To The Editor Of The Time...
The Times, 1824-04-09T00:00:00

- I I ,i bt-.Thesittentionqof ou-vrmnlasPlebei much ian to,st iaut1aEy directd toimprozyenrists in. tde principleps of ,o,ui Ic- ;3iialhQn npOO-comtderclal subjects X but it appearS,ito.me that in' rst directing their a tePtion: to _rs,fordigin p6ceof bour some tcisdele tliey7are igiving As Sunduc.i portatice, in public estimation, to the .less valuable branch o? comtercc. In the iometrade, al he; yrofits ball ,tie anlytages..rcsulting;frim it reiain,with 91Iitishh saibiects It is als6with the trade carriedn n ithfthe_ British col,nles, but notso in thefoiei'irrade, in .which.in most cases, ifn6iln.all, onehaif of tiose.bena imustremain witlthe fofeigni atioR. lt would have been wiser tbcrefore,'to have attend- ed-first teothat in- the prosnerity of' whicb we are most. interested, aud from the proit of whieh we derive .the whole advantage., - In inan'v respect the .home trade, particularly in the intercourse betiteei sIngland,, Seotland -d. Ir'eland, is' if a.most aqomaloua .sLtte} and ,ti . I of it-rrore r than-In whaat reLtes to the article trade of diit 1lntholst -whielf my attention has beea.attrac,,edby solneeof the recent discussious In arliament. - - I ,n Epgtiid-tte clty, .on.home.madi spritsis 10s. 6d..pergallon,. .t? ptrcent.nbove hydrometer proof; in.Scoblsind.adrLd treland it is ,ooly*,2s. per-sallei,,Atihydrometcr. proof. - hYomn Ireland spirit.s mnay be. S,t to Sngland, on paying-the -diffrerce of diutv, ind,may be then fAifed tn&snldas gini,orwanyother-cotapound, according- to the,tas teof.the';eojsutnr&,,:But-sineAliu-ieducti6n of dat, .the regular :distllerstinlrelasd have -found fullelmploymsent for, .their rapit -in s:upplying their owa m wbrket, hich -is ino longer supplied by the illicit distiler4 the profil. to bc obtainiid iidner tbe present duty notbehigequal-to the risic, 'WheScoteh distillerihow. ever i s'placed .a 9ery:ditferent situation f as -tbe law now,-stsnds', -no iarAiller-that.maybeveheen.working i,n.ScOtniud.for -ht6e con_ sumptitn; preedling-the lst of October, of any year6 can, be enteied to . woik for the English mmrket.. ,Tfie eff'ect of1this law is, that the works must remain idle for a whole year,.before theY can be used.to. distil ,orv the Eoglisli market;;and this eoiitrivance,- ao opprersife in its result, is not requread for tlie proteclion of therevenue, but hals evideditly been adopted for the benefit .of those distillrs who have enoy iG fur ,'the, last '0) yearsf and,who, still -enjoy,- the monopoly qf the English market- Trhis monopoly is nowr in tb.e hads opfftephl}stillEigehsabishentis in England, and five in Scotland,who-workt for-the English iuar,let., They have- secitred it bydthe -aid-of? thi, rnost unjust andunjusti. fiable:regulation; -and, from their.immnense profits already rcalized under. it, itL-becomes dangerous to compete with them. lThey faive hitheito sueceeded -inbuiuslg-off opposition at ;kn expense, as-:it is supposed, of -notlessg-thati 100,Q001.:; bubt-tbis purchase.money, ex- orbitantas-it-appehras is.a tifle compared with teleir enoqrm,0us.ap,. nial profits, which enable .them speedily. to.reimburse-it- T hese mionopolistsmneet and arbitrarib'y fixtlioprice of tlieir omi- modity,. to the minifesttiniiry both.of. the consumr- and of the re- venue. - Thewcharve:'st-preset -lSs. 6d.- per -gatlon, :i4n dh& the1 duty of lOs& ll.; 'thustexacting a,monopoly -profiLof at-leastlY. CI.. per- gaUlon beyond .a,fair profitLor'theiricapital,-whiclhon d,OOO,OO4, galloisnsis 337,5001.l.sterling&J.a tolerablythandsons,e bonus to be di_. vided among.fifteen.distillers !- This may appear to be overcharged;- let any one who thiRks. it- soattend to:the fello,wing-fact. It is well known that-a quarter of barlev,o'E-fair. quality, yields-20-gullons of svirit~-that the prepo,tion of n'ialt.duty ie -less than tbree-pence per gaUlon-,and-tbat .tbeexpenses, after allowing.for the value of .the gr,ams and ,wash, ought. not to exceed nine-pence per gaUlon it 5is easy, thereforefor. any one to calculate their profits, whicbhin truth, have neither check norlimit, except what their.prudence may, impose upon their cupidity. .