Welsh Journals

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The suggestion then made, of course, was that the duty on beer should be substantially increased. Under the Finance Act, 1914 (Session 2) the duty on home made beer was raised from 7s. 9d. to 25s. per standard barrel. The financial and social effects are sufficiently indicated by the following figures Net quantities on which Net receipt duty was paid. of duty. 1913-14 35,178,170 Standard Barrels £ 13,622,971 1915-16 29,214,701 £ 33,747,269 consumption decreased by nearly 17 per cent. and revenue increased by close upon 150 per cent.-most salutary results in both directions. The limits of taxation have however been by no means reached, for Mr. Lloyd George proposed in April, 1915, to double the whisky duty and to add a surtax of from 12s. to 36s. per barrel upon the heavier beers-proposals which doubtless would have received the instant and enthusiastic approval of a Welsh Legislature, but in the House of Commons had to be incontinently withdrawn in consequence ostensibly of Irish opposition, though it is probable that the vested interests of the trade in England were really the constraining factor. For Wales, taxation remains a potent instrument both in raising increased revenue and reducing consumption-conflicting functions simultaneously achieved. As a matter of fact, while contributing so much more largely to the Imperial revenues, the population of the United Kingdom consumed in 1916, 3,000,000 more gallons of spirits than in 1914, but nearly 215,000,000 gallons less beer. The convictions for drunkenness in 1913 were 188,877, and in 1915-135,811, a diminution of 53,066 or 28 per cent. course the position also being affected by the drafting of large bodies of men into the army, and the restrictions imposed by the Liquor Control Board. But it is quite clear that under normal circumstances, increased taxation materially decreases the consumption of alcoholic liquors accompanied by a substantial diminution in the convictions for drunkenness. The effect of the increased taxation on the contribu- tions of the respective Countries is shown by the revenue returns for 1916, which disclose the following situation Contribution per head. Customs Excise Total. s. d. s. d. s. d. England and Wales 30 8 25 4 56 0 Scotland 31 0 21 9 52 9 Ireland 30 6 20 9 51 3 Assuming that Wales consumed say 10 per cent. less per head than England, and thus paid to the State under the heads of Customs and Excise 50s. per head, its con- tributions during the year 1915-1916 would amount to £ 6,250,000 — implying a total expenditure upon intoxicants of fully £ 10,000,000 per annum, say £ 20 per family. With the prospective pressure of taxation after the War and the necessity for maximum physical health and economic efficiency it is evident that the colossal waste and impoverishment involved in the continued consumption of intoxicants upon the scale which has hitherto prevailed must come to be regarded as inexcusable, if not unendurable, and will require to be most substantially diminished. Prior to the War, Temperance Reformers generally advocated Local Option-the grim exigencies of the situation have inspired many to urge the adoption of general prohibition, while some propose the acquisition by the State of the entire trade in intoxicants. This latter policy, always a counsel of despair and peculiarly repugnant to Welsh sentiment and unsuitable to Welsh conditions, has become hopelessly discredited by the enormous appreciation in the value of brewery shares, illustrated by the following figures indicating the rise last year :­ Market Price per share. January December Allsopp Ordinary 2 18 City of London 25 91 Watney, Combe & Co. 12 81 ­increases in market value ranging up to 800 per cent. It is not surprising that the Manchester Guardian," although itself regarding State Purchase "as a great social reform declares that The transaction has become impracticable." It sums up the result of Government action and control in the following somewhat unsparing terms The Liquor trade profits have come out of the pockets of the nation, the consumer is justly angered because he has paid and is paying, outrageously high prices for outrageously bad liquor, in the making of which vast quantities of potential food stuffs have been wasted and are being wasted. It would be difficult to single out a more perfect example of administrative ineptitude." In the same way the Daily Chronicle," an ardent supporter of the present administration, declares The Trade will not accept purchase on pre-war conditions and the Government will not purchase on the basis of War profits." A Trade organ is said to have proclaimed :­ "To the War and to the War alone, the Trade owes its resuscita- tion. With regard to most trades, it is the interest of the State, as of the individual, to see the volume of transactions expand and the profits increase, but in this connection, it is the paramount interest of the State to bring about the maximum diminution of volume, and to reduce profits to minute and most unattractive dimensions. The Government has sagely multiplied enormously in defiance of the public interest the re- munerativeness of a business which it desires to purchase with a view avowedly either to restriction or abolition- it really is difficult to conceive a more fatuous course of procedure. State Purchase is a very unpromising road to a solution of our difficulties. Wales will be infinitely better advised to adopt and adapt the policy of the Scotland Temperance Bill to the existing situation in the Principality.