THE BEER DUTY ACT, 1880.

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1281, 14 September 1880, Page 3

THE BEER DUTY ACT, 1880.

TO THE EDITOR. Sic, — I receired yesterday an interesting pamphlet in the shape of "*n Act to impose an excise duty on beer," the short title of which is "The Beer Duty Act, 1880. " Granting the necessity of imposing a tax on beer, I think the feelings and convenience of those who have to pay oughtto have been taken into consideration, instead of which it is scarcely possible for an Act; to be concocted more objectionable in every way. The only redeeming feature appears to be Clause 5, which reads : "The Commissioner may from time to time make, alter, and revoke regulations for all or any of the purposes, for which it is hereinafter provided that regulations may be made, or which may be necessary for the effectual administration of this Act, &c." According to Clause 6 a schedule must be sent to the Collector of Customs, setting forth Christian name and surname of every person interested, nature of interest and place of residence, a description of the section of land on which the brewery is situated, description of all buildings on the brewery premises, material of which constructed, and description of wall, fence, or other outside boundary of premises, statement of the title under which the premises ou which the brewery is held, and the name or names of the owner or owners thereof, number of work boilers and other permanent vessels and capacity of each, manner of boiling works, whether by direct action of fire or by steam, average number of brewiugs per month, statement of the total quantity of beer wade and sold or removed from the brewery during the year immediately preceding the date of this notice, backed up by a declaration verifying above notice before a J.P. Every brewer must execute a bond to Her Majesty, her heirs and successors, with two sufficient sureties to be approved by the Collector of the District, m a sum equal to twice the amount he would be liable to pay during any one month that he will pay or cause to be paid, &c, &c. Clause 21 : " Every person who withdraws any beer from any cask upon which the proper j stamp has not been affixed, for the purpose of bottling the same, or who carries on the business of bottling beer in any brewery, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding a huudred pounds, and all chattels and utensils used in such bottling or business shall be liable to iorfeiture." I will only notice at present Clause 3 1 : " All beer fchall be sold or removed for consumption or sale, only in casks of such sizes as may be prescribed by regulations. Auy beer as aforesaid contained in casks, of sizes other than those approved by the Commissioner, shall be forfeited, and may be seized by any officer of polico or other proper officer acting under this Act." According to this, all casks not of a sizt to suit the stamps, I suppose, must be put to one side. With regard to bottling, there is nothing in the Act further than what is contained in clause quoted ; whether ale and porter already bottled can be disposed of or have to be put hack in the cask. As economy is the order of the day, the tax might be quite as efficiently collected, and certainly in a lesa offensive, arbitrary, and cumbersome form, by taking tbe quantities from the breweries' delivery books, whether sent out in wood or bottle ; if in quantities of two gallons and upwards, a declaration as to the correctness of same, and comparing, if thought necessary, the delivery and other books ought to be quite sufficient. The duty in this form could be collected without any extra cost to this already overtaxed country. The stamps, if affixed especially in wet weather, in transit, even if handled carefully, a stamp would now and again get rubbed off, confiscation, fine, and perhaps imprisonment the penalty. I think that in a country taxed so heavily (brewers exceptionally so), the Government of the day ought to make the pill as pleasant as possible, so as to induce unfortunates who have invested capital in various industries to remain and pay, instead of virtually trying to drive them aw*y. The Act, as it stands at present, would, in addition to the tax and the absurdities therein contained, necessitate the employment of one or more extra clerks, according to amount of business, to enable the brewer to steer clear of the pains and penalties annexed to the "Beer Duty Act, 1880." The party to whom the framing of this model Bill was intrusted, suited as it is more to the climate and institutions of fiapia, ought, in all justice, to be pensioned. Anothor effort like this might be the death of him. — I am, &c, Wm. Cummino.