tail of fpirituous Liquors as will amount to a total Prohi- Anno Geo.. bition.

The conftant and exceffive Ufe of fpirituous Liquors, amongst the inferior Rank of our People, is the only Complaint now properly before us, and as it is evident that this Grievance proceeds entirely from the low Price of our homemade fpirituous Liquors, it is certain that a Duty upon all fuch, perhaps lefs than that which was impofed by the late A&t against Geneva, would prevent the conftant and exceffive Ufe of fuch Liquors amongst the inferior Rank of our People: This, Sir, I think is evident from the Effect of thofe high Duties which are laid upon Brandy and Rum; for it is certain that Brandy and Rum are more coveted by the Vulgar, and may eafily be made more palatable than any fort of home-made Spirit; yet we have never heard of great Complaints made against the conftant and exceffive Ufe of Brandy or Rum among Perfons of inferior Rank; the Reason of which certainly is, because the Duties upon thefe Liquors have raised the Price fo high, that the lower fort of People cannot afford to make a conftant and exceffive Use of them; and therefore it is plain, that if the Price of all home-made Spirits were, by a Duty to be laid upon them, made as high as the Price of Rum is at prefent, it would prevent the conftant and exceffive Ufe of them among the Vulgar.

It cannot be faid, Sir, that nothing but a total Prohibition can be an effectual Remedy against the Evil complained of, because we all know that the late. Act against Geneva was effectual fo far as it went: It was made, we know, to extend only to Compound Spirits, and with refpect to them it was an effectual Remedy, for it put an entire Stop to the conftant and exceffive Ufe of fuch Spirits amongst thofe of inferior Rank; but fome of the Distillers immediately began to make a fort of plain Spirit, which, I believe, in Derifion of the Act, they called Parliament Brandy, and this the Common People made as conftant and as exceffive an Ufe of, as they had before done of Compound Spirits: This was the Cafe of that Act, and if it had been amended, and made to extend to all home-made Spirits, inflead of being repealed, there would never have been OccaGon for any fuch Complaint as that we have now before us: How it comes to be repealed, I fhall not now take upon me to explain; but upon recollecting what was the Effect of that Act, I think we need not give ourselves any great Trouble in fearching after a Remedy for the Disease now complained of: Let us but revive that Act, extend it to all home-made Spirits, and add fome Claufes for preventing any

U 2

Perfon's

1735-36.

Anne 9. Geo. 11. Perfon's felling fpirituous Liquors without a Licence, and Ț am convinced the Remedy will be found to be effectual.

1735-36.

But admitting that nothing but a total Prohibition will do; yet, for God's Sake, Sir, let us have fome Regard to the many poor Families that are now fupported by the diftilling and vending of fpirituous Liquors: Do not let us, for God's Sake, turn them all at once out of their Livelyhood: Let us confider how difficult it is for a Man who has been bred up to, and long exercised one fort of Bufinefs, to turn himself all at once to another, by which he may fupport his Family Let us confider what a Lofs he must fuftain by the Sale of thofe Utenfils he had occafion for in his former Way of Bufinefs; The Difficulty muft upon all Occafions be great, the Lofs must be confiderable; but by turning fuch Multitudes adrift at once, we fhall make the Difficulty infurmountable, and the Lofs irreparable; for there will be fuch Numbers brought at once to look out for new Employments, that it will make it impoffible for any one of them to fucceed; and there will be fuch a large Quantity of a certain Sort of Materials brought at once to the Market, that none of them will bear any Price. In fhort, Sir, the Difficulties and Diftreffes which many poor Families must be drove to, raife in me the most melancholy Reflections, and they muft raise in the Breaft of every Man that hears me, the most compaffionate Concern; therefore, if it be thought abfolutely neceflary to lay on fuch Duties as will amount to a Prohibition, I hope they will not be laid on all at once: We may now lay on a fmall Duty upon all forts of Spirits fold by Retail, and a small Duty upon Licences for telling by Retail; we may increase those Duties the next Seffion, and we may go on increafing yearly, till they be at laft brought up fo high as to amount to a Prohibition: By this Method People will have time to look about them, and will get out of the Trade by Degrees; which will make it the lefs hurtful to every particular Man, and the more eafy for him to fix himself in Tome new Way of Bufinefs, by which he may be able to fupport his Family.

