THE DISTILLING INDUSTRY IN IRELAND. 509 



of duty-paid spirits consumed per head of population was over one gallon. 

 It was universally admitted, moreover, that an enormous quantity of 

 spirits was illicitly distilled. Some estimates stated that the amount illicitly 

 distilled was even greater than the amount upon which duty was paid. 

 In 1811 the quantity of spirits charged with duty had risen to 6,378,479 

 gallons for a population of 5,956,460. In 1838 when the population was 

 about 8,000,000, the quantity of spirits charged with duty in Ireland was 

 over 12,000,000. About the time of the Father Mathew Crusade, the 

 quantity diminished by nearly one-half, but in 1851 it had risen to 

 7,550,518 gallons for 6,552,385 persons. Ten years later, in consequence of 

 the increased taxation, the amount of spirits charged with dM\.y for consump- 

 tion in Ireland, according to the returns of the Commissioners of Inland 

 Revenue, had fallen to under 4,191,560 gallons for about 5,798,564 persons. 

 The returns for 1871 and 1881 showed a slight increase in the quantity con- 

 sumed, but the consumption was still under one gallon per head of popula- 

 tion. In 1 891, when the population was 4,704,750, the consumption was 

 returned as 4,821,146 gallons, but about the time of the Financial Relations 

 Commission it was discovered that a serious error had crept into these 

 statistics, and that the consumption of whiskey in Ireland has been returned 

 as greater than it really was. The following extract from a Parliamentary 

 paper, issued by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, shows how the 

 mistake arose : — 



" In April, 1858, the duty on spirits in Ireland was raised to the same rate 

 as that prevailing- in England and Scotland, and from that time to this the 

 duty has continued at equal rates in the Three Kingdoms. With the 

 equalisation of the rate it became a matter of indifference to the Exchequer 

 in what part of the kingdom the duty on any particular gallon of spirits was 

 paid. But, on the other hand, it became for the first time necessary, if it was 

 desired to know the true contribution of each of the Three Kingdoms to the 

 Excise, that the amount of spirits transferred, after payment of dutv, from 

 one to the other, should be recorded. Hence, in the year 1858-9, the Board 

 of Inland Revenue established an account, intended to show the amount of 

 spirits actually consumed in each of the Three Kingdoms, as distinct from 

 the amount paying duty in each of them. This account has ever since been 

 compiled quarterly, and a summary of it has been published every three 

 months in the Board of Trade Returns, and once a year in our Annual 

 Report. 



" Unfortunately, the details of the account have, as it now appears, been 

 often made up with very inadequate care by the officers responsible for them. 

 The reason, no doubt, is that they were of no importance whatever to the 

 Revenue. The Return in question was a return of the movement of spirits, 

 which, whatever might become of them, had paid their full due to the 

 State. Hence, the zeal of those engaged in collecting the statistics flagged, 

 and they did not fully examine the documents from which they were compiling, 



" This was more especially the case with regard to the spirits removed, 

 after payment of duty, from dealers' stores. When duty-paid spirits are 

 removed from a warehouse they are accompanied by a ' permit,' drawn up 

 by the officer in charge of the warehouse, and it is easy for him to keep 

 a' correct account of such removals. But of the amount of the removals 

 from dealers' stores our officers have no other information than that given 

 by the dealers themselves, who are bound by law to send with every con- 

 signment of spirits a certificate stating the quantity and place of destination. 

 The certificates are taken from the books supplied to the dealers by the 



