The Evening Mail. FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 1878.

Oamaru Mail, Volume III, Issue 734, 16 August 1878, Page 2

The Evening Mail. FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 1878.

| We express onr contrition, because, in our ignorance we imagined tiiat the krewer.-; were acting with" unbecoming greed in attempting to transfer the payment of tinbeer tax to the publican, and take this opportmi'ty of testifying to the wry creditable manner in which they stale.: their " over-burdened ' condition. iin-h-tti-r of "An I:ioff nsive Bung'" which appeared in our last issue, goes m prove that breWt-rs nr.- nor what they have been thought to be. They niak- be--r and dispenseit.not tor thesakeof anypr'-fi b t as a mild and pleasant medicine. luting demonstrates conclusively that in th-. case of Colonial beer there is an actual loss on its manufacture. He says, instead of our brewers making an increased profit of 2. I'd. per hogshead on their beer, they will make a positive loss of at least one penny per gallon. It will therefore be seen that, even if the publicans pay the tax, with the halfpenny added as consolation money and to make it an even amount, the brewers will lose a halfpenny per gallon. We suppose it is the quantity that pays. " Bnng " says that he thinks that he" can show how the brewers make a loas of one penny per hogshead. Wo submitted his figures to every arithmetical test to prove the penny loss, and at last abandoned the task with a very mean idea of our arithmetical knowledge. So far as we can see. it is as difficult :>f solutionis the problem propounded by negro minstrels—lf the river Thames is 21;"> tnii s in length what relation is it to the Duke ! of Wellington. We should say no rela- ' tioti at all, and " linnu's" proposition : seems as peculiar and difficult. ;>j [ ght be permitted to offer our bumble opinion ! that "Bung" slightly wanders from hi.subject when lie proceeds to show how i great are the losses and difhcuit*es coni nected with the brewing business, unle-vs, | of conrse, he can demonstrate that ' those losses and diilictilties are due to the proposed tax. The jeremiad if "Bung" is heart-breaking, and would, we should think, have the effect <•; deterring any man from going into the brewing line. Is th&re no way in which | the business could be made to pay ' Would the exhilarating beverage be any the worse for the addition of a httla estra sugar in place of malt? "Bung si\s that " even in the Old Country, where the best appliances and the finest materials are enu.-tove-.i, and the greatest possible amount' of skill ia brought to bear on iiio manufacture, the loss is: often enormous, yet the Colonial brewer is to be allowed no rebate on returned beer, for which the tax has previously been paid." The mistake appears to exist in bringing good material and appliances to bear, which is the very reason why brewing doe 3 not pay in the Old Country. See what miserable paupers the Home brewers die. Then why not follow the example of the majority oi the Colonial brettfiro, auct j make a nice light beer, with nothing much j in it with the exception of water, and a little sugar to make it sweet, and a little . something to make it bitter. J'. e * l . rc o-reatly indebted to "Bnng for his dissertation on the brewing business, and j can assnre him that he has our warmest sympathy in his trouble. T\hy slioukt the milkman arouse us from our slumbers in the morning to tell us that he has raised the price of his milk with impnnitj. whilst the brewer is compelled to be satis- j fied with merely the honor of brewm-j beer composed principally of malt and j hops—it is so, by Jove—and the pro- j prietor of an evening paper have to simer ; a loss on every copy of his paper he sell? at a penny. Some people may say that the cases are not analagous, because you

know what is in the paper, and you don't know what is in the beer. True, this is an objection that did not occur to 113. For instance, we give finality, whilst some brewers, in conscqnoncj of the difficulties of their trade, and for fear of injuring the health of thosi? wiio drink l'neir beer, are thorough boikvers in quantity hang qu ilitv.