For the management of the business of the Excise department the whole of the United Kingdom is divided into Collec tions, and these are subdivided into Dis tricts, Rides, and Divisions. There are fifty- five collections in England and Wales, exclusive of the London collec tion, and at the head of each is a collector, who visits the principal towns in his cir cuit eight times a year to receive the duties and transact other business con nected with the department ; besides which he is required to have an eye gene rally upon the discipline and efficiency of the service. The number of officers in a collection varies from forty to ninety. The next subdivision of a collection is the district, at the head of which is a supervisor. Next come the subdivisions of the districts into rides and divisions, or foot-walks. Where the traders are scattered, the officer is obliged to keep a horse, and his circuit is called a ride; but if a larger number of traders reside in a smaller circuit, they are visited by the officer on foot, and then the subdivision is termed a division or foot-walk. Before going out each day, the officer leaves a memorandum at his home which states the places he intends to survey, and the order in which he will visit them ; and the exact time at which he com mences each must be entered in his journal. The supervisor re-surveys some of the officer's surveys, but which they will be the officer is of course ignorant ; and if errors are discovered, they must be entered in the supervisor's diary. These diaries are transmitted to the chief office every two months, and no officer is pro moted unless the diaries show him to be efficient. The periodical removal of offi cers from one part of the country to an other was Mr. Pitt's suggestion, and is
still acted upon : about 1100 officers change their residence yearly. The Com missioners of Excise Inquiry doubt the advantage of this system to the public service ; and it is injurious to the officers by interfering with the comfort of their families and interrupting the education of their children. At the chief office in London there is a department of Survey ing-General Examiners, who are des patched to any district without previous intimation, as a check upon the accuracy and integrity of the supervisors. Promo tions take place in the Excise department after a certain fixed period in each grade, and only then when the officer petitions for advancement. This involves a rigid examination into his qualifications, which is termed " taking out a character." To take the case of a supervisor, for who petitions for promotion : the whole of his books for one year and the books of the officers under him for a quarter of a year, are examined in the office of the country examiners ; all the accounts are re-cast, and errors in the books of the subordinate officers are reckoned to the supervisor's disadvantage. When this has been done, a surveying-general examiner carries the investigation further, and as certains whether the supervisor has dis charged his duties judiciously or not; amongst other things, whether he has been longer employed on a duty than he ought to have been if fully competent for his office. The whole examination occu pies about two months ; and when the final report is laid before the commis sioners the name of the officer is not given.