tobacco retained for home consumption rose to 106,516,337 lb., the following year it was 101,719,199 lb.; and then from 1917',' when the total was 104,501,452 lb., the amount went to 106,566,-
- 549 lb. in 1918 and toneless than 142,826,314 lb. in 1919. With
imported manufactured tobacco, including cigars, cigarettes and snuff, the total consumed in 1919 was 145,344,604 lb. In 1914 the amount of unmanufactured tobacco which went through the
1 factories and was consumed represented a consumption per head
' of population of 2-16 lb.; in 1919 it was 3-09 lb. per head.
The imports of tobacco into the United Kingdom by no means follow in the same ratio as the figures of consumption. When the World War broke out, thanks to the tradition of the trade and the
, prudent foresight of manufacturers, there were large stocks in the
- country. In view of the heavy requirements, fresh importations
of raw tobacco were secured as before, but when the submarine activity added to the already urgent call upon shipping, imports dropped off very considerably and tonnage was only allowed spar- jngly for tobacco freights. The import of unmanufactured tobacco in 1913 was 162,365,925 lb.; in 1914 it was 158,692,857 lb.; 1915
. 202,650,863 lb.; 1916 164,265,861 lb.; 1917 46,543,000 lb.; 1918 I7I.639.3.I3 lb. and in 1919 348,906,624 lb. It will be seen that the curve of imports drops in 1916 and is much lower still in 1917, and
. that so soon as shipping became available the depleted stocks of manufacturers were promptly renewed. Manufacturers had been
' purchasing but shipment had been held up. In addition to the manufactured tobacco imported in 1919, the following manu-
1 factured products were also brought into the country in that year: cigars, 1 ,670,735 lb. ; cigarettes, 4,460,535 lb. ; other tobacco, including snuff, 1,755,447 lb.
Before examining the Control Board's activities and retail prices
1 in England it is interesting to note how the Treasury got on in the matter of revenue and under the influence of taxation which was several times heavily increased. The net receipts of British Govern- ment revenue in each year ended March 31 were as follows: 19134 18,263,479; I9H-5 19.272,007; 1915-6 25,743,149; 1916-7 27,342,339; 1917-8 33,285,107; 1918-9 46,231,430; 1919-20 60,857,917. This crescendo of revenue gains was the result of two principles working together: the war impetus given to the use of tobacco, including the fact that ladies were in many cases smoking as well as men, and secondly the increased tax. The rate of un- stripped tobacco leaf containing 10 % or more of moisture, which was 33. 8d. per Ib.in 1914, was raised to 53. 6d. per lb. from Sept. 22 1915, and this rate lasted till May 1917, other duties such as that on manufactured tobacco being correspondingly increased. On May 3 1917 the duty was increased from 55. 6d. per lb. to 73. 4d. but out of deference to the working-classes this increase of is. lod. was reduced on July 15 to an increase of nd. only, which brought the tax down to 6s. 5d. per lb., at which it remained from July 16 1917 to April 22 1918. The yield kept on the up-grade, notwithstanding the duty, and on April 23 1918 the duty was raised to 8s. 2d. per lb. at which it remained, the 1921 budget having left the main tax unaffected.
There were, however, some specialties in English taxation of distinct note apart from the ordinary tobacco duties. These special features consisted in the application of preferential treatment to empire-grown tobacco and in a surtax on imported cigars. On and after Sept. 1919 the ordinary duties were reduced by one-sixth in the case of tobacco consigned from, and grown, produced or manufac- tured in, the British Empire. On and after April 1920 an additional duty of 50 % ad valorem was imposed on imported cigars, reduced by one-third in the case of cigars entitled to preferential rate of duty. This surtax was abolished as from May 10 1921.
War Supplies. -In examining the actual consumption of tobacco
i one has not merely to consider the imports and revenue figures. There was the large quantity of duty-free cigarettes, cigars and to-
, bacco supplied to H.M. forces, whether in the form of rations or sent out duty free from manufacturers' premises, on orders obtained through tobacconists and from other sources. The dimensions of this most essential portion of the tobacco consumption can be gauged
- by several indications beyond the broad fact that every soldier or
sailor who desired to smoke was well supplied. For instance the British Government chemist in his report for 1916 announced that the samples of tobacco exported on drawback numbered 32,004 or appreciably more than double the highest number examined in any previous year since the introduction of the drawback regulations in 1863. The number of laboratory certificates issued in connexion with samples was 81,889, an increase of no less than 48,179 over the corresponding number for the previous year. This was due to the dispatch of tobacco for the Expeditionary Force. The most direct indication however is afforded by the customs and excise report. This document for 1917-8 records the fact that, apart from ships' stores, the following were in that year the weights of cigarettes, etc., sent to the British Expeditionary forces and on which drawback was granted: tobacco, 123,256 lb. ; cigarettes, 7,080,449 lb. ; cut, roll, cake or other manufactured tobacco, 5,877,968 lb. ; snuff, 525 lb. These figures include the large quantities of cigarettes supplied through tobacconists sending customers' orders to the manufacturers for sending out duty-free tobacco, and also orders sent from firms and other organizations who specialized in soldiers' parcels. They
733
do not include the considerable number of parcels of cigarettes bought from a tobacconist's duty-paid stock and forwarded in a composite parcel by the soldier's friends. At a Navy and Army Canteen surplus stock sale in Aug. 1920 over 8p million cigarettes and 100 tons of tobacco were disposed of, 60 million of the cigarettes and the tobacco being sold for export only. The cigars for disposal were for the most part replaced into trade channels.
