The Press. THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 1865.

Press, Volume VII, Issue 682, 5 January 1865, Page 2

The Press. THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 1865.

In the MarlborougJi Times of the 13th December we read the following extract from an Australian newspaper : — Colonial made wine is rapidly superceding the use of ardent spirits in the Australian Colonies. Wines superior to the best Cape or Madeira are retailed at sixpence a tumbler, and leave the publican a large profit, as will appear from the following wholesale prices as advertised in the Geelong papers:—Black Prince, 3s per gallon; La Gloire, 4s 6d per gallon; Gouais, 4s; Tokay, 4s 6d ; the choicer variety of wince such as the Hermitage, Prontignac, Pureau Gris, Beisling, Burgundy, and Moselle, range from 5s to 7s 6d per gallon in bulk, some samples of rare merit fetching as much as 9s or 10a per gallon. It has been a long and well established feet that drunkenness in wine growing countries is by no means so prevalent as where ardent spirits are a common beverage. As, between two evils we are bound to choose the least, we would strongly recommend the publicans in this colony to try the Australian wines aa a substitute for ardent spirits. Whilst on this subject we may mention that an instrument, called a ■ ]• Wine and beer preserver," has been lately patented in "Victoria. It is the invention of a Mr James Harrison, of Geelong, and is being introduced into hotels and private families with great success. By this invention the vacuum of a cask, produced by drawing off the liquor, is filled with carbonic acid gas which not only preserves but improves ale and 1 wine to the last glass and for any length of time. The price of the instrument, with directions for using it, is from 25s to 30s according to size. This shows the rapid extension of the cultivation of the vine in that country, inasmuch as the colonial wine produce is now retailed at the moderate rate of 6d per tumbler. This feet would also appear to! indicate a material improvement in the tastes of the population, as persons who are in the habit of drinking pure wine are not likely to addict themselves to tne use of,

ardent spirits ; and the habit of " nobblerising," so fatal to the health and character of the population, cannot long survive the favorable change of taste. In the debate on the increased tariff in the Legislative Council. Mr. Crauford made some remarks bearing on the same subject. The question at issue is this:—ls wine to be considered as a luxury, or as a necessary of life ? In England heavy duties, levied for a long series of years, shut out all the lighter and more wholesome wines of France and other countries, at all events from general consumption, and established wine, as regards the United Kingdom, as a luxury of the upper classes only. That this was working against nature is clear enough, from the fact that in Scotland, in a much colder climate, claret was kept on tap at all the small public houses of that poor northern kingdom, long after its use had been banished by fiscal laws from the poorer classes in the southern part of Great Britain. Attempts have been lately made by the present Chancellor of the Exchequer, to restore the old natural flow of commodities, by reducing the duty upou wine to Is per gallon, but the taste of the British public has been so deteriorated by a long course of strong fluids that many years may elapse before good wholesome unadulterated and cheap wine is properly appreciated by them. We all know the lines of the poet, as to the result produced upon the Scottish population by the imposition of the English fiscal laws: — Firm and erect the Caledonian stood ; Old was bis nuitton, and his claret good : "Let him drink port," the wily Southern eried — lie drank the poison and his spirit died. The moral, as applied to our New Zealand legislation, is as follows: —"We find over against our coasts, in Australia, a country rapidly increasing in the production of excellent wholesome wine, likely soon to be produced in quantities sufficient for our supply, and at prices within the reach of all classes of the community. We place upon these wines a duty equal to that exacted from the strong wines of Spain and Portugal, and high enough to take the commodity out of the class of a necessary for all classes, and convert it into a luxury for the use of the rich only. ! What is best to be done ? —The colony is in difficulties and money must be found to meet is wants; but considering the great moral effect of a good wholesome beverage for the public, can we not contrive some less barbarous system than the present for levying the duties upon wine. Differential duties are objectionable, but we should prefer them to a continuance of the present high duty. The question is, whether a low duty upon a large consumption would not be as profitable as a high duty upon a small supply. This is a point which cannot at once be decided by experiment, because the Australian wines are only now beginning to find their way into the New Zealand market, but a continuance of the present high duties must prevent the problem from ever being solved. It may be safeiy stated, however, that the duty upon pure, unbranded wines, ought not to exceed, and ought never to have exceeded, the English rate of one shilling per gallon, and perhaps half that amount would be a more desirable rate, so as to establish a large consumption. New Zealand may itself yet become a wine-growing country. Some pleasant drinking wine has been made in the upper part of the Whanganui River, which gives reason to suppose that the banks along the whole course of that river may eventually be covered with vines, lemons, olives, &c, and what has been done there may be done elsewhere. We should imagine that the slopes around Auckland would all grow good wine grapes, indeed it has often surprised us that no attempt has been made in that direction. Should Auckland ever awake to the value of an export trade we may yet live to enjoy a glass of old Waitemata, or sparkling Manukau, or even a fine dry Eangitoto. It is very doubtful whether the Middle Island will ever produce good wine, but we can see no reason why the North should not rival the vintages which are beginning to produce such excellent wines in Australia.