The Sun.
London, England, 1860-02-28 00:00:00

French wines. While the highest strength chargeable with
the ls. duty was only 15 degrees, a very small quantity of
French wines would have come in at that duty; and it
would have consisted of the lowest and weakest descriptions;
but he would give the house the result of actual experiments
made by two or three importers during the last week. All
the sherries averaged front 32 to 33 per cent. of alcoholic
strength. Marsala, a Sicilian wine, averaged 33 per cent.,
and port from 33 to 40 ; so that all the wines from Spain and
Portugal would be charged the highest rate of duty. On the
other hand, Medoc had 17 per cent., Chateau La Tour 18
per cent., and the average of more than 200 clarets of the
years 1856-8 was 18 per cent. As therefore the right hon.
gentleman now proposed his resolution it would be, he re -
peated, equivalent to a differential duty in favour of French
as against Spanish and Portuguese wines; and it looked like
an artifice to get rid of our covenants end agreements with
the Peninsular governments. Again, if there was one point
upon which the wine trade were agreed it was the impracti-
cability of carrying out the alcoholic test. The right hon.
gentleman said it might be applied in half an hour; but 40
or 50 pipes were often received in a morning, so that the
committee would see what a serious hindrance to business
even a test that took only half an hour would prove. Why
in Faris, were such quantities of wine were daily brought
into the city, the test was not once applied for weeks
and months together. in the first place it required a degree
of skill hardly less than that of an analytical chemist, and
its results were most uncertain and contradictory. A short
time ago three pipes of port, of the same vintage and the
same price, were sent, one to London, another to Leith, and
a third to a port which he (the hon. gentleman) did not re-
collect. •In London the pipe was admitted; but at Leith it
was refused on the ground that it had above 40 degrees of
alcoholic strength, and was, therefore, prohibited. At the
third port the wine was at first refused, but a dispute aris-
ing, the test was gone through again by another officer, and
it was admitted. The result would therefore be that, the
test having been found impracticable, France would de-
mand admission for all her wines at the is. duty, and then
all other countries would request the same favour • whereas
the right hon. gentleman had himself confessed that it
would be madness and folly to let in the strong wines for
less than 2s. per gallon. Indeed, it would take at least six
times the contemplated consumption to repair the loss to
the revenue if such a thing were to happen. It would even
pay to buy up inferior French wines to brandy them to the
full strength, to import them at the ls. duty, and to distil
them in this country. •
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said there
was some truth in the assertion that the wines of the colder
vine-producing countries were less strong than those of the
south; but the house did not as yet know what was the
difference, becauee owing to our vicious system of duties
the Peninsular wines had grown to be of such an unnatural
strength that few even of gentlemen in the trade had any
knowledge of their original quality. (Hear, hear.) The
hon. gentleman said that no wines but the wines of France
would come in at the low duty, but the wines of Germany
would also come in. What had the Government done ?
They had placed in this scale the condition that wine in
bottle should pay 2s. a • gallon whatever might bo its
strength, but that was not conceived in the spirit of esta-
blishing differential duties against France. He was confi-
dent that France would feel as great an interest in the ad-
mission of the wines of the south as of any wine which she
possessed. We really did not know what the natural state
of the wines of Europe was, because they were very rarely
seen here in their natural state. (Hear, hear.) The hon.
gentleman said the test proposed was impracticable, and
that the trade were of that opinion without one dissentient
voice. He, however, believed the trade did not hold the
language of the hon. member. If the hon. gentlemanwould
refer to the arguments used by the trade, he would find that
where they said the scheme was impracticable, they ex-
plained the expression by stating that it would be cumbrous
m operation, and would cause delays. When thehon. gen-
tleman said it would entail an enormous expense by
establishments at small ports, he (the Caancellor of the
Exchequer) answered him by saying there would be no ne-
cessity for any establishments at small ports. Neither was
the hon. member accurate in stating that it would require
men of a higher class than the present custom-house officers
for conducting these operations. The present head of the
customs had declared that in the course of a short time,
under the measures proposed, the department would be able
to disperse altogether with the class of landing-waiters,
who were the most costly officers the customs possessed.
Tho wine trade certainly had not represented to him that
they would sustain any amount of inconvenience such as to
interfere seriously with the course of their transactions.
With regard to the test of the strength of wines, rules
would be devised which would enable the customs to deter-
mine how many cases it was necessary to take in order to
test the ordinary strength of the wine. The hon. gentle-
man came down to supply the lack of information on the
part of the Government, and he told them that well-in-
informed and practical men had acquainted him that full-
bodied wines of strong quality could be purchased abroad
at 2d. or 3d. a gallon. [Mr. FITZGERALD —I said nothing
of the kind.]' The hon. gentleman was totally wrong, if
he supposed that any wine fit to be imported here could be
brought to this ccuntry for 2d. a gallon. Wine of any
strength, however coarse, could not be brought here—as he
had been told by gentlemen who represented the trade—at
less than about twelve times the price stated by the hon.
member,
Mr. FITZGERALD explained that what he said was
there might be a coarse wine bought in France at a sum
such as he had stated, and it might be worth the while of
parties to mix that with a very large portion of brandy and
bring it in here at the rate of Is. duty solely for the purpose
of distillation.
