Star.
London, England, 1802-04-14 00:00:00

MALT AND USK TAX.

The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHIQNSR moved
for the Committee on the Malt and Beer Tax Bill.
Sir CHARLES Bummer condemned this TAX,
as calculated to drive the indnflrious poor to the
ufe of fpirituous liquors, and to banifh beer even
from the tables of the higher orders ; for in con.
fequence of this tax it was not likely to be made
of fufficiently good quality for their ufe—thus
would be confirmed the modern fafhion of fume
Gentlemen who imitated the praftice of the
French—that of drinking wine at dinner inficid
of beer.

Mr. WHITBREAD inlified that this was, to all in-
tents and purpofes, a Commutation for the In-
come Tax ; and it was one which would fall moll
heavily on the labouring poor. whole fituation was
Inch that they would not be able to pay the addi-
tional halfpenny which the tax went to tmpofe on
them. The confequence would be, that these
perfons would forfake a wholefome beverage, and
either drink water for ftrong fpirits, to the injury
of their health and mor.. But the revenue
from this room would not be productive, becaufe
the quantity of beer would be diminiffied, and the
bler would become much worfe in quality than it
bad been. The neceffity of the times had already
obliged them to do fo. With refped to the furn of
two millions, which the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer Rated as the probable produce of this tax, that
Right Hon. Gentleman had either under-rated the
wants of the public for the milting year, or it was
incumbent on him to thew why he withed to raife
a funs fo much larger than what he told the
Houfe he fhould want. As the tax was now to
Rand, nothing was to be allowed to the Brewer
for the increafe of his capital, although the con-
trary principle had been adopted in the year t 76c,
when that Tax was laid on whi9h caufed the pct
of porter to be railed to std. No doubt, fince
that period, confiderable improvements had been
made in the art of brewing, by which the Brewers
were enabled to ufe a lefs quantity of malt, and
by that means, as well as by their large capitals,
they were enabled to fell the beer at to. kw a price.
But the confequence was, the delirndion of all
the little Brewers. There 'were, indeed, many
Brewers who were in the habit of buying u the
leafes of public honfes, and obliging the publicans
to take any kind of beer they cook to give them.
Theft, in fad, were :parable dependents on the
Brewers, who gave them the worn' beverage that
could poffibly be made. Iq juffice to the memory
of that perfon from whom he bad derived all his
fortune, he mutt fay` be had never purffied, but
always difapproved, of that pradice. The Hon.
Member next alluded to the great advantage given
to the private over the. publie Brewer, which
'would be highly injurious to the trade, and which
could'affordno relief to the labouring part of the
community, who had not the means of buying
malt and making beer he mull go to the public
houfe and pay an extraordinary price, while his
opulent landlord, or his employer, and while the
independent tradefman would take none of the
Brewer's commodity, but lw their own beer.'
The Cmattcannoa of the Kacttsgy as. obferved4
that of the four millions about to be raifed in taxes,
two millions would fall exclufively on the higher
orders, and the reR would fall in common on all
defcriptions of people. Any perfon taking the
trouble of looking at the fchedule of taxes, would
find that no great tendemefs had been (hewn to
people of rank and fortune. He confeffed it was
not in the power of faculties like his to provide an
interetl for the debt, which fhould not bear upon
the lower orders. This tax would not tend to ia-
creafe the confumption of fpirits, becaufe the duty
on malt would enhance the price of that article.—
He wiffied-to remind the Route that in the years
taco and dot, when the price of porter bad been
railed, and when that article was as bad in quality
as it could poffibly be, the quantity of beer was not
much lefrened. The quantity brewed was as great
as it had been in former years, although the quan-
tity of malt nfed was very (mall. No man regretted
more than he did the increafed burthen on the pub-
lic; that burthen, however, had already taken place
long before it was the intention of Government it
fhould. And who were the perfons impofing it
The very man who now fo loudly complainedof the
hardthips of the poor (a cry of bear! bear!) It was
well known that he had told the Houfe it was not
his intention to propofe laying any duty on the
Rock of beer now in hand; but what mull his alio-
nifhrnent have been when he underflood, that the re-
turn made by the brewers to this indulgence on the
part of Government, was to raife immediately the
price of the beer they had lying by them. To fay
that the brewers were, by this meafure, likely to be
oppreffed, would be at once Milting at the root of
all taxation. Every perfon dealing in a commo-
dity from which Revenue was to be railed, might
in the fame manner complain of oppreffion ; and
if their complaints were attended to, no tai.es
would be railed at all. It was the very great re-
duetion that had taken place in the price of grain,
and the late abundant barveß, which had fuFgetted
to his mind that a coofiderable revenue might be
railed from beer, without impofing any extraor•
dipary borthen on the labouring part of the com-
munity ; particularly fo when he looked forward

