122 



practically unregulated. The stringent measures adopted in 

 recent years for concentrating distillation of liquors in a few 

 central places and for limiting sales to licensed places have 

 increased the price of liquor and reduced the consumption so 

 much, that the complaint is now often made that the pooVer 

 classes suffer hardship in being deprived of toddy which, 

 though an intoxicant, is believed, to some extent, to be a 

 substitute for food. The number of licensed places for the 

 sale of liquors, which had to be kept at a high level at the 

 outset with a view to take away the inducements for illicit 

 traffic, has since been enormously reduced. All these measures 

 were inaugurated long before Mr. Caine interested himself 

 in the Indian abkari question, though the credit certainly 

 belongs to him of not allowing the Government to relax its 

 efforts in this direction. That the consumption of liquor can 

 be regulated by increasing or diminishing the duty levied 

 thereon is shown by the fact that it increases in prosperous 

 years and diminishes in years of scarcity. The impression 

 that drunkenness is spreading among the higher classes is 

 also, to a great extent, unfounded. It is true that among the 

 educated classes there is now less religious scruple than 

 formerly in taking liquor under medical advice, when there 

 is absolute necessity for doing so, but drunkenness is not 

 considered among these classes less disgraceful than for- 

 merly, and the number of persons addicted to drinking is 

 exceedingly small and has shown no tendency to increase 

 in recent years. The returns of imported liquors show that 

 the imports of spirits and wines have greatly fallen off dur- 

 ing the last fifteen or twenty years. The imports of beer 

 have, on the other hand, very considerably increased. Beer, 

 however, is drunk by Europeans and Eurasians, and by the 

 lower classes of natives on the Nilgiri hills, where it is super- 

 seding country spirit, the price of which has very much risen 

 on account of the heavy duty levied on it. The duty on im- 

 ported tmd country-made beer in proportion to its alcoholic 

 strength is much lighter than that on spirits or even toddy, 

 and it is very desirable that it should be'^'^ raised. Mr. Caine 

 would do a real service if he could induce the Home Govern- 

 ment to consent to an enhancement of the import duty on 

 beer, and tJie enhancement of the excise duty will follow as a 

 matter of course. 



•" The excise duty on beer in England is 6s. 3d. a barrel or a little over 2d. a gallon. 

 The excise and import duty on beer in India is 1 anna a gallon. Beer contains about 

 8 por cent, alcohol, anl, if it were taxed at the same rate as spii-it, viz , Es. G per 

 gallon of proof spirit, the duty would be nearly 1 rupee. A duty of 4 annas to begin 

 with ^vill not be unsuitable. Toddy, under the tree tax system, pays a higher duty 

 than beer. 



