The consumption of tobacco in the island of Great Britain, excluding Ireland, and the duty thereon, were in

Consumption.         Duty.
1801     10,514,998 lbs.     1s. 7d.
1811     14,923,243  "       2s. 21/2d.
1821     12,983,198  "       4s. 0d.
1831     15,350,018  "       3s. 0d.
1841     16,083,593  "       3s. 0d.
1851     28,062,841  "       3s. 0d.

In the last two periods five per cent is added to all the duties.

Thus, while the consumption of tea and coffee has increased even
beyond the ratio of the population, the consumption of tobacco has
decreased.

This table also exemplifies the greater productiveness of a low duty compared with a high one; for instance, coffee in 1801, at 1s. 7d. per lb., yielded L77,654; in 1821, at 1s. per lb., L379,650; and, in 1841, at 6d. per lb., L710,524; tobacco in 1821, at 4s. per lb., yielded L3,164,673, and 1841, at 3s. per lb., L3,314,215.  But the difference in duty in the latter case was not sufficient to curtail the profits of the smuggler to any material extent.

Cigars afford a remarkable example of the amount of duty being increased by diminishing the rate.  In 1828, when the duty was 18s. per lb., duty was paid on 8,600 lbs. only, yielding L7,740.  In 1830, when the duty was reduced to 9s. per lb., duty was paid on 66,000 lbs., yielding L29,700; and such has been the increase of consumption, that, in 1841, duty was paid on 213,613 lbs., yielding L100,899.

    We would further illustrate the position by the following facts: 

In 1798, Ireland, with a population of 4,000,000, consumed 8,000,000 lbs. of tobacco, and now, with more than double the population, she consumes about 3,000,000 lbs. of tobacco less than at the former period.  The reason is obvious:  in 1789 the duty was 8d. per lb; now it is 3s.  In 1798, England and Scotland, with a population of 10,000,000, consumed 10,000,000 lbs. of tobacco, being one half of the relative consumption of Ireland at the same period; the duty in England and Scotland being then 1s. 7d. per lb., and in Ireland only 8d.

But the quantity of tobacco on which duty is paid does not even approximately show the quantity consumed.  If the duty now paid on tobacco in the United Kingdom retained the same relative proportion to the population that it held in Ireland in 1798, the duty in 1841 would have been actually levied upon 53,711,856 lbs., instead of 22,094,772 lbs.; and such we believe to be about the actual amount of consumption, the great bulk of the supply being furnished by the illicit trader.

In Prussia, it appears that the consumption of tobacco is at the rate of three pounds per head; while, in England, if we were to judge from the amount on which duty is paid, it is considerably less than one pound per head.

Assuming the actual consumption at only 45,000,000 lbs., or two pounds per head, we believe