LORD STANLEYsaid, some petitions had been placed in his hands from different parts of the country, in opposition to the measure about to be submitted to their Lordships' consideration by the noble Earl. The first of these petitions which he would present, proceeded from the Lord Mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of the city of Dublin, under their corporate seal; and it complained of the Bill as being unequal and unjust with regard to Ireland. He had another petition to present, the contents of which he would beg to state more in detail, as it would enable him, at a future period of the debate, to refrain from many remarks with which he otherwise would be under the necessity of troubling their Lordships. The petition which he held in his hand proceeded from the whole of the distillers resident in the neighbourhood of this metropolis. Their Lordships, or at least such of their Lordships as were not conversant with the subject, would be surprised to hear that the whole number of these petitioners did not exceed eight, and that in all England there were only three more. A few persons, it would thus appear, had a monopoly of the trade in their hands. This monopoly was, no doubt, partly owing to the advantages possessed by great capital over small capital in almost any branch, of industry; but still more to the restrictions required by Parliament for the purpose of facilitating the collection of the Excise duties. Although these petitioners, who, he should state, were unanimous in their application to their Lordships, were only eight in number, the interest involved in their concerns might be measured by this fact, that the Excise duties paid on the articles produced by these eight gentlemen amounted to no less than 3,500,000l. per annum, the whole Excise duties on spirits in the United 1242 Kingdom being about 6,000,000 sterling. The whole trade of distilling involved a payment of 6,000,000 a year to the Excise, and involved moreover the application to that particular purpose of no less than 1,300,000 quarters of grain in the course of the year. Therefore, although the number of the petitioners was small, the interest which they represented was very great, and any legislation on their Lordships' part ought to be proportionately careful and cautious. The noble Lord then proceeded to read from the petition the restrictions to which the petitioners were subjected in consequence of the Excise laws, and which they stated prevented them from adopting any improvement in the manufacture of spirits. He stated, that it might be convenient if he took that opportunity of observing to their Lordships, that there was a difference between the trade of distilling in this country and in Ireland and Scotland. In Ireland distillation was carried on from raw corn principally, but a considerable portion of malt was also used. In Scotland, distillation was wholly from malt, while in England it was almost entirely from raw grain; and therefore English spirits were known by the name of "raw spirits." In order to bring the article into the market in this country, it was necessary for it to go through the further process of rectifying, and for the safety of the revenue, that process of rectifying was not permitted to be carried on in the same premises, or within a quarter of a mile of the locality where the raw spirit was made; so compelled to occupy three localities; he could not brew at the distillery, and when the spirits were distilled, they must be carried a quarter of a mile off to be rectified, before they could be made fit for consumption. These restrictions threw a great burden upon distillers, and required the investment of a large amount of capital. The petitioners went on to state, that in the last Session of Parliament Her Majesty's present Government thought fit to reduce the protecting duty in favour of the distillers of this country, from 1s. 6d. to 1s. a gallon. That alteration, he might remark, took place at a period when not much attention was paid to the subject; and the petitioners now complained that a reasonable time was not allowed to try the effect of the reduction which was then effected. They complained that a further reduction 1243 to 9d. was now proposed; and though their Lordships might think that 3d. was not a very important amount, they should bear in mind that the difference of protection between 6d. and 3d. amounted to no less than 15 or 20 per cent on the whole value of the article, if it were not subject to taxation. The petitioners asked their Lordships to weigh well the consequences of the change about to be made, and prayed them to avert from the petitioners the ruin which they expected should fall upon them from the operation of the Customs Duties Act. They concluded by praying to be heard before a Select Committee of their Lordships' House. The noble Lord presented petitions from Islay, Inverness, Ross, Sutherland, Dumbarton, and Stirlingshire, against the measure.