BILLS RELATING TO THE DISTILLERY, &c.

The bills relating solely to the supply being discussed and expedited, the house proceeded, as usual, to an act other laws for the advantage of the community. Petitions having been presented by the cities of Bristol and New-Sarum, alleging, that since the laws prohibiting the making of low wines and spirits from grain, meal, and flour, had been in force, the commonalty appeared more sober, healthy, and industrious: representing the ill consequences which they apprehended would attend the repeal of these laws, and therefore praying their continuance. A committee of the whole house resolved that the prohibition to export corn should be continued to the twenty-fourth day of December, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty nine; subject nevertheless to such provisions for shortening the said term of its continuance as should therefore be made by an act of that session, or by his majesty with the advice of his privy-council during the recess of parliament; that the act for discontinuing the duties upon corn and flour imported, or brought in as prize, was not proper to be further continued; and that the prohibition to make low wines or spirits from any sort of grain, meal, or flour, should be continued to the twenty-fourth day of December, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine. Before the bill was formed on these resolutions, petitions arrived from Liverpool and Bath, to the same purport as those of Bristol and Sarum: while on the other hand, a remonstrance was presented by a great number of the malt-distillers of the city and suburbs of London, alleging, that it having been deemed expedient to prohibit the distilling of spirits from any sort of grain, to the twenty-fourth day of December then instant, some of the petitioners had entirely ceased to carry on the business of distilling, while others, merely with a view to preserve their customers, the compound distillers, and employ some of their servants, horses, and utensils, had submitted to carry on the distillation of spirits from molasses and sugars under great disadvantages, in full hope that the restraint would cease at the expiration of the limited time, or at least when the necessity which occasioned that restraint should be removed; that it was with great concern they observed a bill would be brought in for protracting the said prohibition, at a time when the price of all manner of grain, and particularly of wheat and barley, was considerably reduced, and, as they humbly conceived, at a reasonable medium. They expatiated on the great loss they, as well as many traders and artificers dependent upon them, must sustain in case the said bill should be passed into a law. They prayed the house to take these circumstances into consideration, and either permit them to carry on the distillation from wheat, malt, and other grain, under such restrictions as should be judged necessary; or to grant them such other relief, in respect of their several losses and incumbrances, as to the house shall seem reasonable and expedient. This petition, though strenuously urged by a powerful and clamorous body without doors, did not meet great encouragement within. It was ordered to lie upon the table, and an instruction was given to the committee, empowering them to receive a clause or clauses to allow the transportation of certain quantities of meal, flour, bread, and biscuit, to the islands of Guernsey and Jersey, for the sole use of the inhabitants; and another to prohibit the making of low wines and spirits from bran. Much more attention was paid to a petition of several farmers in the county of Norfolk, representing, that their farms consisted chiefly of arable land, which produced much greater quantities of corn than could be consumed within that county; that in the last harvest there was a great and plentiful crop of all sorts of grain, the greatest part of which had by unfavourable weather been rendered unfit for sale at London, or other markets for home consumption; that large quantities of malt were then lying at London, arising chiefly from the crops of barley growing in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-seven, the sale of which was stagnated; that the petitioners being informed the house had ordered in a bill to continue the prohibition of corn exported, they begged leave to observe, that, should it pass into a law, it would be extremely prejudicial to all, and ruin many farmers of that county, as they had offered their corn for sale at divers ports and markets of the said county: but the merchants refused to buy it at any price, alleging, its being unfit for the London market, the great quantity of corn with which that market was already overstocked, and their not being allowed either to export it or make it into malt for exportation. They therefore prayed this prohibition might be removed, or they the petitioners indulged with some other kind of relief. Although this remonstrance was duly considered, the bill passed with the amendments because of the proviso, by which his majesty in council was empowered to shorten the date of the prohibition with respect to the exportation of corn during the recess of parliament; but the temporary restraint laid upon distillation was made absolute, without any such condition, to the no small disappointment and mortification of the distillers, who had spared no pains and expense by private solicitation, and strenuous dispute in the public papers, to recommend their cause to the favour of the community. They urged that malt-spirits, when used in moderation, far from being prejudicial to the health of individuals, were in many damp and marshy parts of the kingdom absolutely necessary for preserving the field labourers from agues and other distempers produced by the cold and moisture of the climate; that if they were debarred the use of malt-spirits, they would have recourse to French brandy, with which, as they generally reside near the sea-coast, the smugglers would provide them almost as cheap as the malt-spirits could be afforded: thus the increased consumption of French spirit would drain the nation of ready money to a considerable amount, and prejudice the king’s revenue in the same proportion. They observed, that many distillers had already quitted that branch of trade and disposed of their materials; that all of them would probably take the same resolutions should the bill pass into a law, as no man could foresee when the prohibition would cease, should it be continued at a time when all sorts of grain abounded in such plenty, that the very waste of materials by disuse, over and above the lying out of the money, would be of great prejudice to the proprietor: thus the business of distilling, by which so many families were supported, would be banished from the kingdom entirely; especially, as the expense of establishing a large distillery was so great, that no man would choose to employ his money for this purpose, judging from experience that some future accidental scarcity of corn might induce the legislature to interpose a ruinous delay in this branch of business. They affirmed, that from the excessive use of malt-spirits no good argument could be drawn against this branch of traffic, no more than against any other conveniency of life; that the excessive use of common beer and ale was prejudicial to the health and morals of the people, yet no person ever thought of putting an end to the practice of brewing, in order to prevent the abuse of brewed liquors. They urged that in all parts of Great Britain there are some parcels of land that produce nothing to advantage but a coarse kind of barley called big, which, though neither fit for brewing nor for baking, may nevertheless be used in the distillery, and is accordingly purchased by those concerned in this branch at such an encouraging price, as enables many farmers to pay a higher rent to their landlords than they could otherwise afford; that there are every year some parcels of all sorts of grain so damaged by unseasonable weather, or other accidents, as to be rendered altogether unfit for bread or brewery, and would prove a very great misfortune to the farmer, if there was no distillery, for the use of which he could sell his damaged commodity. They asserted, that malt-spirits were absolutely necessary for prosecuting some branches of foreign commerce, particularly the trade to the coast of Africa, for which traffic no assortment could be made up without a large quantity of geneva, of which the natives are so fond, that they will not traffic with any merchant who has not a considerable quantity, not only for sale, but also for presents to their chiefs and rulers; that the merchants of Great Britain must either have this commodity of their own produce, or import it at a great national expense from Holland; that the charge of this importation, together with the duties payable upon it, some part of which is not to be drawn back on exportation, will render it impossible for the traders to sell it so cheap on the coast of Africa as it might be sold by the Dutch, who are the great rivals of Great Britain in this branch of commerce. To these arguments, all of which were plausible, and some of them unanswerable, it was replied, that malt-spirits might be considered as a fatal and bewitching poison which had actually debauched the minds, and enervated the bodies, of the common people to a very deplorable degree; that, without entering further into a comparison between the use and abuse of the two liquors, beer and geneva, it would be sufficient to observe, that the use of beer and ale had produced none of those dreadful effects which were the consequences of drinking geneva; and since the prohibition of the distilling of malt-spirits had taken place, the common people were become apparently more sober, decent, healthy, and industrious: a circumstance sufficient to induce the legislature not only to intermit, but even totally to abolish the practice of distillation, which has ever been productive of such intoxication, riot, disorder, and distemper, among the lower class of the people, as might be deemed the greatest evils incident to a well-regulated commonwealth. Their assertion with respect to the coarse kind of barley, called big, was contradicted as a deviation from truth, inasmuch as it was used in making malt, as well as in making bread: and with respect to damaged corn, those who understood the nature of grain affirmed, that it was spoiled to such a degree as to be altogether unfit for either of these purposes, the distillers would not purchase it at such a price as would indemnify the farmer for the charge of threshing and carriage; for the distillers are very sensible, that their great profit is derived from their distilling the malt made from the best barley, so that the increase of the produce far exceeded in proportion the advance of the price. It was not, however, an easy matter to prove that the distillation of malt-spirits was not necessary to an advantageous prosecution of the commerce on the coast of Guinea, as well as among the Indians in some parts of North America. Certain it is, that, in these branches of traffic, the want of geneva may be supplied by spirits distilled from sugars and molasses. After all, it must be owned, that the good and salutary effects of the prohibition were visible in every part of the kingdom, and no evil consequence ensued, except a diminution of the revenue in this article: a consideration which, at all times, ought to be sacrificed to the health and morals of the people: nor will this consideration be found of any great weight, when we reflect that the less the malt-spirit is drunk, the greater quantity of beer and ale will be consumed, and the produce of the duties and excise upon the brewery be augmented accordingly.

