The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, APRIL 23, 1888. NEW ZEALAND DISTILLERIES

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1822, 23 April 1888, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, APRIL 23, 1888. NEW ZEALAND DISTILLERIES

From various scraps of information which from time to time find their way into the Dunedin papers, it is evident that the question of the establishment of distilleries within the Colony is coming to the front, and it is not unlikely that some proposal on the subject may be made during the approaching session of Parliament. Those who argue m favor of differential duties m favor of locally-manufactured spirit, set forth that tho demand which would thereby be created for barley would be of material assistance to the farmers, m that a good market and remunerative prices would be at once available for that cereal. Goodness knows tho farmers need to be assured of a good market and good prices for something, but for all that we fear that the distillery project is one which cannot be entertained. For it must be remembered that tho experiment has once buforo been tried m New Zealand, and. was found to bo so costly an affair through the largo diminution of the Customs revenue, caused by the consumption of locally-distilled instead of imported spirits, that it paid tho Colony to hand over £30,000 to the distilleries to put an end to their operations. This is not a case m which the establishment of the local industry means a large amount of employment, or even an extensive market for the raw material of the industry, inasmuch as distilleries employ very few hands, and a comparatively small quantity of tho raw material produces an enormous value m tho shape of tho manufactured article. Thus, according to the late Mr Tolmio (whose spoech on tho question ib quoted by tho " Utago Daily Times," m a recent article on this subject) the Dunedin distillery, whan m operation, required a supply of 50,000 bushels per annum. But this 50,000 bushels of barley would produce 100,000 gallons of spirits, and while tho barley was worth, if taken at tho high rate of 5s per bushel only £12,500, tho loss to tho revenue on the spirit manufactured therefrom was no less than £30,000 equal to nearly three times the price of tho grain . But this is not all. Even assumiug that the price of barley were improved by as much as a shilling a bushel by the establishment of distilleries, as compared with tho price obtainable m tho absence of such a local demand as thoy would croate, then Iho benefit to the farmers b> tho establishment of one distillery might beset down as 50,000 shillings or £2,500, as against a loss to the colony of £30,000, so that to benefit tho farmers one shilling the Stale would bo losing tivclve. Clearly, if the benefitting of tho farmer be tho object aimed at this would bo infinitely better secured by making a reduction on railway freights for grain to the extent of the £30,000, as tho farmer would then get twelve times as much real assistance as lie would get through tho distillery project. Again as was pointed out tho other day by Mr Anderson, M.H.R., " a certain amount of revenue must bo raised by taxation, and if the amount levied on spirits is practically reduced it must be mado up on somo other articles , which would be the means of increasing tho burden already on the shoulders of the industrial classes." Besides all which, as is pointed out by our Dunedin contemporary, very costly and complicated machinery is requisite to protect the revenue under a system of excise, and under all the circumstances we j agrco with it that "so far as the agricultural industry would bo benefited it would bo, under any circumstances to such a moderate degree, that tho question may well suggest itself whether tho game is worth tho candle I" For ourselves we do not think it is.