to be on articles of Irish consumption."

The heavy duties on tea, tobacco, and alcohol--articles which form a
larger part of the family budget of the Irish peasant than of the
English labourer--are the causes of this burden. The reasons for the
larger consumption of what may be roughly called stimulants by the
Irishman is undoubtedly to be found in climatic conditions, and also in
the smaller amount of nourishing food which he is able to afford. With
regard to alcohol, the form in which it is most used in England--namely,
beer--is subjected to a special exemption at the expense of the
whiskey-drinking people of Ireland and Scotland. Cider is not taxed. The
tax on whiskey is between two-thirds and three-fourths its price, while
that on beer is one-sixth of its price; so that sixty gallons of beer
bear the same weight of taxation as does one gallon of whiskey. The
usual standard of taxation of liquor is its alcoholic strength, but the
special treatment accorded to the Englishman's principal drink
reduced--according to the Royal Commissioners--the taxation to which, in
proportion to its alcohol it should be subjected, from 1s. to 2d. per
gallon. Even in respect of tea and tobacco, the inequitable treatment of
Ireland is obvious to any one who considers that what is spoken of as
equality of taxation is, in reality, identical taxation on articles
consumed in vastly different proportions in Great Britain and Ireland.

The argument by which the charge that Ireland is overtaxed was rebutted
by the late Unionist Government was that the balance is restored by the
amount of money spent in the administration of that country. When the
complaint is heard that she is contributing at this day no less a sum
than,£9,750,000 to revenue, the answer is made that she has no grievance
since the cost of Irish services amounts to more than £7,500,000, the
balance, a paltry two and a quarter millions, forming her Imperial