A STATE DISTILLERY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2185, 29 July 1889, Page 2

A STATE DISTILLERY.

The Wellington "Post" B&y6i^*«Wfl are considerably surpriV^ that the Houeo * OU l d : fo w a^ IDCQ , moment seriously entertain Mr Duncan's proposal for tbj establishment of a State distillery, havine a monopoly of nwnufaoturine spirits for consumption m the colony. The etpenenoo Now Zealand has had, and paid very doarly for, bldws pretty plainly that •he coi'ory cannot afford to oi har estab. lish cr encourage distillation as a 1-oal industry. When tho Dunelin and *uok« Und distilleries ware Binttly established, and a differential exoiae du>y oonoeded to t l ieir product, great h^pes were raised of benefit to the agricultural interest resultmg, but experience Boon showed thefutility of these. The quantify of grain used was a sfeadl'y- diminishing? one, an* tho consumption of sngar as a base was a* steadily growing: The farmers got; aothing out of the experiment, and tho colony loat ye y heavily by It. In fact* the loss of revenue wan so serious as to produos consider ible embarrassment, and to make Parliament gad to stop the manufacture by payment of very heavy compensation to those who had embarked m the badness. The idea of a State monopoly m the manufacture of spirits Itopposed to every prluo f ple of polltioat economy,"