The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-06 00:00:00

THE REPEAL OF THE HOP DUTY.

TUNBRIDGE WELLS, Nov: 5.
An important meeting of the most influential hop
planters of Kent and Sussex was held in this town
to-day, in order to organise an agitation in favour
of the total and unconditional repeal of the hop
duty.

The Hon. Mr. Brand, M.P., presided ; and among
those present were Mr. Dobson, M.P., Mr. M.
Body, Mr. G. P. Bacon, and other gentlemen con-
nected with the Hop Excise Duty Repeal Associa-
tion. The meeting was held in the Sussex Hotel,
and the large room was densely crowded, between
400 and 500 hop planters being present.
The Hon. Mr. BRAND, M.P., in opening 'the
proceedings, said that it gave him the greatest plea-
sure to take part in the movement. Ever since ho
had consigered the question he had been opposed
to the continuance of the excise duty upon hops,
and it was his decided conviction that until the
repeal of that duty was effected the cultivation of
that important plant would never be in a healthy
and satisfactory condition. It was of no use to
talk of the relaxation of the duty ; it must be- re-
pealed altogether. (Cheers.) He :never could
understand on what ground thiS particular plant,
of all others, should be selected for taxation, -nor
could he comprehend why it was that the planter
of hops was to be the only individual who was to
be visited in his fields and grounds by the excise-
man. (Hear.) He strongly recomstnended to all
who were interested in the cultivation of hops not
to rest until they had secured the total repeal of
the duty. (Cheers.) They might rely upon it that
they would have all the assistance he could give
them in making this attempt, for nothing could
afford him greater satisfaction than to be able here- -
after to say that he had some small part in accom-
plishing the object for which this meeting was
held. (Cheers.) It was not at all necessary for
him to enter into a lengthened statement of the
merits of the question, which had been frequently
canvassed, and with respect to which the practical
men whom he saw before him were so well in-
formed. It was one in which Kent and Sussex
were alike interested, and therefore he trusted that
they would go hand in hand together upon it.
(Hear.) If they did, he had little fear for the
results of this agitation; bat if, on the other hand,
they were induced to listen to the different'schemes
which had from time to time been suggested, they
would most assuredly fail. He hoped that nothing
would induce them to support any proposition for
the mere diminution of the duty on hops. They
must obtain their whole object or nothing, for a
compromise would be ruinous. It was only by the
total repeal of tye duty that the business of the hop
planter could be rendered prosperous. (Cheers.)
Mr. ()VERY then moved—" That a memorial be
presented to the Lords of the Treasury, praying for
the total and uneonditionalrepeal of the excise duty
on hops."
Mr. BURY seconded the resolution.
The SECRETARY then proceeded to read the me-
morial, which stated the grievances of the hop
planters at great length, and prayed the Lords of
the Treasury to take into consideration the diffi-
culties and extreme embarrassment in which they
found themselves, owing to the operation, of the
duty. It also implored their lordships to avert the
absolute ruin in which they would be involved if
they were compelled, as they had been of late years,
to ask the indulgence of the Exchequer for the
further postponement of the payment of the duty.
It was also agreed to appoint a deputation to wait
on the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Mr. DODSON, M.P., expressed the very great
pleasure which he should feel in bringing the
subject before the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
in company with the other gentlemen who formed
the deputation, convinced as he was that there
never would be any chance for the hop
grower until the duty was entirely got rid of.
With respect to the question of a total or a partial
repeal of the hop duty, he admitted that there had
been some difference of opinion on the subject. He
thought that the planters who had associated them-
selves together to demand the total repeal of the
duty could do so on far better grounds—of common
sense and principle, and their arguments would all
be found embodied in the memorial. By the pre-
sent system there was one uniform duty upon all
hops whatever, whether good, bad, or indifferent,
and it was often paid long before the hops were
sold. Indeed, in some cases, the duty was paid
upon hops which were never sold at all. (Hear.)
The tax was not what it professed to be—a tax on
beer, because if it were it would be paid on the
manufactured article, but, as they knew very well,
the duty was paid on many hops which never found
their way to the brewers at all. (Hear.) Then,
again, the tax was one which was contrary to all
sound principles of political economy, because it
was one which was paid out of the pockets of the
producers. It was all very well for political econo-
mists to tell them that all taxes were eventually
paid by the consumer ; but in this case there was,
as he had already reminded them, no consumer at
all with respect to some of the hops upon which
duty was paid ; and he defied any political econo-
mist whatever to find any pocket out of which the
duty could come, exirpt that of the producer. Th is
aggravated to a very great extent the natural risk
of the planter, and it was besides one of so uncer-
tain a nature that after all it was of very little
value to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. If, there-
fore, they went manfully and demanded its total
repeal as a matter of justice, they could do so with
a far greater degree of confidence in the ultimate
success of their efforts than those who asked for its
reduction, merely because they could only ask it as
a matter of kindness and charity. Even those who
clamoured for the removal of the war duty alone,
thereby admitted that it was proper that hops
should be taxed. They made the question not one
of principle, but convenience; wheras, by coming
forward and boldly demanding the repeal of the
tax on the question of its unsoundness, financially
' considered, and its unfair bearing on the hop plan-
ters, they stood upon higher ground than those who
demanded the reduction or repeal of any other Ex-
cise duty whatever. (Cheers.)
The proceedings then terminated.

ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF
INKEBMANN.

Yesterday being the anniversary of Inkermann,
or, as it was aptly termed, " the battle of the com-
mon soldiers," a grand fete was given at the Crystal
Palace in honour of the occasion. It is scarcely
necessary to call attention to the events of that
great and glorious day, which will ever be remem-
bered with exultation wherever the English lan-
guage is known, although that feeling must be
mixed with sorrow by the remembrance of the many
devoted heroes who fell before the overwhelming
force by which they were so suddenly and unex-
pectedly assailed. There
eis no event in our his-
tory in which the chivalric courage and un-
daunted fortitude of British troops were so eminently,
displayed as on the bloody field of Inkermann, and
the anniversary, of that memorable battle must ever,
therefore, be dear to the national feelings of all
classes of our countrymen. It must in a special
manner be so to those who happily survived the
slaughter of that dreadful day, and the Crystal
Palace was therefore filled with hundreds of the
Coldstream and Scots Fusilier Guards, who took
so glorious a part in that memorable engagement.
In order to give the fete as much eclat as possible,
the company admitted free every soldier who pos-
sessed the Crimean decoration, and for the enter-
tainment of the visitors various sports and pastimes
by military competitors were introduced consisting
of Cumberland and west country wrestling, hurdle
races, single stick, jumping in sacks, jingling, &c.
The prizes offered by the company were, for the first
in wrestling and hurdle races, ten shillings; the
second five, and the third two-and-sixpence ; for
jumping in sacks and jingling, five shillings and
two-and-sixpence ; and for single-stick seven-and-
sixpence and five shillings. The amusement
created by these exhibitions of physical power and
activity was realty beyond conception, and excited
the greatest laughter among the vast crowd who
attended on this occasion. The band of the Cold-
stream and Scots Fusilier Guards contributed to tha
entertainments of the day, and the performances of
'the latter regiment were no less conspicuous. The
beautiful grounds of the Palace were covered from
an early hour with a multitude of ple,asure seekers,
and the beauty of the day made the whole affair
pass over in the most delightful manna.