Mr. T. BARING begged to observe that where there was
a graduated scale for an article which came into consump-
tion without any subsequent process, they taxed it, not ac-
cording to its value here, nor according to its general con-
sumption, but they taxed it arbitrarily, and, he thought,
differentially in favour of France. If they took all the wines
of Spain and Portugal nothing could come in at this one
shilling duty, and what must be the resuit ? That in order
to get this wine in at a low duty it must be diluted before it
arrived here. Where they introduced an article for imme-
diate consumption they ought not to adopt a scale of this
kind, They should adopt one uniform scale.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER thought
that from the remarks of the hon, member he had probably
not heard the statement which he (the right hon. gentle-
man) had made at an earlier period of the evening. The
hon. gentleman wished to know why the strong wines were
to be taxed at 2s, and the weak wines at ls. The answer
was as simple as possible. If the Government placed the
tax high enouph with reference to strong wines to protect
us against risk as to the spirit revenue, then they would de-
feat entirely the main purpose of this great change, which
was to introduce the weak wines at the lower duty. It ap-
peared to him that if they were to protect the spirit duty,
and make an experiment in the introduction of the weaker
wines, they should have a sum which went down as low as
ls. and as high as 2s. A change had taken place in the prac-
tice of the wine trade. It had become necessary, in conse-
quence of the oidium, to brandy the wine more, and that
might have led to some uncertainty in the application of the
law.

Sir S. NORTHCOTE wished to have some explanation
why the scale had been lowered from 18 to 15 degrees. He
did net think that the proposed system would be imprac-
ticable, but it would be cumbrous and inconvenient. The
result of the proposed system would be, that the fine clarets
and hermitages would pay the least duty.
Lord A. CHURCHILL observed that alcohol, having a
greater specific gravity, fell to the bottom of the cask ; so
that wine taken from the top of the cask would be weaker
by some degrees than that taken from the bottom.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the
difficulty suggested by the noble lord was met every day.
In point of fact, the practice adopted was, that the customs
officers drew partly from the top and partly from the bot-
tom of the cask. His hon. friend asked him what effect this
would have on the revenue. Before they got out of com-
mittee he should be obliged to make a statement of the re-
sult, but as far as they had gone they would be rather
gainers. His hon. friend said that the hermitages and fine
clarets would pay the least duty ; but the fact was that these
fine vines were excessively rare products, not of products
but rather of vineyards. Generally it would be found that
the stronger were also the dearer wines, and, therefore,
the scale as far as it went would fall gradually, but he
was far from saying that it was to be recommended as an
ad vatorem scale.
Mr. CRAWFORD wished to know whether the new
duties would take effect to-morrow (this day).
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER believed
it was not the intention of the committee to continue any
differential duty in favour of Cape wines after the new scale
came into operation. They would pay, like other wines of
the same strength, for the protection of the spirit revenue
in England, He felt it his duty, unless the committee
should be of a different opinion, to take care that the same
rule was acted upon in the present case, and that the 3s
should be taken to-morrow (this day).
The CHAIRMMN, on being appealed to,
said that the
resolutions would take effect as soon as the house in com-
mittee had passed them. '
~
was also his own impression, thou
The CHANCELLOR of the EXotCuHpEenQmUaEkßingsaiindthatqniry
effect
would be followed, and the new duty would take im-
mediately
he had been told otherwise. The usual course, however,
after the resolution had been reported to the
house.
After a few words from Mr. NEWDEGATE,
The resolution respecting spirits was agreed, to.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER then
moved the fourth resolution, providing that the duties
charged upon certain goods, wares, and merchandise im-
ported into the United Kingdom shall cease and determine,
a list of 43 different articles being annexed to the resolution.
Mr. NEWDEGATE hoped the right hon. gentleman
would not go on with the list that night. He moved that
the chairman should report progress.
Sir W. MILES suggested that it would be much better
not to take the other articles specified in the treaty of com-
merce until immediately after the house should have de-
cided -vhether it would take off the duty on paper, with
regard to which also the hon, member for Hertfordshire
(Mr. Puller) had an amendment respecting p
theprohibition
of the export of rags from France.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said care
would be taken to make some arrangement by which the
house would not commit itself on that subject. All he asked
was to go on with this resolution and the list now until they
came to some article on which a difference of opinion might
arise.
Mr. NEWDEGATE then said he would take objection to
the first article in the list, " agates and cornelians." (A
edbNaevditotinohpekoitnuntitOt
laugh.) He would not, however, trouble the house with a
long speech on the subject.
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The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the
resolution proposed to the house did not limit the articles
admitted to those coming from France; it took no cogni-
sance of their origin, but left the import open from all the
world. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. D. GRIFFITII said this answer was not consistent
with the statement of the right hon. gentleman the other
day, that the giving of certain facilities to France did not
imply their being extended to German goods.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the
hon. gentleman had mistaken the purport of his answer.
What he had stated was that, under the treaty, it would be
perfectly competent to the House of Commons, if it thought
fit, to lay higher duties on German or any other goods than
on the Freuoh goods ; tho French treaty would not forbid
it. He did not object to report progress if there was any
bona tide objection to the articles in this list.
Lord PALMERSTON took this opportunity to appeal to
the hon. gentlemen who had motions standing for next day
(Tuesday) to waive them, and. allow the discussion of these
resolutions to go on. The hon. member for Berkshire stood
first.
Captain VERNON, being thus appealed to, said he
give way, though his motion was one of great commercial
importance, end he might bring iten afterwards upon going
into Qotamittee of supply.
Lord J. RUSSELL said it might be convenient to the
hon. member for Riidge water (Mr. Kinglake, who was net
in the holm) to be informed that the motion of which he
had given nonce ter figs day—namely, one for the prodile.