and: at the cheapest
rate from Macon to Paris, is charged per 1,000 litres, when
in cask, 27 francs, but when in bottle, 44 francs 80 cen-
times. This is a very important difference, and one that
would tend to prevent the improper introduction of wino
in bottle into England for the purpose of distilling. Again.
the growers frequently mix spirit with the wine for the
purpose of making it boar the journey when imported in
cask, and this is not necessary when in bottle, for great
masses of liquid alter much more rapidly than small, and
especially when the quantity is so minute as that which a
bottle contains.
The value of wine in no way depends upon the quan-
tity of alcohol it holds, and to fix the exact amount is very
difficult. According to the work on distillation of Duplais
the Elder, 1858, 2d edition, the greatest amount of alcohol
in the red wines of Bordeaux is 11 per cent., whilst the
least is 71 to 8 per cent. The Burgundy wine; the Cham-
pagne wines, the wine of the Eastern I!yrennees, of Chatil-
lon, of Orleans, and the Lyonnese wines all contain less
than 13 per cent. pure alcohol. It is only the wines of the
South of France (always excepting the liqueurs) that con-
tain a fraction over this amount, and then they hold only
17. per cent. •
The French Government show great liberality with re-
spect to British ale, which is imported into France at rather
less than one-third of a penny per bottle. Now the superior
sorts of these ales are as great a luxury to the Parisians as
the Bordeaux wines are to the Loudonere. The alcohol