asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) why the Customs duties on tobacco are estimated to produce only £47,295,000 during the current financial year, although they produced £55,199,000 in the year to 31st March, 1922;

(2) why the Excise duties on beer are estimated to produce only £94,480,000 during the current financial year, although they produced £121,865,000 in the year to 31st March, 1922?

As I explained in my Budget Statement, the reduction in the Budget Estimates of Customs and Excise duties, including the beer and tobacco duties, as compared with last year's receipts, was in part due to the fact that they relate only to Great Britain and Northern Ireland instead of the whole United Kingdom, as previously, and in part to anticipated fall in consumption based on the experience of the previous three or four months.