Parliamentary Publications. 



533 



annually to nearly 20,000,000 gallons, from the United 

 Kingdom. 



Spirits may also be ranked as an agricultural product ot 

 this country, inasmuch as the materials of which it is gener- 

 ally made here are malted and unmalted barley and other 

 cereals, as well as foreign products (maize, rice, sugar, &c.) ; 

 while sugar and starch producing vegetables, such as beet- 

 root and potatoes, are also used. The consumption per head 

 is greatest in Belgium, where it is a little over 2 gallons 

 per annum (proof spirit) ; France, Germany, and Holland 

 consume a nearly identical quantity, amounting on the average 

 to nearly 2 gallons per head. The United Kingdom and the 

 United States, on the other hand, average just one gallon 

 per head. The consumption of spirits in this country is 

 almost stationary ; but there is perhaps a slight tendency to 

 increase. The United States exhibit a decrease since 1885. 

 The total production of spirits amounted, in 1896, to 52,834,000 

 gallons in the United Kingdom ; the rise in the production 

 has been considerable since 1882, when the production was 

 under 40,000,000 gallons. 



The net revenue to the State from the taxation of alcohol 

 amounted in 1896-7 to £3 2,534,000, of which the Customs 

 contributed 17 per cent., and the Excise 83 per cent. The 

 Excise was made up of receipts from beer (£10,901,000) 

 and spirits (£16,013,000) ; from the Customs there were 

 derived £16,000 from beer, £1,296,000 from wine, and 

 £4,318,000 from spirits. The total income from alcohol 

 formed, in the year named, 36 per cent, of the whole net 

 revenue of the State. It may be added that the proportion 

 of receipts from Excise shows a tendency to increase, as 

 compared with the receipts from Customs. 



The Annual Local Taxation Returns [England) for the 

 Financial Year 1895-96. Part II. [H . C . — 3 73.] Price t\d. 

 This publication of the Local Government Board contains 

 an abstract of the accounts of county councils (other than 

 the London County Council) and joint committees of such 

 councils, as well as the accounts of pauper lunatic asylums, 