I have often heard, Sir, of Sumptuary Laws, by which certain Sorts of Apparel, or rather Decorations, have been forbid to be worn by Persons of inferior Rank; but I never yet heard of a Sumptuary Law, by which any Sort of Victuals or Drink were forbid to be made use of by Perfons of a low Degree; yet this is, as it appears to me, what seems to be now intended: We are abfolutely to forbid the Use of Spirituous Liquors to all thofe, who are not able to purchase a certain Number of Gallons at a Time: A poor Journeyman or Labourer shall not have a Dram, fhall not have a Glafs of Punch, unless he can spare to lay out eight or ten Shillings at a Time,

1735-36.

a Time, which I am fure two Thirds of our People cannot Anno 9. Geo. 11. well spare to do: Whereas, if a Man is rich enough to lay out eight or ten Shillings at a Time, or profligate enough to pawn his Coat, in order to raise the Money, he may drink as much, he may commit as many Debauches in that Liquor as he pleases; the Law, contrived by the Wisdom of the British Legislature against the exceffive Drinking of Spirits, shall put no Reftraint upon any fuch Man: If Spirituous Liquors, even when taken in the most moderate Way, are of fuch a pernicious Nature, that they ought never to be tafted without the Advice and Prefcription of a Phyfician, we ought to take Care of the Rich as well as of the Poor, by putting it out of the Power of the former, as well as of the latter, to taste the bewitching Cup without fuch Advice and Prescription; but if the moderate Ufe of fuch Liquors be no way hurtful, I can fee no Reason for our making any invidious Diftinction between the Poor and the Rich; let us leave the moderate Use of such Liquors to all, and take all proper Methods for preventing their being immoderately used by any. This, I think, Sir, may be done by a much lower Duty than that now propofed, and therefore, tho' I have as great a Regard for the Health and the Morals of the People, as any Gentleman in this Houfe; yet I cannot but be against the Motion now made to you, because of the terrible Confequences with which it muft neceffarily be attended.'

In answer to the above Speech of Mr Pulteney's it was urg'd, That no fort of diftilled Spirituous Liquor was abfolutely neceffary for the Support of Nature; that fuch Liquors were at firft ufed only by Phyficians, in fome dangerous Diftempers, and were never difpenfed but in small Quantities; but when fuch Liquors were to be met with at every Corner, and People left at Liberty to take as much of them as they pleafed, few could keep themselves within any Bounds, because a small Quantity deprived them of their Reason, and the Companions they ufually met with at fuch Places, encouraged them to drink to Excess: That it was impoffible to prevent this Excefs, without diminishing the Number of Retailers of fuch Liquors, and raising the Price fo high, as to put them out of the Reach of Perfons of inferior Rank, who were the only Sort of People apt to make a Custom of getting drunk with fuch Liquor; for that very few of the better Sort had ever been found to commit frequent Debauches in fuch Liquors; and even with refpect to them, by putting it out of their Power to meet with fuch Liquors at a cheap Rate in any Place of publick Refort, the Temptations which might arife from promifcuous Company, would be entirely taken away, and

very

Arguments in Be

half of the M

tion.

Anno 9. Geo. 11. very few Perfons were fo ridiculoufly abandoned as to get drunk by themselves.

1735-32.

That they were very fenfible of the Difficulties to which great Numbers of his Majefty's Subjects would be reduc'd by the Duties to be laid upon the Retail of fuch Liquors ; but the Intereft of every particular Man muft give way to the general Intereft; and where the Prefervation of the Society was fo effentially concerned, the Prejudice of fome few particular Perfons was not to be regarded. However, that all poffible Care would be taken of those that might fuffer by the Duties to be laid upon the Retail of Spirituous Liquors, in order that they might be enabled to fall upon fome other Way of fupporting their Families; and as every one would be convinced that their being turned out of their present Way of supporting them, was neceffary for the publiek Good, it was to be prefumed that every Man would willingly fubmit to fuch a Regulation; fo that it could not raife any Difaffection to his Majefty's Government.

