§ MR. LEAI beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that at a public auction of wines and spirits to be held in the City of London on the 31st instant, there are to be offered for sale 436 aums (13,952 gallons) of Rhenish wine which has never paid duty, being imported into this country as unfermented grape juice and fermented in London, involving a loss to the National Revenue of £872, and causing unfair competition with duty-paid wines; and what action he intends to take in the matter.
§ MR. ASQUITHMy attention has been called to the advertisement of the sale referred to, and I am causing inquiries to be made into the matter. The Revenue Bill of this session contains a clause imposing a licence duty upon the manufacture for sale of wines in the 412 United Kingdom, with a view to bringing the industry under the supervision and control of the Inland Revenue Department. This will enable me to obtain more precise information than I have at present of the extent to which such manufacture is carried on, and to judge more accurately what further steps are necessary for the protection of the Revenue.