Jg Jreland.) — FIFTH REPORT or THE COMMISSIONERS [" Appx. No. 42. All Extract" from the Report of PAUL DAWSON, Esq. Surveyor- General ; dated Cork, the 6th March 1805 ; oil Rectifying Diftilleries. The Reftifying Diftilleries of Cork being the great Channel through which the Produce of the Grofs Diftilleries is fent into Circulation, demanded and obtained my moft ferious Attention. _ _ This Su bjeCt, which has fo defervedly interefted your Lordfiiips and Honours, which has occupied the Time, and fo much engaged the Purfuit of your moft able Officers, and which is on all Hands allowed to be a QuefHon of the firft Magnitude, it fliall be my humble Endeavour to defcribe, with all the Accuracy its Complication, along with the limited Information I have been ?. ble to procure, enables me. The Rectifying Diftilleries of Cork are Ten in Number. Three of them are conducted upon a Scale of Extent unattempted in any other Part of Ireland. Thefe Houfes are each connected with a Grofs Diftillery, and work with large Stills, upwards of 500 Gallons Content ; Two of them work Second Stills. The other Seven, not being connected with Grofs Diftilleries, are upon a more circumfcribed Scale, differing little from the Rectifying Houfes of Dublin. The only prominent Omiffion I difcovered refpeCting the Rectifying Diftilleries, was their having negleCted to regifter their Stores. This Error on their Part fubjeCced the entire Stock of Spirits to Seizure ; but as I could not impute the Omiffion to any Thing that bore the finalleft Appearance even of conftructive Fraud, I contented myfelf with pointing out the Danger of fuch a NegleCt, and which the ReCtifiers im- mediately repaired. In the Three extenfive Houfes I have juft alluded to, I perceived that an Account of Stock was caft up, and balanced only once in the Month, as is praCtifed in thofe of the fmalleft Defcription. I confidered that it would afford an additional Check, to fettle the Stock more frequently, and on confuting with Mr. Fanning, we agreed that it would be advantageous to have it afcertained once in the Week, which would affift in preventing a krge and falfe Credit from being kept up fo long. Another Regulation we thought it neceifary to adopt was, the expreffing on the Permit and Duplicate the Quality as well as the Quantity of the Liquor it protected. For Inftance, rectified Spirits of any Species to be diftinguifned from Compounds, by which Means the Quantity of Cordials, in which the great Portion of Water ufed in a Rectifying Diftillery is mixed can at any Time be afcertained, and will affift much in developing the Syftem of the Houfe. The greatRevenue ObjeCt relating to the ReCtifyingSyftem, being theEftablifhment of fuch Checks as will put an effectual Bar to the Introduction of private Spirits, and working with the raw Materials, the Law prohibits the Two Branches of Diftillaticn from being carried on in the fame Premifes. But the Contiguity of the grofs and recti- fying Houfes in Cork, together with aFiCtion, or a fuppofed Concealment of the real Names of the Parties carrying on the Two Eftablifhments, added to the C. ircumftance of a much greater Proportion of Spirits being permitted from the ReCtifiers that are connected with the Grofs Diftillers, compared with the Quantity permitted from others not fo connected, has given rife upon many Occafions to the Sufpicion, either that the ReCtifier of Cork produced Spirits from the raw Materials, or that his Con- cerns were made the Depot for Spirits privately produced in the Grofs Diftillery, and which through Inefficiency in the Syftem ofCheck, aDefeCt in the Law, or the Negli- gence and Corruption of the Officers, enabled him to carry into effeCt with Impunity. In order to be able to inform your Lordfhips and Honours, as far as may be, with regard to thofe Sufpicions being well or ill founded, I have paid the nioft minute At- tention to the Syftem laid down by the Officers, to check the Receipt of illicit Spirits into thefe Houfes, and to prevent Protection being granted to any of that Defcription, or to fuch as might be produced by the ReCtifiers from the raw Materials. In the Courfe of my Examination, 1 could not perceive any Neglect 011 the Part of the Officers, in carrying into Effeft the Syftem as it is now generally underftcod and praCtifed. In Juftice to the Officers employed in that Department, I cannot avoid faying, that they appear to me to have been attentive and zealous in the Difcharge of their Duty, and I have no Ground for thinking, that whatever Frauds may have exifted, arofe from their NegleCt or Collufion. but has rather originated in radical DefeCts in a Law which