THE LIQUOR TRADE. 95 



an Order declaring the ports of New South Wales and Van Die- 

 men's Land open for the importation of spirituous liquors as 

 well as all other merchandise, "subject, nevertheless, to such 

 duties as are now, or shall hereafter be laid upon them by the 

 authority of this Government ". l The duty on spirits was fixed 

 at 75. a gallon. It was levied on the quantity and not the strength, 

 and consequently merchants imported spirit from 20 to 30 per 

 cent, above London proof. 2 In 1 8 1 8 the duty was raised to los. 

 a gallon. There are no means of calculating the amount of 

 liquor smuggled into the Colony, nor of deciding whether it in- 

 creased when'the duty was raised. Wentworth said it was very 

 great, and with untrustworthy constables and so high a tax it 

 is sure to have been considerable. 3 



From the year 1800 the retail trade in liquor had been 

 regulated by a licensing system similar to that of England. 

 Governor King was the first to deal with the subject, and his 

 Orders were dated 2/th October, 1800. Unlicensed vending 

 was to be punished by a fine of 10 or two months' hard 

 labour "on the hulk" for the first offence, and three months 

 for the second. 4 In such cases a magistrate might issue war- 

 rants to the constables to search unlicensed houses and seize 

 any spirits which they found. Half of it was to go to the 

 informer and half to be sold for the benefit of the colonial 

 revenue. 



Under this Order licenses were granted annually by the 

 Governor on the recommendation of the magistrates. The 

 licensee paid 3 and gave security himself in 20 and two 

 others in .10 each. No publican was allowed to sell liquor in 

 the forenoon or during the time of Divine service on Sunday, 

 and all public houses were cleared at the beating of " tap-too". 5 

 The penalty for infringement of these regulations was depriva- 

 tion of the license and a fine of $. Seamen, soldiers and con- 

 victs could not be given credit above 2OS. A publican who 

 sued such a customer for any sum above this was non-suited 

 and had to pay treble charges. 



1 Government Public Notice, 3ist December, 1814. 



2 Appendix to Bigge's Report. R.O., MS. 



3 Evidence, Appendix to Bigge's Reports. R.O., MS. 



4 In 1810 there was no " hulk " nor was there any trace of such a thing. 

 6 i.e., at 9 o'clock. 