That with refpect to Rum and Brandy, it was very certain that they likewife had been often drank to great Excess, notwithstanding the high Duties laid upon them, and were as pernicious, both to the Health and the Morals of the People, as any home-made Spirit; That it would be ridiculous to lay a higher Duty upon home-made Spirits, which were the Manufacture of the Subjects of this Ifland, than upon Rum and Brandy, especially the latter; and that if our Sugar-Ilands fhould fuffer a little by our leffening the Confumption of Rum, they could not complain, when they confidered that it was for the Sake of preferving their MotherCountry, the general Intereft of which was always to be preferred to the particular Intereft of any Colony; for if any fort of Spirit fhould be exempted from the Duties then to be impofed, the Retailers would fell all Sorts of Spirits under that Denomination, and the Distillers would compound them in fuch a Manner, that it would be impoffible to difcover the Fallacy.

That they would willingly agree to the Method propofed by the honourable Gentleman, of laying on but a fmall Duty at once," and raising that Duty by Degrees; but they were very fure the laying on a fmall Duty would not be an effectual Remedy for the Evil fo loudly complained of: And if the Refentment, then in the Nation against all Sorts of diflilled Spirituous Liquors, fhould be allowed to fubfide, they were afraid they would never be able to get a new Act paffed for raising that Duty, because of the Multitudes of People that would always be engaged, by their own private Intereft, to oppofe the paffing of any fuch Law; therefore they thought it was abfolutely neceffary to take

Advantage

1735.6.

The Motion for

20s. per Gallon Liquors agreed

to

laying a Duty of on all Spirituous in the Grand Committee, who all Retailers thereyearly for a Li

vantage of present Conjuncture, to put an effectual Stop Anno 9. Geo. II. a Practice fo long, and fo juftly complained of; and for t Reason they were for agreeing with the Motion.' The Queftion being then put upon Sir Jofeph Jekyll's tion, the fame was agreed to without any farther Debate; vas likewife the following, viz. That from and after the h Day of June, 1736, the Sum of 501. yearly fhould paid to his Majefty, for a Licence, to be taken out yearly every Perfon keeping a publick Brandy-Shop, a publick tualling-Houfe, Coffee-Houfe, or Ale-Houfe, or being an. holder, who fhall vend, barter, or utter, any fuch Spious Liquors.

The Chairman of the Committee being about to make a port of the two foregoing Refolutions to the Houfe, Robert Walpole ftood up and mov'd, That the Comtee might fit again before any Report was made to the afe, because as the Duties propofed to be laid upon Spious Liquors would certainly very much diminish the Conption of fuch Spirits, it was not to be expected that the ties upon fuch Spirits would produce fo much yearly as had formerly done; and as the former Produce flood ropriated for anfwering certain Annuities and Payments, ticularly to the Civil Lift, it would be neceffary to conr of Ways and Means to make good the Deficiencies, : might happen by the two Refolutions they had then ed to Hereupon the Committee agreed to fit again n that Affair before making any Report.

March 9. The Houfe proceeded farther on the contefted tion for the County of York, and the Counfel for Sir vland Winn having propofed to difqualify William hard, who voted in Right of a Freehold at Acomb in Wapontake of Aynfty, within the County of the City of k, and having examin'd a Witnefs concerning the Ufage oting for Freeholds lying in the faid Hundred at Elecfor the County of York, the Counsel for Sir Miles ylton, fitting Member, were heard in Answer to the ence of that Difqualification. And a Copy of the Reof the Letters Patent granted by King Henry VI. to Mayor and Citizens of York was read, reciting that the or and Citizens were Bailiffs of and in the Hundred of ty, and granting to them and their Succeffors that the. Hundred or Wapontake, with the Appurtenances, fhould nnexed and united to the County of the faid City, as el thereof, excepting the Caftle of York and its District; faving to the Archbishop, Dean and Chapter; and all Perfons, all kind of Franchifes, Privileges, &c. to of right belonging: Hereupon it was refolved, That hs whofe Freeholds lie within that Part of the County

of

refolve alfo, That of fhall pay 501.

cenfe.

pole moves, That

Sir Robert Walthe Committee might fit again, what Deficienthe Civil Lift, folutions, which agreed to.

to make good

cies might happen

in

by the above Re

is

ceed farther on

The Houfe prothe contested Electhire, and refolve, That Freeholders have a Right to of the Shire.

tion for York

in the Aynity

vote for Knights