On This Day, 18 April 1916

Birmingham Mail

Tuesday 18 April 1916

MECHANICAL LIGHTERS

HOW BIRMINGHAM WILL BE AFFECTED BY THE TAX

The Birmingham industries are so multifarious in their variety that it is difficult to interfere with any trade without affecting the commercial interests of the city. It is so with regard to the mechanical lighters or match-saving devices which the Chancellor of the Exchequer now purposes taxing very heavily.
Formerly these lighters and tinder fuses were chiefly of foreign make, Germany exporting large quantities of them in a variety of designs. Since the war Birmingham manufacturers have taken up the production of these articles, having overcome the difficulty at first experienced of finding a satisfactory substitute for the “flint” or striking stone which emits the sparks, and which appears to have been a product peculiar to Germany. Fuses for the use of cigarette smokers are also being freely made in Birmingham, and so great has been the demand for these mechanical appliances, not only for the soldiers on active service but since the match tax for home use as well, that suppliers are now running exceedingly short notwithstanding that America has been putting big consignments on the market.
The average price of the mechanical lighter has been about a shilling, but with the imposition of the tax of 5s., as hinted, the value will be 6s. This is regarded as absolutely prohibitive, and the opinion in Birmingham trade circles this morning was that the new impost would effectually check the trade in these useful articles, and thus kill what promised become an important local industry.