The Sun.
London, England, 1825-03-23 00:00:00

CAPE WINE.

Mr. II WIE said he had now to propose a motion of a different
-nature to the last.,„it was an the subject of wine. When the
Right Hon. Gentleman (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) sub-
--:ritted his statement to the House relative to the remission of
tiuties, stock was then taken ; but he was not aware that there
was any return to shew the actual amount that must be paid in
consequence of the remission of the duties on wine. His object
now was to shew the state in which the wine growers of the
Cape of Good Hope must be placed in consequence of the remis-
sion of duties proposed. In 1811 the Colonists of the Cape were
recommended to cultivate the vine as an article likely to prove
.)f great benefit and importance to them. In some time after
three million of vine stocks were planted at an expence of one
million rix dollars. As a further encouragement, one third of
the duty on Cape wine was taken off in 1813, and hopes were
held out that the then existing duty on Portugal wine would be
perpetual ; the produce of the article, in consequence, was
.greatly augmented. Now, however, by the plan proposed by
the Right Hon. Gentleman (the Chancellor of the Exchequer)
the duty on Portugal wine would be reduced from six to four
shillings a gallon, while that on Cape wine was to continue at
two shillings and sixpence. The House must see that the effect
of this would necessarily be to ruin the producers of wine at
-the Cape. The duties should at least be made proportionate,
or time given to get rid of the stock on hand. It might be said
that the Cape wines were mixed with others of a better quality,
and, therefore, that it would be improper to admit them at the
same duty. Even admitting this to be the case, it was no
reason why those interested in the trade should be ruined. The
/ion. Member concluded by moving fora return of the number
of gallons of French and other foreign wines, and also of Cape
wine in bond on the 28th of February, 1825.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he had
no objection to the measure, but the subject would be more
properly introduced when the remission of the wine duties
should be brought under consideration. He must take the li-
berty of saying, that when these gentlemen, interested in the
subject. complained of being taken by surprise, they were not
altogether accurate. In 1813 he L.d much consultation on it,
and he then proposed to the parties concerned, that the duty on
Cape wine should be only one third of that on other wines, but '
he distinctly informed them that they could not count on it as a
,permaeent arrangement. Fur the last two or three years it was
ll:Jiver:4llly known among them that the time must soon come
when it would be deemettfit to remove the great inequality of
duty. They had no groundffierefore for coming forward to make
out a case ofgood faith. It was true that the colony of the Cape de-
pended in a great measure on the manufacture of wine; but he
was not to extend protection to them merely because they pro-
duzed a bad article.—( A laugh.)—This might be a reason for
some protection he would admit, but net so far as to hold out a
temptation to that species of fraud which the Hon. Gentleman
(Mr. Hume) spoke so lightly of. The wine-grower of Bordeaux
might mix hermitage with champaign, as they often did, and
operated only as a fraud on their palates; but when sherry
an i ca':),: were mixed it was a fraud, not only on their palates,
but their pockets. It would not, he admitted, be right to press
all at once too hardly on them, and it was therefore his inten-
i toipropose that, for a t;nilimited time, three or five years, the
ii .y on Cape wine should be reduced to 25., and after that period
to be at 2s. fkl. He would wish to give encouragement to every
thing, and he trusted the makers of this wine would, in the
course of a few years, produce an article fit for market.
:Vtr. GRANT stated the great increase of the consumption of
wires generally in India.
Mr. T. WILSON Said, the Cape wine would be improved
as the vintage grew older. New grapes produced a rank wine.
The Returns moved for by the yon: Member were ordered.