The mode of levying of the excise revenues at first was by farming them out,—a mode always odious to the public, frequently oppressive, and certainly of all others the most expensive in the cud. That system, though pertinaciously adhered to in France, Spain, and many other countries, as being in fact best suited to an arbi trary government, has been wisely abandoned in Great Britain. The whole management of the excise in this country for more than a century past, has been put un der the direction of officers appointed by, and immedi ately accountable to government. The superintendance is placed in two Boards ; one for England, consisting of nine commissioners, of whom two are chairmen ; and one for Scotland, consisting of five commissioners, of whom one is chairman. The commissioners arc nomi nated by patent from the crown, and vested with the power of appointing all the inferior officers. The total number of officers employed in 1788, in levying and managing this branch of the revenue, is stated by Sir John Sinclair (History of the Public Re-venue, cap. 4.) at 4477 in England, and 627 in Scotland,—a number has since been increased, though not very great ly, considering the great increase of the sum collected. They now amount probably to about 6000 in all. The duties are charged by officers termed gaugers, over whom arc placed supervisors. Payment is made to col lectors in different places, no one being obliged to tra vel farther to make his payments than to the next mar ket town. The collectors remit the money to the re spective cashier for England or Scotland, and the nett amount is afterwards paid over to the receipt of exche quer.
Whatever objections the excise may be liable to in regard to some of its regulations, it is certain that ever since its establishment it has always been one of the most productive branches of the public revenue.
For the first ten or twelve years after the Restoration, when it was in farm, the amount received by the pub lic was upon an average about 420,0001. a year. For the whole period between the Restoration and the Re volution, the average may he reckoned about half a mil lion a year. During the reign of King William, several new duties being imposed, and the country gradually ad vancing, the excise rose to somewhat above a million annu ally, the total revenues of England being then under four millions a year. At this period, it appears that the total excise in Scotland, which was then entirely separate from, and independent of, the English excise, amounted, as paid into the exchequer, to 40,0001. a year. In the time of
Queen Anne, new ditties were added, and the union of the two kingdoms being effected, a junction, as well as assimilation of their revenues, took place. The an nual average of the excise during that reign, was for England about 1,600,0001.; for Scotland nearly 61,0001. Between 1715 and 1728. the reign of George I. the pro duce of the excise for Great Britain, including the an nual malt, was nearly 2,340,000/. a year ; for Scotland alone about 74,0001. During the reign of George IL from 1728 to 1760, a gradual increase still took place in the produce of the excise, the annual average being about 3,000,0001. for Great Britain ; the produce for Scotland somewhat above 97,000/. per annum. In 1759, the year preceding the accession of his present Majesty, the nett excise as the exchequer was 3,887,3491. ; the gross produce for Scotland nearly 99,0001. After the peace of 1763, the addition of several new taxes, but still more the advancing state of commerce and im provement, gave a new increase to the excise ; so that for the five years between 1771 and 1776, the gross an nual average amount for Great Britain was 5,340,000/. ; and the gross annual average for Scotland nearly 140,000/. During the last five years of the American war, there was still an increase, and proportionally greater in Scot land than in England, the average of these five years being for Great Britain 5,642,3271., and for Scotland alone nearly 247,0001. At the time of the peace of Amiens in 1801, the gross amount for England was 12,507,8071., and for Scotland 1,054,4281. Since that period the amount has nearly doubled the gross produce in 1807; being for Great Britain about 24,000,000/. ; for Scotland a lit tle above 2,000,000/. In 1813, the total for Great Britain was about 24,700,006/. ; for Scotland about 1,945,000/. By the latest parliamentary finance statements, the gross produce for the year ending 5th January 1814, was for England 25,171,2741. : 0 : 11A, and for Scot land 1,861,6911. : 4 : 2. The expcnce of levying, col lecting, and managing this large revenue, amounts to no more than 31., 19s. per. cent. See Huic's Abridgment of Excise Statutes. Scotch Acts. Blackstone's Commentar . Smith's Wealth of Nations. Sir John Sinclair's Histo; of the Public Revenue. Hamilton's Enquiry into t' Principles of Taxation. Parliamentary Reports a Papers. (`)