§ I have, therefore, turned my attention to those commodities which arc mainly produced in this country and the prices of which arc not dependent to anything like the same extent upon foreign conditions. I propose to reduce the Beer Duty, and my object is to make a reduction which will result in retail prices being lowered by one penny a pint all round. Hence, the first point for consideration is how to ensure a uniform reduction in price. As the Committee are aware, the duty is assessed on the standard barrel, which means that it varies in strict accordance with the gravity or strength of the beer. If the duty on the standard barrel were reduced by an amount which represented one penny a pint on the average, it would mean more than one penny on strong beers, but much less than one penny on lighter beers, and the result would be that, generally speaking, the price of the beer now sold at 6d. or 5d. a pint could not be lowered by Id. In these circumstances, I concluded that, in order to meet the special conditions of to-day, when the spending power of the poorest classes of the people has been so greatly diminished, the best course would be to keep the present duty of 100s. per 1739 standard barrel and to effect the reduction in duty by giving a rebate on each bulk barrel of beer, whatever its strength. Thus, the advantage conferred on the lighter beers will be of the same value as that conferred on the heavier beers and a uniform reduction in retail price can be made without question.
§ The next question is, what should be the amount of the rebate per bulk barrel. The full equivalent of 1d. a pint is 24s. per barrel of 36 gallons, but the Committee will not be surprised to hear that I do not intend that the cost of the reduction in the Duty should fall entirely on the Exchequer. It is generally agreed that the trade may fairly be asked to hear part of the cost, and after going into the question very carefully I am satisfied that they may reasonably be asked to contribute 4s. out of the full 24s. The rebate of Duty that I propose is, therefore. 20s. per bulk barrel. I should add that it will not be possible to allow the full rebate of 20s. on beers of very low gravity, as the result would be to repay the whole of the Duty. All beers down to about 1,024 degrees of gravity will receive the full 20s., but below that Point the rebate will gradually diminish, so that it will not make the Duty on any beer less than 24s. per barrel. The rebate will be given on home-manufactured beer brewed from 1st April and on imported beer from to-morrow. This will enable retail prices to be reduced forthwith at present gravities. The cost of the reduction is estimated at £13,000,000 in the current year, and £16,600,000 in a full year.