The Chief Inspector's letter was an unwise one, and savors of the narrow-minded official rather than the far-seeing administra tor; but it still left the distillers secure m the belief that whatever un looked-for contingency might, arise through a decrease of the import duty, there was nothing to be feared m the direction of an increase of the Excise duty ; it showed no sign of the possi bility of such a proposal ever being made, as has recently been announced, and by omitting all mention of it; implied m a marked way that it did not exist When m 1870, a second application for a license was made, this time from Auckland, the Government went fur ther, and held out a warning that what they now have definitely proposed might one day take place. The Chief Inspector m reply to the application 6aid : — " I " am to inform you that m the event of " your undertaking the business of a " distiller, and a reduction being made *'m the rate of import duty on spirits, " you must calculate upon a correspon " ding reduction m the excise dut3 r , as " the Government, whatever rate may " hereafter be fixed on for the Customs " duty, will not be prepared to recom- to the Legislature that the ex te cisc duty should be lower than it is at "present, whilst it may be found " necessary to increase it." The answer of the applicant to this in timation is so much to the point, that we cannot do better than quote it. He gays : — " Ido not quite understand *' what the latter part of your letter is " intended to convey, — whether it is " merely meant as a caution that the " duty on foreign spirits may be re " duced, and thus under the Distilla u tion Act, a proportionate reduction " will follow m the duty on home dis " tilled spirits, or whether it is intended "to intimate that a change is contem *' plated by the Government m the re "fative amount of duty payable on " these two classes of spirit, by increas " ing the duty on the latter to a greater " proportion than one-half of the duty •' on the former. 