■

to the reduaion that was Rill likely to take place;
and even with the additional duty, the beer might
be fold for the fame price it had been fold for Tome
time back. Willi refpea to private brewers, he
thought it necellary to hold out encouragement to
them—he had looked to them .with great folici-
tude, and he should rejoice to find that the coun-
try Gentleman, the tradefinan, and even the la-
bourer, brewed their own beer under their own
roofs; and therefore it was neeeffary for him to
arrange the tax in fuch a manner that the public
should not have an advantage over the private
brewer • which would certainly be the cafe if the '
whole Of the duty had been laid upon malt, be-
caufe the perfon who brewed a great quantity has
always the advantage of making a given portion
of malt yield more beer than the perfon who brewed
but a (mall quantity. He trotted therefore the
Houk would be of opinion, that he had dißributed
the tax in fuch a manner as not to give either of
them an unfair advantage over the other. Taking
the quantity of beer likely to be brewed hereafter
at an average quantity brewed for the laR eighteen
years, he had reafon to hope, that fo much woold
be confumed as would produce a revenue of two
millions. With refpea to the Hon: Gendernan's ob-
jeßion, that the fum to be railed exceeded hii efti-
smite, it was de(irable at all times that the Ways
and Means should exceed the Supply. Althodgh
he had no great reafon to apprehend any. Confider-
able defalcation in thole revenues accruing to the
country during the war, he could not look for-
ward to a period of peace as any other than a
period of great uncertainty, particularly the com-
mencement of a peace ; and therefore every means
Sould be ufed to guard spina any probable
deficiency. it was naturally expeaed that
larger means fhotdd be procured for the defence
and fecurity of the country. Our Peace Eftg-
blitlur.ent would certainly be greater than at for.
suer period.; there was already a 'nnfiderable in-
creafe in pay and allowance, which the advance in
all the requifites of 'life had rendered smearya
there extraordinary expences matt be provided (or
by the Ways and Means, and it was of the bigh-
t(' importance that they should be provided for-by
the large(' poffible eliabliffiment. He trolled,
when Parliament lhould meet next year, that the
Confolidated Fund would be found fully adequate
to the Peace Eftablifliment without having recourfe
'to new Taxes. It was with a view to this (Nat
that he wilhed to raife more Taxes than from hit
calculations he thought would be necetfary. He
would heg of the Houfe not to entertain any no-
tion of reducing the Taxes at this time; and if a
sedation fliould at any other time be deemed es.
pedient. there were other objeas which required
exoneration more than that on which the Houle
was then debating. With regard to the circurn-
dance Rated by the Hon. Gentleman, of Publicans
being dependent on Brewers, he knew it t 6 be a
fad' that there was hardly any fuch thing as find-
ing an independent Publican any where through-
out the country. On the contrary, they were fo
much at the wi l of the Brewers, that they bad no
kind of choice as to what beer they &odd fell the
Brewers who kept them in an abjed ftate of de-
pendence, fent them whatever kind of beer they
chore; and there was hardly an inflame of a Pub.
bean who could brew his own beer. This was a
great and crying evil, which loudly called for Tome
remedy. It bad a fatal operation on the morals
of the country; but it mood be recolleaed that
this Tax had nothing to do in creating that evil.
Mr. Alderman Conga (aid, that with regard to
encouraging private Brewers, it would be impof-
Mk for perfons living in cities to brew their own
beer. _ _ _

