1827 Wine and spirit adulterators unmasked

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that practices, such as I have pointed out, do exist ; and when it is considered that the evils consequent upon them fall most heavily on the poorer classes of society, no one will deny that this system calls loudly for the interference of the Government. The idle reply, that the weaker such a compound as Gin is made, the less injury it is likely to work, is no answer to such a case; because, although strong 1 Spirits may be mischievous to the health and morals of the lower classes, the drinking such compositions as I have described must also be per- nicious in the highest degree to the constitution and comfort of the people ; and tends only to enrich a class of the community, who have neither ho- nesty nor usefulness enough, to entitle them to the wealth they obtain. In presenting my Readers with a scale, showing the different proportions of water necessary to re- duce 100 gallons of Gin, twenty-two per cent, un- derproof, at 9*. 4d. per gallon, to the relative prices at which it is advertised, viz. 9s. 4c?. ; 8*. ; 7*. (id. ; 6s. Qd. ; and 5*. 9d. per gallon, I should premise that, although I have set the limit at that quantity, for the sake of conciseness, the best judges, or those whose consumption is the most con- siderable, make it up in vats; and that the larger the dimensions of the vat, the greater extent of re- duction the Gin will bear, and the better is the fic- titious flavor concealed. The quantity of lump sugar used to 100 gallons of Gin, varies from twenty-five to thirty-five pounds, according to the