BEER AND FREE TRADE.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVI, Issue 3171, 12 April 1871, Page 3

BEER AND FREE TRADE.

" Hop-pole," an amusing correspondent of the " Colonist," in a letter headed " Across the Bar," has the following : — Dr Bentley says, "He who drinks beer thinks beer";'' and precious thin his thoughts would sometimes be if that were true. A bystander at the bar quotes the story of the laborer who one warm day at noon got a jug of homebrewed from the old lady for whom h e wag working. He drank ancl said nothing; the donor, being surprised at the absence of the usual praise given to her liquor, remarked, "Nothing but malt and hops there." " Ancl water," drily observed the drinker. " Oh, I forgot the water, said the lady." " No, T'm blessed if you did," was the rejoinder. Had this circumstance occurred in this colony the speaker might havo added "sugar." Upon this an old far mer, with a thump on the counter, ex cluimed, " Hung it, I'vo been trying to sell my barley to the brewers and they won't buy it because they use nearly one-half sugar." Then he lires up. ancl with louder voice says, " These brewers get a duty of £2 a hogshead put on foreign made beer in order to encourage them ancl keep the money of the colony as much in it as possible, and yet they brew what then' like, and send money out of the country for sugar, and some people say chemicals. There ought to be a law passed compelling brewers to use only malt ancl hops in making beer." " And water," said Boniface smiling. " Yes, of course," replied the farmer., "but what of the barley farmers here send to Melbourne? they have to meet a duty of 3d or -Id a bushel before it. can be placed in the market, while Melbourne can ancl does send barley, wheat, and Hour, into our market duty free. I doubt the justice of that, either to the colony or to ! farmers." " Things are all wrong hero," says an old Yorkshircman, " aud farmers have no chance. The brewers, as you

say, get protection, and they send the money out of the country for sugar, which should not be employed in making beer. In the old country farmers brew their own beer, ancl rare good stingo it is. I once heard a friend say there were three kinds of beer, ' strong table,' ' common table,' and ' lamen-table.' Another here strikes in with the anecdote about the beer- shop sign in Harrogate, which announced " Bear sold here." "He spells correctly," says T.H., " if he means to tell us that the article is his own Bruin." There were other jokes in accordance with the " bar practice," but these I would omit, and would conclude by giving a few figures on the beer question, which should make those who know what this country can produce open their eyes to the fact that we are j sending a great deal of money out of ] the country which should aud could be kept in it. Take only the matter of beer. In the .year 1800 beer was imported to the value of £70,000; malt, consisting of over 100,000 bushels, was imported, Jhe value being £ss,ooo ; and yet, strange tcrspy, while thus importing malt, the colony that year exported 90,000 bushels of barley. Hops to the value of £31,000 were imported ill the year 1869, and yet we all know that a large quantity of splendid hops could be grown in this province sufficient to supply not only New Zealand, but the Australian colonies, and the home market too. This system of sending out our material instead of manufacturing it, and sending out barley ancl buying malt, may perhaps be accounted for on tbe same principle as the curious butter transaction which was recorded by Mr Fitzherbert, who, when off Hokitika, learned that the out-going steamer, bound for Victoria, had on board 200 casks of New Zealand butter for Melbourne, while the steamer newly arrived bad 200 casks of Victorian butter for JS r ew Zealand ! This is called Free Trade, and free it is, and it maybe easy to those who don't lose by it, but it is a very costly kind of business. I have told something of what I beard and thought of " at the bar," and I hope it may do some good outside the bar. There is a good deal of truth in what the old Yorkshireman said. Things are wrong iv this country. Finish your beer!