Mr. SMERIDAN was of opinion the tax would fall
more peculiarly hard upon private perfons who
brewed their own beer. He obferved that in the '
town of Stafford, which he bad the honour to re-
prefent, nearly all the houfekeepers brewed the
beer they drank, and for the molt part did pretty
Lodju(bce to their commodity. The effea of
tax would be to deprive them of the means of
continuing the praftiee ; their families would no
longer have an wholefome beverage to retort to,
and they,for their °wit private gratification, would
be driven to the ale-houfe, where they would con-
traift habits which would render them lets worthy
members of the community. He maintained that
the price of porter was fixpence per pot; he might
be told, it was only four-pence halfpenny ; true,
the reduced trail% which was called porter was only
four-pence halfpenny, but the brown flout, which
was what porter was formerly, was fixpence. Ije
adverted to the inconvenience arifing from the
leafes of public houfes being in the hands of the
brewers, and recommended that tome remedy
might be adopted for fo ferious an evil.
Mr. PITT obferved that the profits of the brewer
were fufficiently ample, even with the additional
55. I id, per barrel, to juftify the tax, and he was
of opinion if the price of malt fhould, in confe-
quence of favourable feafons, become lower, the
public revenue might be encreafed to the amount
of many hundred thoufand pounds, without cur-
tailing the fair merchantable profits of the brewer,
or enhancing the price Di the article to the con
;utter.
Mr. Joe s faid,the t Hoe. Gentlemen teem-
ed to him to have meditating in his retire-
ment additional b the public. He was
.; the Chau Exchequer to in-
creak die Tax on was Paying
" you have not laid on 1001111 b• go on, tax them,'
Aever mind them, if they *met drink porter they
may drink water." It is Willed the cafe, for there
is nn porter now nal& it be brown Rout, men-
tioned by an Hon. Gentleman (Mr. ilheridan),--
ift he would do well to confider that his calmila-
item might prove fallacious. If he was rightly in-
formed, the laborious clefts of the comemmity felt
thernfelves inadequate to the payment oftbs addi.
final tax ; and be could afore the Right Hon.
('"nlenum, that in a club, of which a friend of his
Memher, there were upwards of ninety per-
funs who had refulved to drink a pint of porter Ids
an evening. (A km kagh 0 He did not fee any
re:111M for laughter. He did not mean that the
whole company collative!), had refolved to drink
a pint lets, hot every individual feparately. It was
fzrious thing that a poor OM could not raife a

pot of porter to his mouth, without Paying u here
goes 41d." How were tilde laborious and refpeft•
able chats of the public, the Chairmen, the Dray-
men, and the Coalheavers, to exift ?—their profits
would not allow them to drink porter at fuch a
price, and they would not be capable of going
through their work without it. He was fure the
Chancellor of the Exchequer never could have
thought of fo unjuft and unpopular a Tax. He
had too good an opinion of him to fuppofe him
capable of it. Doubtlefs it had been fuggefted to
him by his Right Hon. Friend, or fume perfon
who wilted to get him out of his place.
Mr. Pitr Paid it was not often that any obfer-
ration from the Hon. Gentleman rendered an ex-
planation on his part neceffary, but in the prefent
inftance be Mould be extremely forry to be under-
Rood as having recommended an additional tax to
be borne by the laborious part of the community.
All he had Paid was, that if the price of malt fell
confiderably lower, by which the profits of the
Brewers would be greater, all beyond their fair
and reafonable profits ought, in cafe neceffity re-
quired it, to be called in aid of the public refources.
After (one further converfation, the Houfe di-
Tided upon the queftion for the Speaker's leaving
the Chair—Ayes, 82 • Noes, ta—Majority 70.
The Houk then refolved itfelf into the raid Com-
mittee. A long. converfation enfued upon the fe-
veral clanks, principally between Mr. Wl4 I Tat lAD
and Mr. PITT. Theformer moved an amendment,
that inftead of an additional duty of as. per bar-
rel, k Ibould only be is. The Committee divided
upon the amendment—Ayes, t t ; Noes, 62—Ma-
jority againft the amendment p. -
The feveral claufes were gone through, after
which the Houle refumed, and the Report was
ordered to be received to-morrow.

Adjourned at half-pall eleven o'clock.

I.ONDON.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14.
MICE OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK:

per C. ConC money, 761—for May account, 78
Reduced 75f j-4 per Cog. 90/}.-01111‘181r
PRICE OF STOCKS YISTELDAY. ,
Doak Stock 194 Lang ARD.Sii 7-1 s
3 pa Ct. Red. 7s India Bonds 6a ss. pron.
3 per CL Conf. 7t}l Ira 5 pa Cents tosf f 14
4 Pa Cent. 99 •if . . Excheq. Bills is. dIG par.
5 pa C. Ann. lost : Oninium Ati i prom
' - --

Dusupc

-Aram go.