BREWER AND BUDGET

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 503, 10 May 1909, Page 5

BREWER AND BUDGET

"VINDICTIVE" POLICY. MR. BALFOUR ON THE INCOME TAX. IN THE EVENT. OF WAR. loi MOBaiurit-rttEss association—captuianr.l (Rec. May 9,'4.30 p.m.)" • / ,' London, May 8. At a meeting of tho Primroso League, the Leador of tho Opposition, Mr. Balfour, declared that the Budget proposals " were inequitable and vindictive, were based on no principle, and were calculated in the long run to injure the whole productive capacity of the country., The proposals regarding income, tax had diminished Britain's financial oapaoity to moot the stress of ; any great •European conflict. : : [The Unionist argument is that the income tax should be reserved as a war tax, and they declare that it was 60 reserved until 1842,: when "Sir Robert Peel imposed upon a peaceful country, to make possible his scheme of Freetrade, and no doubt it appeared poetically just to that astute statesman that tho propertied class, upon whorn Freetrade was destined to inflict the heaviest blow, should pay a double penalty for their; thrift and industry. And ever since that time the income tax. has been a favourite device of unimaginative financiers. To raise it was automatically to increase the revenue and to win an instant popularity with a greedy proletariat clamour: mg for a free breakfast-table." The accusation against' tho Government of vindietiveness is based on the fact or theory that.the Government by means of high license duties is retaliating on the liquor trade for the defeat of the Licensing Bill in the House of Lords.] LIQUOR PAYS RANSOM. TRADE SAYS IT IS SQUEEZED FOR '' ■-' £11,000,000.. I SOME HOTEL AND BREWERY FIGURES. i; (Rec. May 9, 4.30 p.m.) .•■. London, May,B. Representatives of the licensed liquor trade differ with the Chancellor of : the Exchequer (Mr. Lloyd-George) as 'to the amount of revenuo likely to be derived from the new taxation proposed in the/Budget on spirits (the duty on which is proposed to be increased by 3s. 9d. per gallon) and from thei revised liquor license duties, ~"■--• fThe Chancellor. estimates' that-the .newspirits duty will give an additional revenue 0f.£1,600,000 per annum, and that the new license duties will yield £2,600,000 annually, making a total additional revenue from these sources of £4,200,000 per annum, ' ; The licensed trade • representatives estimate that the new duties will'really ;produoe £11,000,000 annually. .'/ ,'. _ '..';'' .The license foes of hotels have advanced enormously, the Savoy Hotel by £6250, and the Site'by £4250, / ; "'' ■. The'license charges/on'the tied house of .Watney, Combo, Reid and Co. (total capital, £12,610,943, including -loans) 'amount to £140,000 per annum; in tho case of another .brewing firm, Whitbread and Co', (total capital, £4,870,043, including loans), they amount to £37,000 per'ahnumj/. ' '

•' MILLIONS MISSED IN THE PASTIt has long been suspected: that the Chan'cellor of the Exchequer. was contemplating a system of high licenses, by, which the licenses 'would bear some relation to the value of the trade of the house. The "Spectator" says that the refusal of Britain-to accept the high-; license system is utterly unreasonable.'/, She is missing a source of revenue/ of many millions a year. . . •v ' , ; Messrs. Rowntree and Sherwell say: "While we are spending time _and effort, and money, and incurring great risks in our . endeavour to secure a reduction- of ■ licenses, we could easily effect a greater reduction than the most ardent temperance reformer anticipates by .'a simple and just revision of our license duties.' "Altogether there are 1500 hotels in England and : Wales ■ which pay only" .£2O per ■ annum license duty, and their rateable value varies .from £50 : to : , . /•. . "Of the . public-houses" in - England, 75 per cent, pay, a license' duty of from £i 10s.' to £25, and only 25 per Cent, pay a' duty,exceeding i£2s. The 'scale abounds in anomalies—e.g.: 100 houses rated at .£l6 pay in license dnty £Sao;lt> houses rated at .£160: pay in. license duty and 1 house rated at pays in Jdcense duty £60. i»3"4f ainst 'bis nut the license,duty, imposed 1& New England cities: In 21 of these the average, license duty is -£268,. or ten times the average of the duty in.the United Kingdom. ._ "From '80,269 public-houses in 164 towns in Great Britain we received a total license re- • venue of -, , --• ."Were our license dnties graded oh ; the eanie basis per 1000 the popnlation as those which I: are levied in .similar towns in the /United States, wo should receive an-annual revenue from these urban public-houses of-■ £7,875.779' ■ "Tho-annual proceeds of .the. license duties I in: London are £205,000. ■ ;"In. New York, with half London's population, the proceeds are £1,421,000." ' '