-. -- '- -'.. -a - IDs corroboration:of -this calcalatiori, one of the- fie Scotcltd-istil- lers,.who distil;s fo7r the Scotch a-a well as for the English mrarlcet, is at this timneselingtin Scotland spirits which yield .him only 3s. ad, per gallon, exclusiv-e nf spirit.duty. but including 34. small duty 4 .while for what he sends to. -England he gets 5s. -per gaUon, exclusire of any dluty,except theproportion of malt'-daty, whiclh in this rticle nmay be,not- m6re than-2d.'per gallon.,- . h- s P?monopoly ioreoier; nor-nly operates 4aghs~tthg consumers of spiiits, by raising-their-ptice,'but alsoagainat the revenue,.by di, minishing their.consampti6n;: aurt in a_do.ube ratfo gsinst the landed interest, since it not only diminishes. the consiimptioa gf bar- ley, .but.these, fifteen distillers come into tbh barley mai&et as one nan, 'which musthave a most injurious effect upon the price. Their systet adrmitsofno-competitionamong;hesmselvei, as they not only- regulate .the price of their4pirits to the public, but also the quantity. that iA to. be brought to market by each of tleir respective establish- ments.:. - . It is sstonisbing:that these 15 distillers :should for so many years bave contrived to persuale-the landed interest and the Treasury that thereven,ie-and the price of barley are benefitted-by suelt a sYsteni; but it is to'be hoped-thatPafliamentiwill in time discover the adl- :vantage of fair and-open competition.in- the irt and.mystery,of . dis-. tilation, aswell as in-the cases of. docks ant',..nauufactures.-and. every subject of commerciai:dealing. The distihlers, hoiwever, are at lltirnes aliveand wakefulto theirown interest, as.appeared-late- ly on the proposal to:adilit rlim to be-rectified.; :wsien, ,by',rrcansof the inlhaence they hiveacquired-oveE the opinions of tle Janded in- terest, a clamour was commenced whicb had aninstantaneous efeiet upon bis-Majts. &2ninistdrm : utIbad thi; subject been inora fully investigated-;titwould have. bcen, disco.Vered that the.adnission. of- .rum to. rectification-would not-haeaetha&much eff'ect uo,n the priceof. barley,for:thqdistillexgalready, keep.thata s lows3 they can in.their, comp,etition in the barley-marketwith .the-bscwers; but-would mere- ly have produ&d fallin1thepriceef -Britishhpiits, totIc advantage. of the public, nnd*a favourable:'ff'ect on -the: revenue .by.the sacrifice of patt of the present exorbitant prcfitsof -5dlistiller.- Even-should the price-of barleyfor ahimb filla fbw sblllings, tWelMnded intere8t woulain the-ejdbenefit bytheincreasedlnuiinberofipurchasers,which would be the consequence of breaking up -the present distilling no- nopoly;.andsurely the WPest lndia colonles,are of suffidentim. rt-. aneetothe-shippingand manufatturinginterests:.and hence collate- raflytothe landed interest also,.-to;meritsome consiteration when in. competition with:theinterestoftJ5i monopolizing distillers 2l- The Scdchdistillers,ts*hoarenottof the)" fifteep,"',expressnojealousyiof- -the admisiion.of rum torectificafioin 'on thecontrary, Jhavethe best authority.-for assuring thr publie; that alLthey 4,e,ire is a frec trade. in spiritsi and:such regulations- tas:iill -draitdf,..their'beingrmanu,. -factured.of t1iebcst qualie ..a- - . - ; - - Both the Englsh.distillers and the West-Indians,' lioever; hive. much to. comiplain-of in -respectto the grattreduiction of. the:duties on corn spirits in Scotland and -Ireland. - The dirties on rum-resin" .unaltered-inthese parts of thekingdom- -:and-of coursethe consump- tion isat an-end; .and sll the north of,Kaglaandis.upplied with gpi litssnuagled into this countrv from the Scottish border, to the ma. niifest io1ur;y.ofthe reirenue oftbe,English distilleraud.the.importer of run. lt is Contrary tO every princdple of political economy. and of fiaancialjuaticc;to haveadifferentrate.oftaxatidn-on the-samearticle indiff'erentparts.of-.the kibgdom' - ard-theattempt will alwayslead tosinustigling, aiid toe the; consequent; corruptionx of the sober and. morul: abits of -thepeople.- One-uniform -duty ought, in -equity, to !be fixed, sand a free trad^ in spiritA alliWed, whether manufactured in- EiglaRd,-in Scotlanud' ir,lsrdr4 orcinthe WeastIndia:colonies. It is asinjutjous'in-practice-as itis-indifensibleinprincipl, to prevent any Scot6h distillerfrom sending hib spirits to:Bnzland; or.to deny to the West India planter permission-to aimprovefiLn rum bh the su- perior sience of the English disdller.or'rectifier. -t would not, in fact, be a whlihpoth-unetconable-topxobibit himfrom refining his sugar, sndthus to-.cormpel'us-.-the: eopsnmer ,sto eat it in its raw- itate% with all its impuritv, and with all itsrefuse. .. : willic'glv iive his- aJest 's' resent .uiiiisters;ciedit for-the liberality wrhic' they have of hate displayed-on-subjects connected- with thetrade and'commn*c-ofthe.cbintrg, b&t-tEcwish,haska1id -in - the commencemerifi; to seeithemidirect their attentioru moreb pointedly, to wbatttoncerns :our! home trade_the .onlyr.drelwichi s9bures,thb prosperity'oftht itateI, in doing thisi-atheyt will not fail to.onvincc themselvesibfa faet. of .Vicls-the piblic have-long been well satisfied-thabthe:pmesentYonooly s-ystedii ofspirit-dealingiz hostile to the lnterest- of- the- community_hdstlle to the interest of - the' revenue_and 'hostle..in a .-wo;d,to every iuterest -but-the.ina.- 'erest-of the fiftrnmrdistillea -ho' s.o:eiformously- -ad etChsively. profit by it,;.. : - . - * A- LUUKJBE;UR:N.; .TOT gETj-b -ToR;OF. TIIB TIfVRSi