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THE

LONDON MAGAZINE.

JANUARY, 1744.

JOURNAL of the PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES in the POLITICAL CLUB, continued from the Appendix, 1743.

Conclufion of the SPEECH of M. Agrippa, in the Character of Lord Carteret, begun in our Appendix to laft Year, p. 659, in the DEBATE A relating to the Spirituous Liquors Bill.

M

Y Lords, tho' the Duties are not by this Bill raised fo high B as they afterwards may, and ought to be, yet I cannot grant, that the Liquors will come as good and as cheap to the Confumers as formerly, or that the Dubillers and Retailers either will, or can bear the whole Burden of the , Duty. The Duty, 'tis true, to Appearance, is but finall, and muft be thought fo by your Lordships who D have fuch opulent Fortunes; but if we confider the Price of the Com

C

modity, and the Circumftances of the Purchafers, the Duty must be thought very high. The Duty is 6d. a Gallon, and the Commodity is but 18d or 25. a Gallon at moft's and I cannot think, that a Duty equal to one Third or one Fourth of the Manufacturer's Price, can properly be faid to be a small Duty. As the diftilling Trade has been a ftanding Trade for many Years, with out any Restraint or Monopoly, we muft fuppofe, they now fell as cheap to the Retailer as they can poffibly afford, confequently they must fell dearer or make their Liquors worse. If they make them worse, the Confumers will not purchase them at any Rate, and therefore they must fell them dearer. Suppose they add exactly the Duty, and no more, to the Price they formerly fold at: Sixpence a Gallon is three Farthings a 1744 A.

Pint,

Pint, fuppofing the Retailer fhould
add nothing for reimburfing what
he pays
for his Licence, which is not
to be fuppofed: He will certainly
add at least the other Farthing; and
a Penny in a Pint will be thought a
very great Addition to the Price, by A
a Poor Creature that earns but 3d.
or a Groat a Day, which is the Cafe
of many a poor Manufacturer in this
Kingdom.

B

As to the Accefs, my Lords, if this Bill be paffed into a Law, it will not be near fo free as it is at prefent; for by the Impoffibility of executing the Law now in Being, the Liquor called Gin is not only clandeftinely but openly fold at more Places, I believe, than ever it was before the Law was paffed, fo that it may now be had, and all the Poor know it C may be had, at every little Shop, nay at every Corner in the Kingdom, frequented by any Number of Peo ple. Whereas, as foon as this Bill is .paffed, all the illegal Venders muft give over the Trade, because the LiCenfed will take Care to have them D profecuted, if they do not; fo that ́even Gin itself will be to be had no where but at the better Sort of Ale+ houses. This I take to be the principal Advantage propofed to be got by this Bill: It will take the Trade out of the Hands of thofe, who, by being below, fet themselves above the Law; because it will furnish the Government with a Set of reputable Perfons, whofe Pufinefs it will be to inform againft, and profecute fuch illegal and fcandalons Dealers; whereas at prefent no Man will be at the trouble to inform, because there is nothing to be got by the Information. Thus the Bill will bring the Trade under fome Regulation, by confining it to those, who have fome Credit, and live comfortably by their Bufinefs. Such Perfons will be afraid to G admit of great Abuses or Debauches, left it fhould occafion their Licence to be taken from them; for as the

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E

F

Juftices of Peace have a Power, they may, and, I hope, will withdraw their Licence, as foon as they are informed, that the Perfon licenfed makes a bad Ufe of it.

Having acknowledged, my Lords, that the Duties now propofed are not fo high as they ought to be, I fhall endeavour to account for this Defect. My Lords, this Bill is and was at firit defigned but as an Experiment: You may increase the Duties next Seffion of Parliament, if you then think proper; but it was thought dangerous to raise them very high all at once, left it might have occafion'd the Continuance of the illegal and clandeftine Way of felling Gin, which is now fo frequent, and left the Multitude of Profecutions thereby occafioned, might have revived that Spirit among the Populace, which appeared fo violent against the Execution of the Law now in Being; for where the Profits to be made by Smuggling are very confiderable, many will run the Rifk, let the Penalties be never fø fevere, or the Danger never fo great, as appears at prefent in the Cafe of Wool, French Brandies, and Tea. This, I think, was a prudent Caution at the Beginning, but will not be fo neceffary in a Year or two; because all thofe, who now live by the clandeftine felling of Spirituous Liquors, will in that Time have either taken out Licences, or will be got into fome other Way of Living, and will not be fo apt to re-affume the Trade, as they would now be to continue it.. Therefore as the Duties cannot, with any Prudence, be raised higher at firit, we have at prefent no Occafion to examine Distillers or Retailers, as to the Height they may be raised to hereafter.

In short, my Lords, this Bill, if paffed into a Law, will certainly, in my Opinion, have fome Effect as to the reftraining of the Vice complain'd of; and it is attended with this Advantage, that it puts you into a Way,

A

by which you may, by Degrees, reftrain it as much as it can be by any human Law or Power; but this is not to be done all at once, nor can it, I am afraid, be ever done altogether. Some People will follow their Inclinations, tho' they know Death to be the certain Confequence. I have heard of a Gentleman, who being dangerously ill of a Dropfy, fent for a Physician. When the Phyfician came, he found the Gentleman with a Pot of Liquor upon his Table; and afking the Gentleman what B it was! A Pot of Fine Ale, fays he, with Toaft and Nutmeg. The Phyfician immediately faid, Sir, you must not touch it: It is certain Death for a Man in your Condition. Not touch it, Doctor! replies the Gentle. man: Why, if my Grave were on C this Hand, and that Pot of Ale on the other, I would drink it, were I fure of being thrown into my Grave next Moment.

