218 On the Exorbitant Charges of Innkeepers, SfC.for Wine. [April 1, 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine, port, supposing it sold at five shillings 

 SIR, per bottle, and computing five bottles 



IN these complaining times, it is the to a gallon; and, even at that rate, 

 duty of every one, who is I'ortunate shall find it very considerable, 

 enough to detect imposition, toexpose "" " " ^ 



it, as well as he is able, to public 

 observation: for which reason, I have 

 for some time past been anxious to 

 call your attention to a subject doubt- 

 less interesting to a large portion of 

 the pco|)le of England, viz. the exor- 

 bitant demand made by innkeepers, 

 &c. for wine. As brevity may, per- 

 haps, be my greatest recommendation 

 to your readers' perusal, I will proceed 

 to lay before you a few particulars. 



138 gallons (1 pipe). 



5 bottles ( 1 g.'illon). 



690 bottles (1 pipe). 



5 shillings per bottle. 



20 ) 3450 



^172 10 

 9.5 



prime cost deducted. 



£n 10 



This surplus, then, will not satisfy 

 which, I trust," will so effectually ex- the innkeeper ; but, by adding one 



pose this long-established and unwar 

 rantable overcharge, as, if possible, to 

 remedy the evil, by inducing your 

 readers to resist, or at least to dispute, 

 the payment of it 



shilling per bottle, brings it to 112?. 

 per pipe. This, without exaggeration, 

 I positively declare to be a correct 

 statement; for it is well known, that 

 what is retained at the bottom of each 



What led ir.cio make the following bottle, when decanted, fully coni- 



statement, was a circumstance that pensates the time it has laid in the 



occurred to me, some time since, at an cellar. C. 



inn, where I had occasion to remain m 



for a few days. When my bill was To the FAilor of the Mmithltj Magazine. 



brought. I found seven shillings per SIR, 



bottle charged for port-wine. It is l^H f?- Malthl's says, "There is 



perhaps needless to say, I was sur- ITJ nothing so absolutely uiiavoid- 



prised at the demand, and instantly able in the progress of society as the fall 



expostulated with it; but to no 

 avail: for, after the usual encomiums 



©/"icflo-fj, that is, such a fall as, com- 

 bined with the habits of the labouring 



on the quality of the wine, he broke classes, will regulate the progress of 

 forth with such volubility upon the 

 enormous expenses to which an inn- 

 keeper was subject, rent, taxes, &c. 

 that 1 (naturally nervous,) was soon 

 reconciled to the payment, — not with- 

 out a determination to enquire into it 

 at some future period. This, then, 

 which I am now about to lay before 

 you, is the result of my enquiry. It is 

 a matter of surprise to mc, that the 

 subject should not have been noticed 

 before through the medium of the pub- 

 lic press, esjjecially when every one 

 must observe the reduced prices at 

 which wines are constantly quoted in 

 the markets. Upon referring back to 

 the year 1812, 1 find the price of port- 

 wine to be 1.30/. per pipe, and it was 

 then usual for innkeepers to charge 

 six shillings per boltle, as at present : 

 but now, w hen a wine-merchant does 

 not ask more than 9.5/. per pipe, it still 

 maintains ils old retail price. This 



populatioi! according to the means of 

 subsistence :" (on Rent, page \9.) — 

 This is a strange sentence ; but the 

 following is more .so : — " It may be laid 

 down, therefore, as an incontrovertible 

 truth, that as a nation reaches any 

 considerable degree of wealth, and 

 any considerable fulness of popula- 

 tion, which wealth cannot take place 

 without a great fall in the profits of 

 stock and the wages of labour," &c. 

 (on Rent, page 20 ;) the result is, 

 that, whether we become poor or rich, 

 wages must fall. 



Mr. Mill takes a different view : — 

 " It thus appears that, if population 

 increases without au increase of capi- 

 tal, wages fall; and that, if capital 

 increases without an increase of popu- 

 lation, wages rise." ( Elements of Poli' 

 tical Economy, page 27. J If so, capital 

 has declined, for wages have fallen ; 

 vet Mr. Malthus and Mr.Ricardo hold 



simple fact is sufficient to prove, tliat that capital has increased. Mr. Mill 



there ought to be a reduction of at also says, "If, on the other hand, it 



least one shilling per bottle ; but I will, were the natural tendency of popnla- 



however, support my assertiim liy cal- tion to increase fiister than capital, 



culating, as fairly as possible, the there would be a perpetual tendency 



profit that would arise from a pipe of in wages to fall, and that the popula- 



' tion 



