186 On Malting. 



cle Ahich he manufactures, is a loss that falls wholly ort'thc 

 consumer, and he, very generally in the country, knows 

 but little ot the injury which has been done; all the advan- 

 tage, uiihout any share in the loss, rests with the manu- 

 facturer. 



The nuir.erous detections of the frauds of short wetting 

 sufficie-.ulv establish their extent ; and the great quantities 

 of low pnced malts that are still bmughi to market, prove 

 that these frauds are ytt in operation ; and indeed, to any 

 one conversant with the revenue, it is easy to imagine that 

 this must be the case, for it is well known that excise tra- 

 ders, who have once shared in the large emoluments of a 

 considtraliie fraud, will not, even by numerous prosecutions, 

 be driven from the practice while they are left in possession 

 of the same means. It is on this account that so manv sue-" 

 cessive improvements are necessary in the revenue laws; as 

 new frauds are developed, new legal" regulations are become 

 expedient, to deprive the imlair trader of his nefarious 

 means; an^ this I humbly think is the only effectual mode 

 of suppressing the gigantic frauds of short wettino; at malt- 

 houses. 



That the present legal restriction against watering scarcely 

 operates at all in protection of the revenue, and but very feebly 

 in aid of the commodity, cannot, I humbly conceive, be doubt- 

 ed. That material fact, that all fraudulently, short wet corn 

 assumes a false age, viz. that of the preceding steeping, as 

 soon as it is laid upon the floor, and that the regulation of 

 such false age is very much within the power of the maltster, 

 fullv proves that such fraudulent corn can be timely watered 

 under the present restriction, almost with impunity; and 

 the general practice of watering, which is still so much pur- 

 sued, also shows that the quality of the malt is not at pre- 

 sent within the limits of legal protection. 



The former restriction of twelve days was much more 

 effectual for both purposes, and certainly afforded all the ac- 

 commodation that a fair and honourable investigation of the 

 case can discover to be necessary ; and to sum up the whole : 

 although that branch of the sutyect which includes fraud on 

 the revenue be of itself of sufficient magnitude to demand 



strong 