D

This, my Lords, is a fingle Inftance of the perverfe Will of fome People; but the whole Country of Ireland, at least the common People there, may be brought as an Inftance of the fame Kind: They have in that Country a Spirituous Liquor called Sherpey, which by many Expetiments has been found to be perfect Poifon; for which Reason ftrict Laws E have been enacted against it, and fevere Punishments inflicted upon thofe that diftil or retail it; yet as it intoxicates, and may be had cheap, tho' the People know how pernicious it is, they will drink it, and in fspite of all the Government can do, they fall upon Ways and Means to get it. Our Gin is not of fuch a pernicious Nature as this Irish Liquor: If drank moderately, it may fometimes be of Service: Like all other ftrong Liquors, the Vice confifts in the Ex,cefs: But as it is a Sort of Luxury, G even when it is not drunk to Excefs, why should not he Government avail itself of this Luxury, as well as

F

it ought to do of every other Luxury? It is the Luxury you are to tax, and that will in fome Measure reftrain the Vice; but the Vice, when the Perfon guilty can be legally convicted, ought to be punished, and you have proper Laws for that Purpofe; for furely you will not abfolutely prohibit what is in itself innocent, often useful, and fometimes neceffary, for the fake of preventing a vicious Abuse of it; efpecially as the Manufacture fupports great Numbers of your People, and the Commodity, fome valuable Branches of your Com

merce.

Having thus fhewn, my Lords, that this Bill muft neceffarily, in fome Measure, reftrain the exceffive or vicious Ufe of Spirituous Liquors amongst our labouring Poor, I must put your Lordships in mind of another very great Advantage it will be attended with, which is that of fetting us free from two Laws, that are both of the most dangerous Confequence to our Liberties: One is the famous Act called the Pot Act, which, as it gives a difcretionary Power to the Commiffioners of Excife, to raise the Tax to 67. or lower it to 20s. per Annum, must have an Effect upon the Vote of every Alehoufe-keeper within the Bills of Mortality, and this muft affect the Freedom of Election all over the Kingdom, because many of thofe Alehoufe-keepers have Votes in other Counties, Cities, or Boroughs, befides Middlefex, Surry, London, and Westminster. The other Law we are by this Bill to get free from, is, the Act for laying a Duty upon the Retailers of Spiritu, ous Liquors. This Law, my Lords, is a most dangerous, a moft enfnaring Law, and would be a moft terrible Inftrument in the Hands of a wicked oppreffive Minister; for it not only enacts, that you shall not fell, but that you shall not utter any Spirituous Liquors in any lefs Quantity than two Gallons. From the Word, utter, it might

A 2

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Thefe two dangerous Laws we are, my Lords, to get free from by this Bill, if paffed into a Law, and this, I hope, will be an Argument of fome Weight in its Favour; but B the chief Argument is its being already paffed, and defigned by the other Houfe as the Method for raifing a great Part of the Supplies for the enfuing Year. This, I hope, will be an Argument not only for your Lordships paffing this Bill, but C for your paffing it without Amendment. I am as much against your giving up your Power of amending Money Bills as any Lord can be; but at the prefent Conjuncture, when the Affairs abroad are in fuch a ticklifh Situation; when they require the moft speedy and the moft ftrenuous Interpofition of this Nation, it would be the Height of Imprudence, if not Madness, to try Experiments with the other Houfe. A Trial of this Kind might breed fuch a Contest between the two Houfes, as would E put a full Stop to the Wheels of our Government, when the Liberties of Europe, and confequently our own, require its acting with the greatest Energy as well as Freedom.

D

I shall grant, my Lords, that if F this Bill were rejected, fome other Method might be contriv'd for raifing the neceffary Supplies: We are not as yet, thank God! fo much reduced as to have but one Refource. I hope, our Enemies will find to their Coft, that we have as yet a great many. But let us confider, that this Fund has already been propofed to our money'd Men; and they

have agreed to lend the neceffary Sums upon it at Three per Cent. We cannot depend upon having the Money upon any new Fund, at the fame Intereft. It may in the mean Time rife to fix or feven per Cent: This very Jumble in our Affairs may be the Caufe of its rifing to that Height; for Credit, publick as well as private, is a moft ticklish Thing to be dally'd with. It often evanithes without any apparent Cause, and is fometimes hurt by Accidents, which in themselves appear to be of little or no Confequcuce. Therefore, I must give it as my Opinion, that if your Lordships have a juft Regard either to the Liberties or the Credit of your Country, you will proceed in your Committee upon this Bill, and go thro' it without any Amendment; for the prefent State of foreign Affairs requires the utmost Difpatch: Nay, the leaft Demur in providing for the Supplies of this critical enfuing Year, might fo much difconcert his Majefty's Negotiations abroad, might fo long delay his being able to refolve upon any Scheme for his future Conduct, and fo much retard his Preparations at home, that the Seafon for giving Relief might be irrecoverably loft; and if fuch a fatal Difappointment fhould happen, I hope, the Misfortunes the Nation may be thereby expofed to, will not be laid at the Door of any of his Majefty's Minitters.

C. Helvius, in the Character of the late Lord Hervey, ftood up next, and spoke in Substance thus:

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