THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 1878.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2959, 9 August 1878, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 1878.

The Colonial Treasurer in his Financial Statement proposes to reduce the import duty on tea from sixpence to fourpence per pound, and on sugar from one penny to a halfpenny per pound, which, he says, will prove a relief to tea drinkers of £28,000 a year, and, with the present population of the Colony, will amount to abuut Is 2£d per head. To make up for this he proposes to tax beer l|d per gallon, and to raise the duty on sparkling wines from four shillings to six shillings per gallon. There may be a difference of opinion as to whether tea and beer are luxuries. Some may favor the idea that

that head. Tea is a almost universal beverage, The reduction on the one Brct the imposition on the other will not very much affect the consumption of either. The remission of the twopence per pound upon tea will be just as little felt by the consumer as will bo the imposition of a three halfpenny tax on beer. In the one case the consumer will not be benefited; in the other the beer drinker will not suffer (unless retailers resort to the practice of adulteration). In the matter of tea and sugar the additional profit will probably be pocketed by the importer. In the beer line brewers will put on the duty to the former price, and retailers will have to put up with the loss. The gain to the revenue will not be sufficient to reconcile the public mind to the impost, which looks like an additional tax on local industry. As regards the two shillings per gallon extra on "sparkling " wines, a very small addition to the revenue will be obtained, as the difference is so minute that it will not affect the consumption of such luxuries amongst those who now constitute. the consumers. The tax on colonial brewed beer will not be popular, because it imposes an additional tax upon a class already weighted with exceptional burdens — a class whose business is looked upon by many as one to be regarded with suspicion and kept under constant surveillance. Between tea and sugar, and beer and sparkling wines, we see only a matter of taste (aud means to procure them) as regards their use as beverages. Certainly there is a difference in the matter of sparkling wines. But tea cannot be said to be any more a necessary of life than beer. If one can do without tea he could do without beer, and vice versa. The brewing of beer necessitates the employment of a large amount of skilled and unskilled labor, not necessarily to supply hotels or mere drinking shops, which should not be taken into consideration in the budget, but for the supply of a beverage which is regarded as much a necessity as the matutinal coffee or the postprandial tea. It promotes the growth of barley to make malt, and hops to supply the other ingredient. Any tax upon this industry must affect it more or less, and offer a premium to importation. The remission of the duties on tea and sugar is an advance in the direction of free trade with a vengeance, as it affords encouragement to the importation of foreign products. It is contended that the reduction of the duty on sugar will compensate the brewer for the impost on beer, but ask any rrcewer, and he will say that he brews from malt and hops only. The result of the proposed changes in this direction will be an inferior article (in some instances), an extra charge to the retailer, and perhaps a diminished consumption—which will result in a decrease in the production of malt and hops in the Colony, and an increased importation of foreign beer. It is probable that these proposals of the Treasurer will be generally received with disfavor. . They certainly do not come up to expectations as regards the promises of Ministers to reduce the taxation on necessaries and increase it on luxuries. They are plausible substitutes which look like an attempt " to rob a poor man of his beer," but they are really not so, as the impost is too trifling to warrant an additional charge on the ordinary rate to consumers, and at the same time the increase on "sparkling wines " is so small that it will affect the consumption in no way, and benefit the reyenue but a rifle.

At the request of a number of burgesses, the Mayor has called a public meeting to " take into consideration the advisability of sending s.ome one from this Borough to assist with the County in getting the railway authorised between Thames and Waikato, and other matters of interest to this district, favorably considered by Ministers and Parliament." The meeting takes place on Monday evening next in the Academy of Music. The Thames Valley Bail way Gommittee have been remiss, perhaps, in not appointing some one to look after the Bill on which they agreed,but the membersof Committee relied upon the promises of Ministers and the exertions of members to pilot the Bill through, and evidently did not think tbat a special delegate was required. The scheme originated in this district, however, and it appears that upon the Thames people is thrown the onus of pushing the matter through the House. It is rather late in the day to go into the " other matters of interest to this district," now that Parliament has been in session for a fortnight, but perhaps the requisitionists act on the motto " Better late than never." If the suggestions made by our contemporary and ourselves had been acted upon, all these matters would have been fully discussed before the session commenced, and our representatives would have been well posted on all matters of interest. We cannot acquit the Mayor and Councillors of blame,, for they certainly should have taken the initiative in the matter.