COLONEL NOLANI beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will state the duty paid upon Irish and Scotch spirits, and the duty upon the same amount of alcohol in English beer contributed to the revenue; and whether, seeing that it has lately been proved that some of the compounds sold under the name of beer are of a poisonous character, would he therefore allow the consumers of intoxicants to have some choice in the nature of their beverages by somewhat reducing the duty now levied on an article of Irish and Scotch manufacture.
§ SIR M. HICKS BEACHThe rate of duty on spirits, whether English, Scotch, or Irish, is 11s. per proof gallon. The duty on beer, whether English, Scotch or Irish, depends, not upon the spirit that it contains, but upon the specific gravity of the works. As a matter of fact the present tax on beer works out to a rate of duty per proof gallon of the alcohol contained in beer of from 2s. to 2s. 3d. The duty on beer has been raised in recent years considerably more than the duty on spirits.
COLONEL NOLANI beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the fact that in England the licence and other local Excise duties are paid over directly by the Excise authorities to the local bodies who raise or administer the English local rates,1¼ per cent, being charged for collection, he would consider the advisability of extending this advantage to Ireland.
§ SIR M. HICKS BEACHNo charge for collection is made in either country, and Ireland would gain nothing by the suggested change. Under present arrangements the local bodies receive the full equivalent of the proceeds of the licence duties in Ireland corresponding to those licences which are handed over to the local authorities in Great Britain.