HC Deb 29 May 1905 vol 147 cc73-4
MR. KILBRIDE (Kildare, S.)

To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has yet received a full report from the Colonial Office as to the practice of the Canadian Government in granting certificates, on the payment of a small stamp duty, to distillers and merchants endorsing the age guarantee affixed by such traders to pot-still whiskies bottled in bond, as the Excise officers know by the official books the exact time such See (4) Debates, cxxxv., 497. whiskies have been in Government custody; and, if so, whether, in the interest of the trade, the public health, and increase of the revenue, he will instruct the Excise authorities to adopt a similar practice in these countries.

(Answered by Mr. Austen Chamberlain.) Further information has bean received with regard to the practice of the Canadian Government in granting certificates, but I am informed that the Canadian system is applicable only to unblended spirits, and could not be adopted to the circumstances of trade in this country, where most of the spirit sold consists of blends of spirit of various quality and of various age.