LORD BALFOUR, in moving the Second reading of this Bill, said that certain classes of British-made wines, which were technically know as "sweets," were not at present excisable liquors and did not come under the ordinary licensing laws, although many of them contained 70 per cent. of alcohol, the same amount that was contained in most of the wines that were imported. Under the law as it stood there was no power to restrict the sale of those liquors, and therefore they were sold freely on Sundays and at other times when the ordinary public-houses were closed. The object of the Bill was to provide that, as in the case of other wines and spirits, no one could sell those drinks until a certificate had been obtained from the ordinary Justices.
§ Read a second time (according to Order), and committed to a Committee of the Whole House To-morrow.