V.-Consumption of Wine in the United Kingdom.

THE following statistics are taken from a letter which appeared in the
Times city article. The writer, Mr. T. G. Shaw, observes that-

"After five years' experience of the operation of the reduced duties on wine,
the following tabular statements may prove interesting, for they exhibit the result
by comparison with a considerable period of the former high rates. In analysing
the figures, it should not be forgotten that there has been an increase of more than
a million of population and an immense augmentation of wealth since 1861, and
that more wine would consequently have been drunk even had there been no reduc-
tion. The total annual increase has been from about 7,000,000 to 13,000,000
gallons, giving each person yearly about 2 bottles, instead of, as formerly,
1 bottle.

"The revenue is gradually working up to the old average of about 1,900,000l., but it is still more than half a million below that sum."

TABLE I.-Showing the Consumption (Quantity on which Duty was Paid) of the various kinds of Wine from the Year 1856 to the 30th of June, 1866. The Rate of Duty per Gallon was 58. 9d. from the Year 1856 to 1859, and 3s. in 1860. It is now 1s. on all under 26 Degrees of Strength, and 2s. 6d. when stronger. During the last Five Years there have been 1s., 1s. 9d., 2s. 5d., 2s. 6d., and 2s. 11d., besides the Extra Rate when above 42 Degrees of Strength. Cape and Australian were 2s. 11d., until the General Reduction in 1861.

TABLE II.-The Consumption of Wine, the Revenue from it, the Population, the Rates of Duty per Gallon, and the Number of Bottles for each Person per Annum, calculated on Average Periods from the Year 1851 to the 30th June, 1866.

The Paris correspondent of the Times has recently stated some facts relative to the wine trade of France, which may be usefully considered in connection with Mr. Shaw's tables. The subjoined passage appeared in that journal on the 13th September instant :

"Some interesting statistics and remarks relating to the consumption of French wines in England appear in the last number of the Moniteur Industriel. It seems that we are by no means such important customers to our nearest wine-growing neighbours as might be supposed, and that for much the greater part of our foreign drinks we go farther and (a Frenchman at least would say so) fare worse. The average quantity of wine produced in France is 38 millions of hectolitres (22 imperial gallons), which are distributed as follows:-15,254,000 consumed by the growers or sold directly to consumers, 2,454,000 converted into spirits, 220,000 go to make vinegar, 2,336,000 are exported, 13,340,000 are taken by the wine trade, and 4,396,000 remain disposable. In the seven years of 1857 to 1863 the annual average of wine taken by England from Spain was 220,978 hectolitres; from Portugal, 136,000; Germany, 83,077; France, 74,400. Many persons will be surprised to find that we have been in the habit of taking more wine from Germany than from France, though the German wines doubtless include Hungarian wines, and perhaps wines of other countries exported from bonded depôts in the North German ports. In 1864, however, the English market took 167,382 hectolitres, worth 23,748,465 frs., or little short of a million sterling, and the increase has continued, 82,392 hectolitres having gone to England during the first six months of 1866, against 64,976 and 60,301 in the corresponding periods of 1865 and 1861. As regards the great majority of the English people, the love and cheapness of beer will always keep them from the consumption of French wines, which must always be comparatively dear. In fact, compared with other European nations, we hardly drink any wine in England. The statistics of some of the principal countries are given as follows. In France and Portugal the consumption is 100 litres (about equal to imperial quarts) per head of the population, in Austria 57, in Switzerland 56, in Spain 33, in England 1013. So that we are clearly not a wine-drinking people. It might be very possible, however, to increase the consumption of French

wines in England, at the expense of the wines of other countries, if judgment were exercised in the selection of the qualities and in reducing the expenses and the enormous profits which the English consumer now pays. In the opinion of the Moniteur Industriel red wines of intermediate quality, pure, highly coloured, and with plenty of body are the most successful in England. The consumption of French white wines is comparatively small: in 1861-62-63 it was as 94 to 224 of red, and the bulk of the white was probably champagne. Besides this, we learn that among the white French wines imported into England are included imitations of sherry and Madeira, proceeding from Cette and Marseilles, where the real nutty flavour' is skilfully imparted by chemical compounds. The writer in the Moniteur considers this branch of commerce analagous to that of the champagne made on the Rhine and sold as Freneh, but the parallei is hardly fair, since the sparkling Moselle and Rhine wines and Swiss champagne are natural wines, very different from the Cette compounds, and often in all but name, very little inferior to a great deal of French champagne. Probably, Picardan finds a certain sale in England, to be doctored into sherry. Of the excellent white wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy the consumption in England can hardly be large, and most of them, except in warm weather, would probably be found too cold and thin for the climate, and the British palate accustomed to much stronger potations. The wines of Southern France are recommended as well suited to England, slightly brandied, and sent as much as possible by sea, in order to save them from the pernicious effect the peculiar jogging motion of the railway has upon them. While giving the French exporter some advice as to the manner of arranging his shipments—to send all his wine in bottles, with a good proportion of pints, especially of champagne and the finer wines, &c.-the writer lets us into some of the tricks of the trade,

"Certain exporters instead of using the ordinary Bordeaux and Burgundy bottles have some made on purpose for exportation, smaller or of thicker glass, with bulbs at the bottom which diminish the contents by 10 or 20 per cent. The best pattern to adopt would be the champagne bottle, holding four-fifths of a litre, never less. It is the same with casks. The Côte d'Or barrel, which ought to hold 228 litres, often holds only 214, the Medoc cask, nominally 220, holds but 210, &c. It is important to our wine trade that in these shipments scrupulous regard should be paid to the quantity as well as to quality.'

