THE LICENSED TRADE.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20906, 13 July 1933, Page 10

THE LICENSED TRADE.

CASE PLACED BEFORE COMMISSION. j REDUCTION IN EXCISE AND ' CUSTOMS WANTED. J < PfiES J ,»SSOCI<ITIOS TF.Lr.GKVM.) WELLINGTON, July 12. The.general position of the licensed trade in New Zealand was placed before the Tariff Commission to-day. with a view to reduction in excise and Customs duties. It was contended that the progressive increase in duties, consequent on the fall in the consumption and the drop in the revenue, might be taken as a classic example of the diminishing returns due to over-taxation. The trade, it was stated, produced one-fifth of the total Customs and excise revenue, and had been called upon to carry a disproportionate load. Mr Percy Coyle, general secretary of the National Council of the Licensed Trade of New Zealand, said that their main ground for reduction lay in the fact that the last increase in taxation had meant, not an increase in revenue, but a loss. The decline was so marked that it could not be accounted for by depression influences, and in the case of spirits in 1931 the increased tax imposed as a Budget-balancing device had dragged revenue down to the lowest figure for 10 years. Beer returns showed a slight rise in revenue, but the consumption drop was a record and was still unchecked, and revenue would inevitably follow it unless the excise was lowered. "A comparison with Great Britain, whose legislation we had followed, shows some diminution in returns due to high taxation," said Mr Coyle. He submitted that the trade deserved consideration as a contributor to the national income of from £1,000,000 to £2,000,000 annually. He contended that it was fallacious to regard the licensed trade from a revenue viewpoint alone, for it kept an army of men and millions of capital in its employ. Half a million pounds was paid annually in wages by the brewers alone. Mr Coyle urged the commission to take no account of the vexed question of the morality or otherwise of selling or consuming liquor. This had been answered conclusively by the country in 1928. An additional setback to the licensed trade had been caused by high taxation. The home brewing of ale received a great impetus on account of its cheapness, but the State obtained little or no revenue from this source, and the trade, which was expected to produce revenue, competed with an untaxed product.