The British Tobacco Control. The control of food in the United Kingdom, for war purposes, was followed by that of tobacco. The form of control was defined in two orders issued under the Defence of the Realm Regulations. One was called the Tobacco Restriction Order (No. l) 1917, dated May 24 1917, and made by the Board of Trade under Regulations 2F and 2JJ, and the other the Tobacco Restriction Order (No. 2) 1917, dated July n 1917. These two orders between them put the grip of the Board of Trade firmly upon every shred of tobacco which entered the country or was in stock, and controlled its movements, sale and price. The powers given were so full that an immoderate use of them could have paralysed the industry. The fact was that the control was a com- plete success, alike from the military or munition point of view, from the public point of view, and, greatest feat of all, from the trade point of view. The control lasted from its inception by the Restric- tion Orders named down to Jan. II 1919 when the Board of Trade revoked the Orders, stating that "the effect of this revocation is that from the date named all powers exercised by the tobacco con- trol board in regard to the control, importation and distribution and prices of tobacco will be abolished." During the period of control the board had systematized powers in regard to production, manu- facture, treatment, use, consumption, transport, storage, distri- bution, supply, sale or purchase of or dealing in tobacco ; they had power to place stocks at the disposal of the Board of Trade; any person delivering tobacco had to keep a record of the quantities delivered; tobacco sold by manufacturers, importers and wholesale dealers was ordered to be as nearly as possible of the same descrip- tion and was to be sold in similar quantities and under like condi- tions and to the same customers as in the year 1916. In view of the shortage of shipping and the consequent necessity of economizing the available supplies of tobacco in Britain, an order was made bringing under control the stocks of manufactured and unmanu- factured tobacco (of the latter a census was taken) and prohibiting the owners of stocks from dealing with them otherwise than as authorized by the Board of Trade. The order also provided for the regulation of the prices at which tobacco might be sold as from June I 1917. No restrictions were imposed on the supply of tobacco to H.M. forces overseas. The Control Board at first consisted of the following: Mr. Lancelot Hugh Smith (chairman), Major F. Tpwle (quartermaster-general's .department), and Mr. Gerald Be'van. They were assisted by an advisory committee, representative of all sections of the tobacco trade. The work of the Control Board was arduous; they were called upon to make numerous decisions and the way in which they exercised their powers helped the trade to keep going, guaranteed fair prices to the public and gave general satis- faction. A retail price schedule was issued, and one of these had to be exhibited prominently by every dealer in tobacco. Non-compli- ance rendered the tobacconist liable to a fine.
The Control Board's issue of Restriction Orders was to conserve supplies, but as time went on, owing to the large requirements of H.M. forces and the continued heavy demand at home, it became evident that the supply to the army might be jeopardized and a rationing system rendered necessary unless additional importations were allowed. The diminution of stocks in the bonded warehouses rendered some step advisable. The Control Board, therefore, though originally formed to restrict, now appeared in a new r61e, that of encouraging supplies, and in Jan. 1918 it was reported that the board were asking that tobacco should, with food and ammunition, be given priority of importation. From March 12 1917 there had been a restriction of clearances. The daily amount of tobacco allowed to be delivered out of warehouse or ship's side was restricted to the daily average quantity for the year ended Dec. 31 1916. But now that more tobacco was needed the question of further imports became urgent. Eventually an arrangement was made by which the British- American Tobacco Co., who had chartered the steamers of the Garland line, should bring in a supply for what became known in control circles and in the trade as " necessitous manufacturers." The result was that all were able to carry on.
Germany and France. The difficulties of war-time conditions were
- hus successfully grappled with by the British Control Board.
France, under its State Regie, did not do so well. It was reported in Dec. 1917 that under the stress of prolonged war the tobacco regie lad practically broken down. It became well-nigh impossible to buy either tobacco or cigarettes in France. It was stated that owing to the intensification of consumption, due in part to women smoking,
- he monopoly administration had been taken unawares. Whatever
the explanation, the State control did not produce the good results which control of an industry founded on private enterprise brought about in Great Britain. Still France was not so badly off as Germany and Austria. In Oct. 1917 permission was given by the German Government for the manufacture of tobacco-like substances without
- he employment of tobacco. These substitutes were allowed to be
introduced into the trade and were made subject to the tobacco tax.
