The Refreshment Houses and Wine Licences Act of 1860 is likely to have some influence on the consumption of wine in England. Any shopkeeper may take out a licence, varying from 10s. 6d. to 3/. 3s. per annum, according to the rated value of his house. for the sale by retail of foreign wine. The word "retail " is considered to refer tc quantities less than two gallons, or one dozen bottles. The wine may be drunk on the premises, under certain specified conditions, and on payment of a higher licence-duty. All liquor sold as wine must contain less than 40 per cent. of proof spirit, or it will be regarded as spirit. Excise officers are to possess large powers in respect of the examination at all times of premises licensed as wine-shops. Standard measures are to be used. Numerous precautions are taken to insure the honest inter. pretation of the Act—rendered necessary by the fact that spirits now pay ter; times as much duty per gallon as wine.
Spirit Trade.—The duty on spirits has been heavy for more than half a century past, varying from 200 to 600 per cent. on the value of the article taxed. The quantity of home-made spirits which paid duty rose from 9,000,000 gallons in 1802 to 23,000,000 gallons in 1849, and 26.000,000 gallons in 1854 ; while in the last-named year foreign spirits (rum, brandy, hollands. &c.) were taxed to the extent of about 5,000,000 gallons. Spirit drinking is not increasing among us. In 1858, ]859, and 1860, the home-made spirits charged with duty did not in any one year reach 24,000,000 gallons, being less than in 1854. The foreign spirits, in 1860 (slightly greater than in the two preceding years) pre sented the following quantities :—Rum, 3,700,000 gallons ; Brandy, 1,460,000; Geneva, or Hollanda, 260,000. British and foreign together, there are about 30,000,000 gallons of spirits for 30,000,000 people, or a gallon per head per annum each.
An interesting matter concerning spirit duties is that of methylated spirit. Spirits of wine, or alcohol in a strong form, is used for many purposes in the arts. It is a solvent of resinous substances, which, when thus dissolved, are used in stiffening hats, and in making var nishes. It is used as a solvent in the manufacture of many chemical substances, including the alkaloids and other organic products, largely used in medicine. It is used in the production of ether, chloroform, sweet spirits of nitre. and fulminating nitre; as a solvent or menstruum for administering the animal and vegetable substances used in medicine in the form of tinctures ; as a fuel for burning in spirit lamps ; as an addition to oil of turpentine or other hydro-carbons in lamps; and as a solvent for essential oils and other odoriferous substances used in perfumery. For all such purposes alcohol is very valuable; but the high price is a bar to extensive use. There is, however, a liquid uow
well known to chemists, called methylated spirit, which will answer for these purposes nearly as well ; and as this is not fit for drinking, manu facturers have for some years urged the Excise to remove the duty from it, simply in the interests of productive industry. In 1856, Messrs. Greatorex. Hofmann, and Redwood presented a report to the government on this subject. They tried to produce a substitute for spirit of wine that would not be drinkable, such as sulphide of ethyl, caoutchicine, &c. At last they found that wood naphtha, pyroxylic or methylic spirit, might be so prepared as to be useful to manufacturers, and yet not likely to be used by spirit drinkers as a substitute for gin.
Messrs. Turnbull of Glasgow announced that they could make it at 8s. 6d. per gallon ; and others have stated it might possibly be pro duced for 5s. Two gallons and a half of methylated spirit can be obtained from one ton of dry wood. Mr. Smith, the distiller, of White chapel, expressed a belief that publicans would not venture, if the methylated spirit were rendered ever so cheap by the removal of the duty, to mix more than h part with their gin, for fear of exciting the suspicion of their customers. The chemists reported to the Excise that, in their opinion, methylated spirit might be set, free from duty without affecting the ordinary revenue from ardent spirits. " It appears to us that it would be proper to mix the spirit in the distillery, and to declare illegal the possession of the methylated spirit by a rectifier or publican. The retail sale of the methylated spirit would then fall into the hands of druggists and oilmen, who could be supplied direct from the distillers." This advice has been acted on. A small per centage of pure methylated spirit, mixed with alcohol, is allowed duty free ; it is suitable for all manufacturing purposes, but is not drinkable, nor can the alcohol be separated from it by any available process. All the government pyrotechnic or artillery compositions are now made with methylated spirit instead of spirit of wine ; and the liquid is coming very largely into use.
The duty on spirits underwent changes in 1853, 1854, 1855, 185S, and 1860. In ]860 an act was passed, which repealed wholly or par tially no less than twenty-six former acts, embodying all the regulations for the guidance of manufacturers of, and dealers in, spirits. In the same year, another act fixed the duty on British spirits at Rs. ld. per gallon till July 17th, 1860, and 108. after that date. By the Customs Act of the same year, foreign spirits pay an import duty about equal to the Excise duty on British spirits, namely, 10s. 2d. to 10s. 5d. per gallon.