Gr.yrXo. 47,

CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO DUTY

4

No. 4. Chief Inspector of Distilleries to Mr. W. J. Cawkwell. Office of the Chief Inspector of Distilleries, Sib,— Wellington, 10th June, 1870. I have been directed by the Hon. the Commissioner of Customs to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 31st ultimo, and to inform you, in reply, that what was meant to be conveyed in my letter to you was, that in the event of any change being made in the customs tariff, whereby the duty on imported spirits would be reduced below the present rate, the Government would not be bound at the same time to recommend to the Legislature that the duty on spirit distilled in New Zealand should be reduced below Gs. per gallon. The comparatively low rate fixed by " The Distillation Act, 1868," was no doubt, as you state, intended to encourage the establishment of distilleries in New Zealand, and the G-overnment have no intention whatever of proposing anything to the Assembly which would have the effect of withdrawing, from persons who may embark capital in that direction, the advantage which the Legislature evidently intended to confer on them in the early stages of their undertakings. But the Commissioner wished you to understand that if, at any future time, the Legislature decided to reduce the duty on imported spirits, it would not be in any way bound to you to make a corresponding reduction in the excise duty. With regard to the concluding portion of your letter, I am to observe that the caution you refer to was given to you as early as it was possible to do so, as your letter applying for a distiller's license was the first intimation that reached the Commissioner of your intention to embark in this business. That you should have committed yourself to a largo expenditure for distillery plant, and have encumbered yourself with a lease of buildings at a high rent before applying to have the premises inspected, to see whether they were such as would be approved by this department for a licensed distillery, was of course a matter for which the Government could be in no way responsible ; but if you had applied to this department with reference to the suitableness of the premises in question, in pursuance of the provisions of the Distillation Act, before committing yourself in the way you say you have done, the caution contained in my letter of the 20th ultimo would have reached you in time to have obviated the inconveniences you complain of. ( I have, &c, William Seed, W. J. Cawkwell, Esq., Auckland. Chief Inspector of Distilleries.

No. 5. Mr. W. J. Cawkwell to the Hon. the Commissioner of Customs. Sir, — Auckland, 27th June, 1870. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 10th instant, on the subject of the establishment of a distillery in this place. In reference to the last paragraph, I have only to say that, before I committed myself to any expenditure, or encumbered myself with a lease, I had several interviews with the Sub-Inspector of Distilleries here, and fully communicated my intentions to him, but received no warning or d i scouragement. I have, &c, The Hon. the Commissioner of Customs, Wellington. VV. J. Cawkwell.

No. 6. Mr. W. J. Cawkwell to the Hon. the Colonial Tkeasubee. Sik, — Vulcan Lane, Auckland, 7th July, 1870. In your Financial Statement, made to the House of Eepresentatives on the 28th June, you say, — " I think it worthy of your consideration whether you should not take the opportunity of affirming that, in the event of any alteration being made in the import duty on spirits, the Assembly is not bound to make a corresponding or any reduction in the present rate of excise duty." I cannot permit this observation to pass without adding a few words to my former correspondence on this subject. I beg to submit to you most respectfully, that it would be unjust to those who have believed in the good faith of the Legislature, and have acted on their belief, to withdraw the promises conveyed by the language used in the Distillation Act, in fixing the duty on spirits distilled in the Colony. That duty is not a fixed one, but on a sliding scale, adapting itself to any alteration in the import duty. This has been understood (as no doubt it was intended) to hold out to those who would embark their capital in a new and important industrial pursuit, that although the scale of import duty should be altered, the relative proportion between these and the duties on home distilled spirits should remain unaffected. I have, &c, The Hon. the Colonial Treasurer, Wellington. W. J. Cawkwell.