WESTLAND BREWERY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 13 April 1945, Page 2

WESTLAND BREWERY

QUESTIONS BY ROYAL COMMISSION Wellington, This Day. ‘‘Why was the license of the Westland brewery not cancelled?” is one of a series of questions which the Royal Commission on Licensing intends to ask the Comptroller of Customs. When the commission commenced its sitting yesterday morning the chairman, Mr Justice Smith, said the commission desired that the Comptroller attend before it to deal with certain matters. In respect of any particular matter the technical adviser most qualified to deal with it should also attend. His Honour said the commission wished to know who were the technical experts in the Customs Department whose duty it was to advise on the collection of excise on alcoholic liquor, their names and qualifications and places of residence the particular duties of each. The commission wanted a map of New Zealand showing the places where Customs officers charged with duties of inspection or check in relation to breweries or wine stills or both resided, giving the names of the places and a description of the officers at each. On the map should be marked also the places where breweries and wine stills were situated. In relation to breweries, the commission wished to ask the following questions: —“Is the Comptroller satisfied with the present allowance for wastage. having regard to the fact particularly that one brewery with a wastage of only 2.56 per cent, on more than four million gallons of beer gets an allowance of 10 per cent.? Would it be desirable that each brewery should be assessed on an average figure appropriate to its wastage over a period, the figure to be adjusted or checked at the end of the period? Is there any real difficulty in collecting duties on the specific gravity of proof spirit of beer in the condition in which it is retailed? This has reference to priming by sugar. A communication to the commission by R. Francois Joyce states that in England every pound of -sugar dissolved has to pay duty, and that in New Zealand the Customs leave a wide gate open, for the evasion of duty. Why was the license of the Westland brewery not cancelled? The collector is asked to produce the files concerning the two breweries whose license was cancelled since 1930 and to explain the difference in treatment. Does the Comptroller consider that the Customs Department, which is primarily a revenue department, is the appropriate department for the issue or cancellation of brewers’ licenses, or does he think that some other body should more properly deal with one or other or both of these matters?” In relation to wine licenses the commission is to ask why are some wine stills sealed by the Customs and not others? Has the department a policy in this matter, and if so, what is it? What view does the Comptroller take of the meaning of the words “spirits of wine” in section 110 of the Distillation Act, 1908? Comment on Ml- Joyce’s statement also is to be invited.