TYNWALD COU RT. DottOL.ks DiuitsuAr. INIAnClt 8, 1900. Present:—M. the Council—his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor (I..ord Henniker), President of Ihe Court; Deernster Sir James Bell, Deemster Kneen, Lbe Attorney-General, the Receiver- General, the Vicar-General, and the Archdeacon. In the Keys—the Speaker, Messrs J. ,Toughin, T. Chigoe, .1. T. Cowell, W. Quine, R. Kaighen, W. Quayle, j. R. Kerruish, R. Corlett, D. :Maitland, T. Corlett, J. C. Crellin, T. Allen, ,T, Mylehreest, J. J. Goldsmith, Jt Cbleas, J. R. Cowell, W. J. Kermorle, ;old J. I). Clueas. QTJ ESTIONS. The. Governor: I think there were some gentle- men in 'he House wanted to ask me some ques- tions to-day. As am in a hurry to-day, I think the most convenient way would be to postpone iL to the next Court. Air Quine said he would give his Excellency notice of his question in writing. THE BEER DUTIES. The G-overnor: T ;1771 going to ask you to pass this resolution, and then, directly- afterwards, I am going to introduce a Bill to bring it into effect in a proper manner. The Bill ought to be passed at once. It is rt very short. one, and I shall a=lt the Council to go into iL at once. and I shall ask gentlemen of the House of Keys to wait here for a few moments, and probably we will settle the matter in a very short. time. The Attorney- General was good enough to draft the Bill; he has taken a great, deal of trouble with it. The Bill does not silleet this resolution ; it affects Manx beer only. The'Attorney-General: I heg to move: — Thal in lieu of the duty of elvitoull now charged on it:e nr beer removed cr innortecl into this Island, there shall be nharged and paid from the data hereof the followieg Far every 36 gallons, where the worts thereof were before fermentation of a- specific gracitS of 1055, a duty of Os 6d, and so on in proper. .- • Questions.—The Beer Duties, 246 TYNWALI) COURT, March 13, 1900. Mon, adding for increase and deducting for decrease in gravity. The. Attorney-General: This resolution adds exactly one shilling per barrel over the existing duly. Mr Mylchreesti Does that apply to all the beers of higher gravity? The Attorney-General: They go in proportion. It is an increase of a shilling all round. It is adding a shilling to the present duty, and the pre- vent duty on imported beer is aceording to tne specific gravity: but 5s 6c1 per 36 gallons repre- sents the specific gravity of 1055. With regard to the Manx beer, the Bill will provide so that the difference non• existing between the two will be maintained. (Hear, hear) I believe that the branches have this underitanding or pledge that the duty on Manx beer will be increased in a cor- responding way. Mr Mylchreest t Take Manx beer of a. gravity of 1050, that would be charged 4s per barrel. That beer is tested by saccharometer in England, which is an instrument not used here, and, consequently, we lose is 9d or as per 36 gallons in not having the beer tested as it is in England. The Attorney-General Are you speaking of the Manx beer, or of the English? Sir Mylchreest : Manx beer. The Attorney-General: It is not before us in this resolution. The Governor I All" can say is that I am very much obliged to the Attorney-General for giving so much attention to the matter. Ile and I had a long conference together yesterday, and we set- tled on thie. I really can confidently recommend this resolution. Deemster Kneen: 1 have nmeh pleasure in se- conding the resolution. 'there is a very great deal in what. the hon: member for Castletown says. At present we are charging the same duties, as the hon. member will see, on any specific gravity. Supposing the specific gravity is between 1054 and 1055, the duty will be 5s 6d, and so on in propor- tion. Now, under this new arrangement, we shall have a duty on every degree of gravity. It will be slight increase, a, benefit to the revenue. Supposing. for instance, there were 60 barrels of beer at 1462 specific gravity, the present duty e.ould be £15. Now, 60 barrels of beer under the new arrangement will come to '15 43 4d,- or a gain of about .30s per cent. On that account it tells in The Beer Duties. • TYNWALD COURT, March 8. 190. 2,17 our favour. But the lower the gravity the greater the profit, and, on the lower classes of beer, there will be a gain of about 141 per cent. Those are the lines on which the matter is followed out in England. But, I think the matter the hon. mem- ber for Castletown refers to is this, and it is one which is well worthy of consideration on sours future day. The duty of the Isle of Man, so far a•3 Manx beer is concerned. is not calculated by specific gravity at all: it is calculated on the bus- hels of malt and weight of sugar, and is Cid per bushel of barley or quarter of sugar; and, under that arrangement., I am told, the Manx brewers have too great an advantage. On the other hand, if you charge according to specific gravity, I am told it would require extra expense in the way of extra. officers for testing.. But I do not see at all why we should not, after fair notice to the persons interested in the trade, instead of saying is (xl per bushel of barley or quarter of sugar, make some increase that would fairly represent what. the loss is to the revenue. Otherwise, we may be giving the Manx brewer an unfair advan- tage as against the English brewer. I think that is what the hon. member fur Castlet own had in his mind. 1 do not think it will he well to deal with that now. The Bill will require considera- tion and alteration when the matter is dealt with. Mr J. R. Cowell: The difficulty which arose at the last silting of the Court was not a difficulty Hest presented itself to members of this House. I think your Excellency will give this House the credit of saying they were perfectly clear in their wishes in the matter, but in deference to the members of the Council, who thought there was some technical difficulty in the resolution, this House agreed to hold the matter over until to- day. The proposal made by the At orney-General to-day meets, I think, the view of the House, and, we never had any other view. We were perfectly clear in our intentions and wishes, and now that the legal gentlemen of the Council have looked most carefully into the matter, we are perfectly satisfied that that ix a right and fair proposal. I should iike 1.41 say-, while I am on in,y feet. that in years gdue by one of your Exeellmoy's prede- eestors orad frennently. in a mil 1 wny, to taunt this lower Chamber with a certain amount of in- difference which it showed in fiscal matters, mat- ters of taxation. I am very pleased to note to- day that I think the suggestions made by this House at the last Tynwald Court have materially The Beer Duties, 248 TYNWALD COURT, March 8. 1900. assisted your Excellency and put. you in a stronger position financially than what you proposed. think we, as the people's representatives, may lake some little credit to ourselves for having im- proved his Excellency's position, and very largely tilled his purse. I hope that the time will never come when this lower Chamber will forget to take a very active interest in these questions of taxa- tion. Ton• Excellency, T know, is Chancellor of the Exchequer, and has enormous power, but, at the stone time it is alwttys undesirable that mat- ters of this kind should be rushed through the House, though. of course, there are times when no delay should he caused, but it is most undesir- able on all occasions of this kind that the people's representatives should be exceedingly alert on questions of taxation: and express themselves very freely in your Excellency's presence in regard to them. I maintain that the action I took at the last sitting has not resulted in anything but profit to your Excellently ❑:nd the financial posi- tion. I would like to say, further, that while most heartily approving of Um resolution, 't occurs to me that, without. attempting to speak definitely, with regard to figures, the position you will he placed in :it the close of this Court will be, taking your own figures at the list Court, that fen and tobacco will give you £4,000, and the in- crease in the spirit duties, and the increase under the resolution of the Attorney-General, and under the Bill which we aro going to handle in a few moments in our (twit Chamber, I think I am right in saying will put row• Excellency in receipt of £7,000 a year. 1. want to make, in connection with that, this remark: We may be met, and pro- bably will lie met, by many of our constituents with this charge—the English Government have raised the revenue an enormous sum because they had a great demand, in fact, the money was spent, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer was bound to raise the money to pay his bills.