The excise duties on wine, having sunk a little
during the first two years of the war, were rapidly recovering their
level again. In 1795 a heavy additional duty was imposed upon them, and
a second in the following year; yet, being compared with four years of
peace to 1790, they actually exhibit a small gain to the revenue. And
low as the importation may seem in 1796, when contrasted with any year
since the French treaty in 1787, it is still more than 3000 tuns above
the average importation for three years previous to that period. I have
added sweets, from which our factitious wines are made; and I would have
added spirits, but that the total alteration of the duties in 1789, and
the recent interruption of our distilleries, rendered any comparison
impracticable.
The ancient staple of our island, in which we are clothed, is very
imperfectly to be traced on the books of the Custom-House: but I know
that our woollen manufactures flourish. I recollect to have seen that
fact very fully established, last year, from the registers kept in the
West Riding of Yorkshire. This year, in the West of England, I received
a similar account, on the authority of a respectable clothier in that
quarter, whose testimony can less be questioned, because, in his
political opinions, he is adverse, as I understand, to the continuance
of the war. The principal articles of female dress for some time past
have been muslins and calicoes.
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