MATCHES (CUSTOMS). (Hansard, 1 May 1918)

§ Sir W. RUTHERFORD
I should like to take this opportunity of asking the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the amount of matches upon which the tax will be charged has seriously diminished of late, because I find, as a matter of experience, that there arc many households to-day which cannot get, at any price whatever, the matches that are really essential for ordinary comfort in the household, and it does strike me very forcibly that if you reduce the quantity of matches that are sold by half, and you double the duty, you do not, of course, get any more revenue from matches. But if we are now putting an increased duty on any given quantity of matches, as this Resolution proposes, it seems to me it is an important consideration to know upon what volume of matches it is anticipated that this extra duty will be paid. There is a very considerable potential revenue to be got, which otherwise would be entirely lost, unless some steps are taken to see that, at the same time that this tax is being imposed, the quantity will be available for the public which will enable the money to come into the Exchequer, and also meet the convenience and the terrible want of this commodity which is at present a feature of the position.

§ Mr. BONAR LAW
I am glad to have the opportunity of explaining to the House that this is not taxation in the ordinary sense at all. As Chancellor of the Exchequer I should not have dreamt of putting an additional tax on matches. The sale of matches is under the control of the Tobacco and Match Controller. What he found was that there was a great scarcity of matches, and that this was partly due to the fact that the price which he had fixed, owing to the rise in the cost of manufacture, was so low that it did not enable the manufacturer to get a reasonable profit. It was necessary, therefore, for that reason alone, to raise the price. The Controller found that by raising the price a ¼d. he would give the trade a larger amount of profit than that to which they were entitled, taking into account everything else. The point was not raised by me, but, as a method of increasing the supply of matches by raising the price to encourage manufacturers to produce. This was all arranged in connection with the manu- 1593 facturers, and the meaning of it is that, owing to the necessity of raising the price apart from the Revenue, £600,000 was offered to the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer would have been a very foolish man not to accept it. The object is not at all to limit the consumption, and the effect will really be, I hope, to increase the supply of matches by giving manufacturers a price which will make it worth their while to produce them.

§ Mr. PRINGLE
I think the explanation is very satisfactory. I do not think anyone minds paying the tax, so long as the Controller will guarantee that the matches will light.

	£	s.	d.
For every ten thousand matches a duty of	0	1	8