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while the clerical work can be greatly reduced and simplified if combined with that of the Motor Traffic Branch of the Police organization which already deals with drivers' licences. All that is necessary is that the local Police shall be furnished by the Police Headquarters with a list of all vehicles registered, and by the District Cashiers with a list of persons in their area who have paid licence duty, or the direct tax on vehicles or animals for the previous year, with an entry showing whether they have also paid for the current year. With this information in their possession the need for personal calls will be reduced to the cases of (a) persons appearing in the Cashiers' list as in arrear for the current year, (b) persons not in the Cashiers' list but who are observed by the Police to be carry- ing on a licensed trade or occupation and (c) new registrations. The remaining duties carried out by the Revenue Section are the testing of weights and measures used by retail tradesmen, the detection of the illicit cultivation of gandia, and the control of the retail sale of run. These duties also should be handed over to the Palice. The first is obviously one which could without difficulty be performed by that body, and the second will involve a quite negligible addition to their work as attempts at gandia cultivation are now of very rare occurrence in the Colony. The third calls for a further explanation inasmuch as preventive measures for the protection of excise revenue are usually regarded as forming an essential part of revenue administration. We feel, however, that the governmental machin- ery of an area so small as Mauritius need not be modelled too closely upon that of countries of larger extent, and that a not unnatural variation from the established pattern is to entrust the ordinary Police Force with the carrying out of what may be regarded as the Police functions of the normal revenue service. This departure from the normal has already been found necessary with regard to the detection of illicit distillation. With the high rate of excise duty in operation the temptation on the part of the retailers to resort to illegal sources of supply is naturally very great, and the decline in the revenue from rum during the present year has proceeded at a rate which is not fully explained by the diminished consumption which might have been expected to follow from the decrease in the purchasing power of the classes who are the main consumers of this spirit. Special measures to deal with illicit distillation have accord- ingly been taken, including the formation of a selected Police unit in the charge of an experienced Inspector, for carrying out an intensive investigation in the districts of the Colony where the practice is known to be prevalent. Apart, however, from this special action it has been found by experience that the discovery of illicit stills is with very few exceptions the result of information gained from informers, and that such information is more readily given to the Police than to the revenue service. The Police are already exercising the full powers of Revenue Inspectors with the exception of the examination of retailers' permits and the checking against

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those permits of the amount of liquor stocks actually on hand. This examination is a newly-introduced safeguard against illicit purchases and could be taken over by the Police together with the rest of the work at present shared by them with the Revenue Staff. A saving of the whole cost of the Revenue Section can be effected by the transfer of duties, but four of the permanent posts of inspection would be used to replace the temporary posts in the Distillery Sec- tion. We include in this saving the item of Rs.30,000 which appears The fines re- in the departmental estimates for " shares of fines." ferred to are those inflicted for contravention of the Licence Duty Ordinance, i.e., for failure to pay the duties therein imposed. We can see no reason why any rewards of this kind should be granted for such routine work as has been above described which calls for no special qualities either of character or ability for its successful performance. The item of Rs.10,000 for awards in revenue cases, i.e., for the detection of illicit spirit distillation are on an entirely different footing and should be retained.

13. The Distillery Section consists of a staff of eight Inspectors, four temporary Inspectors, a Watchman, and six Labourers. One of the Inspectors is in charge of the Rum Warehouse where he is assisted by a staff of five Inspectors, the Watchman, and the six Labourers. The two remaining permanent Inspectors and the four temporary Inspectors are stationed at the distilleries where they perform the ordinary duties of Excise supervision.

The separation of the administration of spirit excise from that of the tobacco excise, the latter being carried out by the Customs Department, is an anomalous arrangement which has already been the subject of official consideration in Mauritius, and suggestions have been made (1) to transfer the whole Inland Revenue Branch of the Treasury to the Customs to be combined with the tobacco excise service as a branch of that department and (2) to set up a new independent department to take over the same services, together with those of the house tax and stamp duty. We have no hesitation in rejecting the second of these proposals. As we have already pointed out, the administration of the licence duties and the direct taxes on animals and vehicles is a matter merely of accounting and Police supervision and does not call for a specialized technical staff. The same remarks apply with equal force to house tax (as will be seen from the section of our report which deals with that branch of the existing Treasury organization), while as regards stamp duty the department of the Registrar General already provides all the safeguards that are necessary against evasion. There remain therefore only the two excise services to be considered and the total volume of work arising therefrom is far too small to justify the setting up of a separate and independent department to deal with it. We are in favour however of their combination under

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

༅། །། ། ། |

Reference -

C.O.882/12

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHI PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO