Whilft This continues to be the Cafe, who can wonder to hear Complaints of Frauds and Abuses in publick Offices? But the Remedy is eafy and obvious. Let us either resume these great Sinecures, and fettle handsome Salaries upon Thofe, who actually do the publick Bufinefs; (which would fave the Nation a very great Expence ;) or make the Principals anfwerable for all the Frauds, which are committed by the Collufion of their Deputies. This would be really fearching the Wound to the Bottom, and prove infinitely more ef fectual than that ridiculous Project, for preventing the Effects of Corruption by an Excife, whilft the Caufe is fuffer'd to remain, and rankle in our Bowels.

There is another bad Effect, which may attend this Practice of holding_great Employments in Truft, and executing them by Deputy; I mean, if it fhould ever find its Way into the House of Commons; for as all Employments in the Receipt of the Revenue are incompatible with a Seat in Parliament, fuch a clandeftine Method as This would not only be an Evafion of the Law, and a burthenfome Impofition on the Publick, but might likewise be made the Inftrument, under a bad Adminiftration, of fubverting our Conftitution.

To conclude. As moft of the principal Frauds in the Customs are founded in Corruption; and all Corruption implies an iniquitous Commerce between two Perfons, the Corrupter and the Corrupted; the only fure Way to prevent both, is by removing the Temptation; That is, by making fome fuch Sort of Regulation amongst the Officers of the Revenue, as I have juft mention'd, and lowering the Duties, which appear moft grievous, as far as the publick Exigencies of State will poffibly admit.-But This, perhaps, may be the Subject of another Paper.

D.

SATURDAY,

N° 370. SATURDAY, August 4, 1733.

BELIEVE thofe general Remarks, which I made in my laft Paper on the Frauds in the Cuftoms, are fufficient to convince any reasonable Man that the Plate Scheme, had it been put in Execu tion, would not have eafed the Britif Freeholders of a Shilling in the Pound on Land; but as This is a Point, which is ftill very much labour'd by the Projector and his Advocates, I will examine it a little more particularly in the following Effay.

Every Body knows that a Land-Tax of one Shilling is laid by Parliament for five hundred thousand Pounds; fo that this Sum extraordinary must have been raised on Tobacco and Wine, in order to take it off from the Land. But before we admit fuch an Improvement of the Revenue to be practicable, it is neceffary to fuppofe two Things; first, that the Frauds, committed in the Duties on those two Commodities, do actually amount to five hundred thousand Pounds a Year; and, fecondly, that an Excife would have effectually put a Stop to them. The minifterial Writers pretended at firft that as the former was really the Cafe, fo the latter would have been the happy Confequence of their Scheme; and even the Projector himself was not afhamed to infift on both these Points in the famous Letter to bis Electors, dignify'd with that unlucky Motto, magna eft Veritas & PREVALEBIT. He proposed to raise 200,000l. of this annualSum on Tobacco, and 300,000 %. on Wine. But when this Affair came under the Deliberation

Deliberation of Parliament, the Extravagance and Abfurdity of his Computation ftared Him fo full in the Face, as to put Him almoft out of Countenance; for it appear'd, upon Examination, that the whole ret Duties upon Tobacco did not amount, upon the largest Calculation, to much above two hundred thousand Pounds a Year, communibus Annis; and that the Seizures, upon this Branch of the Revenue, did not exceed fourteen hundred Pounds a Year, at a Medium of feven Years, from Christmas 1724, to Chriftmas 1731. It likewife appear'd, by the Accounts laid before the Houfe, that thefe Seizures have continued to decrease very confiderably fince the Year 1728; at which Time the Government was put into a Method of detecting and preventing feveral Frauds in this Trade by that very Body of Merchants, who have been fince treated in fo extraordinary a Manner, both with Regard to their Characters and Fortunes. Is it therefore rea fonable to fuppofe that the Frauds undiscover'd can poffibly amount to as much as the whole net Duty had done, for feveral Years paft; or that an Excije would have brought them all to Light? No; even the Projector himself was fo far from infifting upon this Point within Doors, that He did not pretend to advance the Duties upon Tobacco, by the Alteration propofed, above thirty thousand Pounds a Year; and it was demonftrably proved by other Gentlemen, that it would not really be advanced much above a third Part of that Sam, fuppofing the fame Importation, and an intire Stop put to all Frauds.

But let us fuppose his own Computation to be jaft;
that an Excife would have incred the Duties upon
Tobacco thirty thousand Pounds
fay, there would fill have
and feventy thousand Pounds
hundred thousa

Shilling.

; in that Cafe, I ing four hundred make up the Lieu of the erefore mut

Daties on

Wine,

BELIEVE thofe general Remarks, which I made in my laft Paper on the Frauds in the Cuftoms, are fufficient to convince any reasonable Man that the late Scheme, had it been put in Execution, would not have eafed the Britif Freeholders of a Shilling in the Pound on Land; but as This is a Point, which is ftill very much labour'd by the Projector and his Advocates, I will examine it a little more particularly in the following Effay.

Every Body knows that a Land-Tax of one Shilling is laid by Parliament for five hundred thousand Pounds; fo that this Sum extraordinary must have been raised on Tobacco and Wine, in order to take it off from the Land. But before we admit fuch an Improvement of the Revenue to be practicable, it is necessary to suppose two Things; first, that the Frauds, committed in the Duties on those two Commodities, do actually amount to five hundred thousand Pounds a Year; and, fecondly, that an Excife would have effectually put a stop to them. The minifterial Writers pretended at first that as the former was really the Cafe, so the latter would have been the happy Confequence of their Scheme; and even the Projector himself was not afhamed to infift on both these Points in the famous Letter to kis Electors, dignify'd with that unlucky Motto, magna eft Veritas &PREVALEBIT. He proposed to raile 200,000l. of this annual Sum on Tobacco, and 300,000%. on Wine. But when this Affair came under the Deliberation

Deliberation of Parliament, the Extravagance and Abfurdity of his Computation ftared Him fo full in the Face, as to put Him almost out of Countenance; for it appear'd, upon Examination, that the whole ret Duties upon Tobacco did not amount, upon the largest Calculation, to much above two hundred thousand Pounds a Year, communibus Annis; and that the Seizures, upon this Branch of the Revenue, did not exceed fourteen hundred Pounds a Year, at a Medium of seven Years, from Christmas 1724, to Christmas 1731. It likewife appear'd, by the Accounts laid before the Houfe, that these Seizures have continued to decrease very confiderably fince the Year 1728; at which Time the Government was put into a Method of detecting and preventing feveral Frauds in this Trade by that very Body of Merchants, who have been fince treated in fo extraordinary a Manner, both with Regard to their Characters and Fortunes. Is it therefore reafonable to fuppofe that the Frauds undifcover'd can poffibly amount to as much as the whole net Duty had done, for feveral Years paft; or that an Excije would have brought them all to Light? No; even the Projector himself was so far from infifting upon this Point within Doors, that He did not pretend to advance the Duties upon Tobacco, by the Alteration proposed, above thirty thousand Pounds a Year; and it was demonstrably proved by other Gentlemen, that it would not really be advanced much above a third Part of that Sum, fuppofing the fame Importation, and an intire Stop put to all Frauds.

But let us fuppofe his own Computation to be juft; that an Excife would have increafed the Duties upon Tobacco thirty thousand Pounds a Year; in that Cafe, I fay, there would fill have been wanting four hundred and feventy thousand Pounds a Year, to make up the propofed five hundred thousand Pounds, in Lieu of the Land-Tax of one Shilling. This Sum therefore muft have been raised by an Improvement of the Duties on VOL. XI.

K

Wine,