* * * MITCHELLS AND BUTLERS
The brewers' reaction to the heavy taxation which their industry is called upon to bear is already well known. Their discomfort has probably not been lessened by Sir John Simon's war Budget, but Mr. Arthur Mitchell, the chairman of Mitchells and Butlers, announced at the.meeting last week the determination of both the wholesale and the retail sec- tions of the trade to help the Chancellor of the Exchequer to obtain the money he has budgeted upon getting from the trade. He did not, therefore, quarrel with liquor taxation as a whole, but he did draw attention to one anomaly—the low taxation paid by British wines. In terms of tax per proof gallon he calculates that average beer pays a duty of 31s.. British still wine pays 1Is. 8d., and whisky 82s. 6d; He feels that British wines should stand in a mid-way position in taxation between beer and whisky, and that that would be fair to all and furnish an acceptable sum to the Exchequer. In the same spirit of tolerance, Mr. Mitchell would have been glad to leave on one side the controversial topic of the teetotal propaganda, but he feels that the teetotal propa- gandist has decided to make the war his opportunity. " They have already seized the chance to harass the Government, as they did during the last war, when the Prime Minister of that day had to tell a deputation which waited upon him in 1918 that they were doing it not for the sake of the war. but were taking advantage of the war to advance their own particular theories about temperance." Mr. Mitchell announced that Mitchells and Butlers have acquired the businesses of the Highgate-Walsall Brewery Company and John Lord. These he considers very valuable acquisitions.
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