In the meantime, all sorts of grain continuing to fall in price, and great plenty appearing in every part of the kingdom, the justices of the peace, and of the grand juries, assembled at the general quarter sessions of the peace held for the county of Norfolk, composed and presented to the house of commons, in the beginning of February, a petition, representing, that the weather proving unfavourable in the harvest, great part of the barley raised in that county was much damaged, and rendered unfit for any other use than that of being made into malt for exportation; that unless it should be speedily manufactured for that purpose, it would be entirely spoiled, and perish in the hands of the growers; a loss that must be very sensibly felt by the land owners: they, therefore, entreated that leave might be given for the exportation of malt; and that they might be favoured with such further relief, as to the house should seem just and reasonable. In consequence of this petition, the house resolved itself into a committee to deliberate upon the subject; and as it appeared, upon examination, that the price of grain was reduced very low, and great abundance diffused through the kingdom, they resolved, that the continuance of that part of the act, prohibiting the exportation of grain, ought to be abridged and shortened, and the exportation of these commodities allowed under proper regulations, with respect to the time of such exportation and the allowance of bounties thereupon. A bill being founded on these resolutions, was discussed, and underwent several amendments: at length it was sent with a new title to the lords, who passed it without further alteration, and then it obtained the royal sanction. While this affair was under the deliberation of the committee, the commons unanimously issued an order for leave to bring in a bill to continue, for a limited time, the act of last session, permitting the importation of salted beef from Ireland into Great Britain, with an instruction to receive a clause extending this permission to all sorts of salted pork, or hog-meat, as the officers of the customhouse had refused to admit hams from Ireland to an entry. The bill likewise received another considerable alteration, importing, That, instead of the duty of ona shilling and three-pence, charged by the former act on every hundred weight of salted beef or pork imported from Ireland, which was found not adequate to the duty payable for such a quantity of salt as is requisite to be used in curing and salting thereof; and to prevent as well the expense to the revenue, as the detriment and loss which would accrue to the owner and importer from opening the casks in which the provision is generally deposited, with the pickle or brine proper for preserving the same, in order to ascertain the net weight of the provision liable to the said duties: for these reasons it was enacted, That from and after the twenty-fourth day of last December, and during the continuance of this act, a duty of three shillings and four-pence should be paid upon importation for every barrel or cask of salted beef or pork containing thirty-two gallons; and one shilling and three-pence for every hundred weight of salted beef called dried beef, dried neats-tongues, or dried hog-meat, and so in proportion for any greater or lesser quantity.

GEORGE II. 1727-1760