Among the matters of dome...
The Times, 1824-05-15T00:00:00

Among the matters of domestic and daily interest which affect the comfort of private families, and therefore deserve a share of public attention, the present operation of the Beer and Malt Duties is entitled to no inconsiderable place. There is no inducement which ought to be so powerful in leading to a reform of any branch of revenue, as the hope of relieving the poorer classes from a disproportimied pres- sure of taxation. Of this it has long been manifest that the poor of England might justly complain, from the man- ner in which the beer-duties were distributed. The malt and hop-duty may be taken at 20s. per quarter of malt, and is. 4d. for eight pounds of hops, the quantity required for the manufacture of a quarter of malt into beer. These duties fall equally on the person who brews for home con- sumption, aitd on the brewer for sale. Bnt the business does not end there. The beer brewed for sale (which, under the name of strong beer, includes all the gradations from porter to the strongest ale) pays, in addition to the malt and hop-duties, a farther tax of 9s. 2d. per barrel, which upon porter and beer of equal strength, being that in the most general use, is equivalent to a tax of from 30s. to 35s. per quarter. So that the gentLeman who brews for himself pays on the material a duty of 21s. 4d. per quarter, while the poor man, who has neither conve- niencies nor capital for brewing, pays at the rate of 51s. to 56s. per quarter. This is a cruel disproportion, and has operated to the gradual reduction in amount (as well as deterioration in. quality) of the beer manu- factured for public consumption, regard being had to the increase of our population: while the more serious injury is, that it has restricte(d the comforts of the poor. It seems then to be a very fair demand upon the Minister, that hc, should, if unable, from considerations of revenue, to repeal the whole of the beer duties, at least so reduce them as will, through the superior skill and extensive bu- siness of the brewer, enable him to supply beer to the con- sumer at a price equal or nearly equal to that at which a private individual can manufacture his own beer. To this end it is conceived by some respectable members of the beer trade, that a tax of ss. per barrel on strong beer (in- stead of 9s. 2(l.) might with advantage be retained-leaving the duty of 2s., as at present, upon small beer, with an ex- tension of pricefrom 16s. to 2s., for the sake of furnishing a superior article. The scheme of the Minister for adjusting the several interests af'ected by a change in the licensin system, has undergone, we are told, a modification. Instead of a scale of duties from 24s. to 45s. on the quantity of beer drawn from a quarter of malt, accorling to its strength, he agrees in no case to require more than 24s. per quarter of malt, whatever amount of beer may be producea fron) it. Now this plan is in some degree a premium on bad beer. For instance, if three barrels of beer be brewed from a quarter, the duty at 8s. per barrel is 24s. But if 31 barrels be brewed from the same malt, the tax is no more than 24,s. Thus, besides his profit on the sale of so much more beer, the brewer gets a bribe of 7s., or 31s. instead of 24s., for reducing the quality of his beer 7 in 31, or more than 22 per cent. against the consumer. This is considered by well-informed persons a worse expedient than the old one of charging on the beer when manufactured, in which case there was no temptation to reduce the beer, beyond the mere saving of the malt. Besides the above objection, the scheme now contemplated bears upon its face a necessity for a large increase of ex- cisemen. There are three modes now proposed, instead of one, for semuring the duty; and, all together, the three new methods are looked upon as less effica- cious thalL the single one hitherto adopted. Formerly it was held sufficient to ascertain the quantitiy of beer. But now, in addition to all the old surveys, an account must be kept by the surveyor, of the malt stock, and the strength of the liquor must be tried by means of a saccharometer; which last practicc, it is supposed, will give employmen' to nearly 1,000 additional excisemen. Upon the who e, then, it seems desirablethat the measure proposed by the CHAN- CELl.OR of the EXcHEQUEE? should be simplified; that, in ac- cordance with the newiy recognized principles of free trade, a more open competition should be encouraged than he promises; and that, in many of its bearings and tendencies, the measure should be more fuUy digested and matured, before it shall be brought into activity.