oixxii 



Tinnevelly. — In this district also, the arrack revenue was managed 

 under the renting system in 1875-76, when the consumption of arrack 

 was reported by the renters to have been 73,794 gallons. In 1883-84, 

 the consumption was 36,462 gallons; in 1887-88, 21,718 gallons; and 

 in 1888-89, 26,506 gallons. The rate of consumption o£ arrack in 

 this district is the lowest in the Presidency. The duty realized in 

 1888-89 was Es. 3-15-4 per gallon. 



Coimhatore. — The consumption in this district has been as fol- 

 lows :— 1875-76, 59,944 gallons ; 1883-84, 47,594 gallons ; 1887-88, 

 38,183 gallons ; and 1888-89, 46,148 gallons. The duty realized has 

 risen from Rs. 2-9-10 per gallon in 1875-76 to Rs. 4-15-5 in 1888-89. 



Nilgifis. — In this district the consumption of arrack has been as 

 follows :— 1875-76, 23,255 gallons ; 1883-84, 37,217 gallons; 1887-88, 

 36,212 gallons; 1888-89, 31,918 gallons. The consumption in 



1883-84 was considerably in excess 

 of that in 1875-76, but the * princi- 

 pal towns in the district have been 

 growing of late years. It is also 

 understood that, as the cultivation 

 of poppy, which was carried on to some extent by the Badagas, was 

 suppressed when the Opium Act was introduced in 1880, they have 

 taken to drinking liquors. Since 1883-84, however, there has been 

 a decline in the consumption of country spirits. The duty reahzed has 

 risen from Rs. 3-6-11 per gallon in 1875-76 to Rs. 6-0-8 in 1888-89. 



Salem. — The consumption in this district has been — 1875-76, 

 76,187 gallons; 1883-84, 53,000 gallons; 18.87-88, 54,171 gallons; 

 1888-89, 52,236 gallons. The duty has risen from Rs. 3-9-3 per 

 gallon in 1875-76 to Rs. 4-10-1 in 1888-89. 



Malabar and South Ganara. — In Malabar, except in the Wynaad, 

 the excise system was only recently introduced into some of the taluks. 

 In South Canara the excise system has been introduced only into one 

 taluk. The introduction of Ihe excise system by raising the price of 

 liquor has undoubtedly tended to check consumption, but reliable 

 statistics are not available for previous years. 



18. From the foregoing it will be seen (i) that the ^' excise^' 

 system has been introduced since 1875-76 into the greater portion of 

 the Presidency as rapidly as circumstances permitted ; (ii) that the 

 effect of the introduction has been to increase the taxation and with it 

 the price of country spirits and to diminish the consumption much 

 below what it was under the old renting system ; (iii) that in most of 

 the '^ excise '^ districts the consumption in 1888-89 was very much 

 less than in 1875-76 with the exception of South Arcot and the 

 Nilgiris ; (iv) that in South Arcot the increase is due to the measures 

 taken for enabling liquor in British shops to compete with and displace 

 the cheap liquor sold in French shops and which was chiefly consumed 

 in the taluks on the frontier of the Pondicherry territory, and that it 

 does not indicate any increase in drunkenness ; (v) that the increase 

 in the Nilgiri district is more than accounted for by the increase in 

 the population ; and (vi) that in the Madras town, where it might be 

 expected that consumption would have increased considerably owing 

 to increase of population and other causes, the consumption in 1888-89, 