"The writer does not understand why shipments of French wines should be almost exclusively to London and Liverpool, and not to other provincial ports, since in many counties far from those two cities these wines are largely consumed in the hotels and taverns, which incur additional charges by this arrangement. He says:

"Finally, it would be desirable that the trade in our wines should be carried on in England by French houses there established, so as to avoid their passing through so many intermediate hands before reaching the consumer.'"

MARRIAGES, BIRTHS, AND DEATHS IN THE

UNITED KINGDOM.

No. I.-ENGLAND AND WALES.

MARRIAGES IN THE QUARTER ENDED 31ST MARCH, 1866,

AND BIRTHS AND DEATHS IN THE QUARTER

ENDED 30TH JUNE, 1866.

The Registers of the UNITED KINGDOM show that 110,484 persons married in the quarter that ended in March last; that the births of 261,302 children, and the deaths of 172,013 persons of both sexes, were registered in the three months ending on June 30th.

The death-rate of the United Kingdom is slightly below that which prevailed in England and Wales. The several facts concerning the other divisions of the Kingdom are fully set forth in the quarterly reports of the Registrars General of Scotland and Ireland.

The estimated population at home of England, Scotland, and Ireland, is 29,935,404. The corrected death-rate of the quarter is 2:388 per cent.

England. This Return comprises the BIRTHS and DEATHS registered by 2,200 registrars in all the districts of England during the spring quarter that ended on June 30th, 1866; and the MARRIAGES in 12,856 churches or chapels, about 5,404 registered places of worship unconnected with the Established Church, and 641 Superintendent Registrars' offices, in the quarter that ended on March 31st, 1866.

ENGLAND:-MARRIAGES, BIRTHS, and DEATHS, returned in the Years 1860-66, and in the QUARTERS of those Years.

Calendar YEARS, 1860-66 :-Numbers.

'61.

'60.

'65. '64. '63. '62. 185,520 180,387 173,510 164,030 | 163,706 170,156 747,870 740,275 727,417 712,684 696,406 684,048 491,360 495,531 473,837 436,566 | 435,114 | 422,721

June

March........No. 196,737 194,287 192,947 186,341 181,990 172,933 183,180 192,459 192,921 188,835 189,340 185,554 184,820 | 174,028

184,642 181,015 173,439 172,709 172,033 164,121 179,020 177,478 178,297 172,431 | 166,620 | 162,719

(III.) DEATHS:-Numbers.

'66.

last day of March ..No. 138,233 128,692

June

140,646 | 142,977 128,096 122,019 121,215 122,617 116,006 | 116,880 118,121 107,392 107,558 110,869 113,404 112,223 | 112,504 92,381 101,232 86,312 121,304 123,451 115,116 114,774 | 105,109 102,923

The marriage-rate, which was low in 1861-62, but revived subsequently, and was remarkably high in 1865, continued to be well maintained in the first quarter of the present year. The birth-rate was also very high in that quarter, and, though it declined afterwards, it was still a little above the average in the three months that ended on June 30th. But a decidedly unfavourable feature of the present return is the high death-rate that prevailed in the spring quarter. The mortality was much higher than it had been in any June quarter of the ten years 1856-65. The coldness of the season, and epidemics of measles and whooping. cough, appear to have exercised a very wide and fatal influence on the public health. MARRIAGES.-In the March quarter 75,152 persons were married in England. The marriages were 37,576 against 33,427 in the same quarter of 1856. The number of marriages advances with the increase of population, but not without fluctuations that are attendant on the changing condition of the people, of which condition industrial success or adversity is perhaps the most appreciable, but not the only, element. At the beginning of the last decade the annual number of marriages was about 160,000; at the end of it the number returned in a year was more than 185,000.

The annual marriage-rate in the first quarter of the present year was 1-442 (viz. of persons married) to a hundred persons living. The average rate of ten March quarters was 1.398.

BIRTHS. The number of children born in the spring quarter (ended 30th June) was 192,459 against 173,263 in the same period of 1856. The annual birthrate of the quarter was 3.644 per cent. of the population, the average of ten previous springs being 3.620.

The births returned in thirteen weeks ending 30th June numbered 26,776 in London, 1,429 in the city of Bristol, 3,236 in the borough of Birmingham, 4,802 in that of Liverpool, 2,591 in that of Leeds, 3,353 in the city of Manchester. There were 4,893 in Glasgow, a number which slightly exceeds that of Liverpool, though the population of the latter town is greater.

Taking twelve large towns in Great Britain it appears that the birth-rate was highest in Leeds, in which town it was 4.557 per cent.; the next highest was 4.543 in Glasgow; in Newcastle-on-Tyne it was 4.205; in Sheffield 4-009; in Liverpool 3-979. In London and Bristol it was as low as 3.50. But the popu lation of Leeds, there is reason to believe, has been under estimated.