71,604 tons and that from the Italian Salt Works from 100,762 to 125,903 tons.

EXCISE

The year under review was one of the most important in the history of excise administration in this Presidency. A number of changes were introduced, the most far-reaching being the imposition of a direct check on consumption by the rationing of all country liquor shops on the basis of the consumption of the year 1920-21 which was taken as a normal year. The ration of each shop was the liquor issued to it during that year minus 10 per cent. in the case of Bombay City and five per cent. elsewhere. Shops were auctioned for the period 1st April 1922 to 31st December 1922 on this basis. They were again auctioned for a period of fifteen months from 1st January 1923 when a further reduction of ten per cent. in Bombay City and five per cent. elsewhere was made.

The strength of country spirit was reduced from 30 U.P. to 40 U.P. in the Presidency. Still-head duty was raised so as to be approximately the same for the weaker as it was in the previous year for the stronger spirit. A corresponding increase in still-head duty was also made in Sind.

Besides these important changes, several other measures were taken in pursuance of the settled policy of Government to discourage excess, minimize temptation and control the consumption of liquor among those habituated to it. The chief among these

are

(i) Reduction of the limit of transport, possession and sale of excisable articles.

(ii) Abolition of off sales at country spirit shops in certain municipal areas.

(iii) Closing of liquor shops in municipal areas on Mohurrum and Holi holidays.

(iv) Prohibition of the sale of any excisable article to any member of a criminal tribe residing in a settlement.

(v) The total prohibition of the sale of charas in the Bombay Presidency.

(vi) Enhancement of the rate of duty on ganja and bhang and the issue rate of opium.

(vii) Further restriction of the opening and closing hours of shops for retail sale of opium and hemp drugs.

Sixty-eight liquor shops were closed in the Presidency proper, 19 on the recommendation of advisory committees and 49 on the recommendation of Collectors. Two new shops were opened. 28 liquor shops were closed in Sind.

In pursuance of the policy of obtaining the maximum of revenue from the minimum of consumption several measures were introduced, besides the enhancement of duty referred to above, which ensured that revenue legitimately belonging to the State did not go to swell unduly the profit of licensees. With this object the system of levying vend fees on importers and wholesale dealers of foreign liquor which led to loss of legitimate revenue was revised and a system of fees on removal from the customs or distillery was introduced.

Toddy shops were ordered to be disposed of by open auction as before and the same system was extended to tree-foot booths which used to compete unfairly with the shops, maximum selling prices in their case being abolished.

The results of all these measures are to be seen in the figures of consumption as well as revenue. As compared with the previous year the total consumption of country liquor in the Presidency proper went down by 309,000 gallons, i.e., fifteen per cent. The decrease was most striking in the case of Bombay City and Thana District, being 111,000 and 77,000 gallons respectively. The following statement gives the comparative figures of per capita consumption in drams London Proof of country spirit during the last three years :

These figures indicate a very marked decline in the consump

tion of country spirit. There was on the other hand an increase

Kharaghoda Salt Works. Showing the labourers working at the open stores with bags ready for weighing.

[To face Page 200.

of 28 per cent., to 127 lakhs of gallons in the consumption of toddy in the Presidency, the increase being shared by all districts except Kolaba, Nasik and East Khandesh.

There was a slight decrease in the consumption of foreign liquor in the Presidency as well as in Sind. There was an increase of 6,000 seers in the consumption of ganja and a decline of 2,600 seers (8.4 per cent.) in that of opium in the Presidency; while charas, a noxious drug with a consumption of 8,500 seers, was wholly prohibited. In Sind the consumption of bhang increased by 12 per cent. and that of charas fell by 15 per cent., the consumption of opium being constant.

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A striking feature of the consumption of country spirit is the fact that it fell considerably below the rationed figure. The ration for the Presidency proper was 2,380,000 gallons whereas the actual consumption was 1,791,000 gallons only. The Commissioner of Excise attributes this to the fact that the quantity of liquor available for consumption was strictly limited by the rationing orders and the prices charged were consequently very high. There is no doubt that the prices charged by a large number of retailers were abnormally high even after allowing for the enhanced still-head duty," says the Government Resolution reviewing the Excise Report," but the direct influence of rationing on the abnormal prices cannot be conclusively established since a substantial part of the ration was not consumed. If the decline in consumption can be attributed to the successive enhancements of still-head duty rendering country liquor a somewhat expensive luxury, it may be regarded as an index of the success of the policy hitherto followed by Government, provided the decreased consumption of country liquor is not accompanied by a larger consumption of more deleterious intoxicants or by an increase in illegal practices such as illicit distillation. The report shows that deleterious drugs have not taken the place of country liquor nor has it been replaced by the more expensive foreign liquor except to a small extent by the cheaper kinds of Indian-made brandies and whiskies. So far as toddy has been substituted for country liquor the change is for the better as toddy, when not.stale, is an innocuous beverage in comparison with country liquor."

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