either those which fall indifferently upon the
whole annual produce, or those which fall
chiefly upon the larger portion of it. The
excise upon the materials and manufacture of
home-made fermented and spiritous liquors,
is, accordingly, of all the different taxes upon
expense, by far the most productive; and this
branch of the excise falls very much, perhaps
principally, upon the expense of the common
people. In the year which ended on the 5th
of July 1775, the gross produce of this branch
of the excise amounted to L.3,341,837 : 9 : 9.
It must always be remembered, however,
that it is the luxuries, and not the necessary
expense of the inferior ranks of people, that
ought ever to be taxed. The final payment
of any tax upon their necessary expense, would
fall altogether upon the superior ranks of people;
upon the smaller portion of the annual
produce, and not upon the greater. Such a
tax must, in all cases, either raise the wages
of labour, or lessen the demand for it. It
could not raise the wages of labour, without
throwing the final payment of the tax upon
the superior ranks of people. It could not
lessen the demand for labour, without lessening
the annual produce of the land and labour
of the country, the fund upon which all
taxes must be finally paid. Whatever might
be the state to which a tax of this kind reduced
the demand for labour, it must always
raise wages higher than they otherwise would
be in that state; and the final payment of this
enhancement of wages must, in all cases, fall
upon the superior ranks of people.
Fermented liquors brewed, and spiritous
liquors distilled, not for sale, but for private
use, are not in Great Britain liable to any duties
of excise. This exemption, of which the
object is to save private families from the
odious visit and examination of the tax-gatherer,
occasions the burden of those duties to
fall frequently much lighter upon the rich
than upon the poor. It is not, indeed, very
common to distil for private use, though it is
done sometimes. But in the country, many
middling, and almost all rich and great families,
brew their own beer. Their strong
beer, therefore, costs them eight shillings a-barrel
less than it costs the common brewer,
who must have his profit upon the tax, as well
as upon all the other expense which he advances.
Such families, therefore, must drink
their beer at least nine or ten shillings a-barrel
cheaper than any liquor of the same quality
can be drank by the common people, to
whom it is everywhere more convenient to buy
their beer, by little and little, from the brewery
or the alehouse. Malt, in the same manner,
that is made for the use of a private family,
is not liable to the visit or examination
of the tax-gatherer; but, in this case the family
must compound at seven shillings and
sixpence a-head for the tax. Seven shillings
and sixpence are equal to the excise upon ten
bushels of malt; a quantity fully equal to
what all the different members of any sober
family, men, women, and children, are, at an
average, likely to consume. But in rich and
great families, where country hospitality is
much practised, the malt liquors consumed by
the members of the family make but a small
part of the consumption of the house. Either
on account of this composition, however, or
for other reasons, it is not near so common to
malt as to brew for private use. It is difficult
to imagine any equitable reason, why those
who either brew or distil for private use should
not be subject to a composition of the same
kind.
A greater revenue than what is at present
drawn from all the heavy taxes upon malt,
beer, and ale, might be raised, it has frequently
been said, by a much lighter tax upon
malt; the opportunities of defrauding the
revenue being much greater in a brewery than
in a malt-house; and those who brew for private
use being exempted from all duties or
composition for duties, which is not the case
with those who malt for private use.
In the porter brewery of London, a quarter
of malt is commonly brewed into more than
two barrels and a-half, sometimes into three
barrels of porter. The different taxes upon
malt amount to six shillings a-quarter; those
upon strong ale and beer to eight shillings a-barrel.
In the porter brewery, therefore, the
different taxes upon malt, beer, and ale, amount
to between twenty-six and thirty shillings
upon the produce of a quarter of malt.
In the country brewery for common country
sale, a quarter of malt is seldom brewed into
less than two barrels of strong, and one barrel
of small beer; frequently into two barrels
and a-half of strong beer. The different taxes
upon small beer amount to one shilling and
fourpence a-barrel. In the country brewery,
therefore, the different taxes upon malt, beer,
and ale, seldom amount to less than twenty-three
shillings and fourpence, frequently to
twenty-six shillings, upon the produce of a
quarter of malt. Taking the whole kingdom
at an average, therefore, the whole amount of
the duties upon malt, beer, and ale, cannot be
estimated at less than twenty-four or twenty-five
shillings upon the produce of a quarter
of malt. But by taking off all the different
duties upon beer and ale, and by trebling the
malt tax, or by raising it from six to eighteen
shillings upon the quarter of malt, a greater
revenue, it is said, might be raised by this
single tax, than what is at present drawn from
all those heavier taxes.