THE STATE, Of the SALARY Of the Officers of EXCISE.

WHEN a Year's Salary is mentioned in the Groſs, it acquires a Degree of Conſequence from its Sound, which it would not have if ſeparated into daily Payments, and if the Charges attend⯑ing the receiving, and other unavoidable Expences were conſidered with it. Fifty Pounds a Year, and One Shil⯑ling and Ninepence Farthing a Day, carry as different Degrees of Significancy with them, as My Lord's Steward, and the Steward's Labourer; and yet an Out-Ride Offi⯑cer in the Exciſe, under the Name of Fifty Pounds a Year receives for himſelf no more than One Shilling and Ninepence Farthing a Day.

After Tax, Charity, and ſitting Expences are deducted, there remains very little more than Forty-ſix Pounds; and the Expences of Horſe-keeping in many Places cannot be brought under Fourteen Pounds a Year, be⯑ſides the Purchaſe at firſt, and the Hazard of Life, which reduces it to Thirty-two Pounds per Annum, or One Shilling and Ninepence Farthing per Day.

[6]I have ſpoken more particularly of the Out-Rides, as they are by far the moſt numerous, being in Proportion to the Foot-Walks as Eight is to Five throughout the Kingdom. Yet in the latter the ſame Misfortunes exiſt, the Channel of them only is altered. The exceſſive dear⯑neſs of Houſe-rent, the great Burthen of Rates and Taxes, and the exceſſive Price of all the Neceſſaries of Life, in Cities and large Trading Towns, nearly counter-balance the Expences of Horſe-keeping. Every Office has its Stages of Promotion, but the pecuniary Advantages ariſing from a Foot-Walk are ſo inconſiderable, and the Loſs of diſpoſing of Effects, or the Charges of removing them to any conſiderable Diſtance ſo great, that many Out-ride Officers with a Family remain as they are, from an Ina⯑bility to bear the Loſs, or ſupport the Expence.

The Officers reſident in the Cities of London and Weſt⯑minſter, are exempt from the particular Diſadvantages of Removals. This ſeems to be the only Circumſtance which they enjoy ſuperior to their Country Brethren. In every other reſpect they lay under the ſame Hardſhips, and ſuffer the ſame Diſtreſſes.

There are no Perquiſites or Advantages in the leaſt, an⯑nexed to the Employment. A few Officers who are ſta⯑tioned along the Coaſt, may ſometimes have the good Fortune to fall in with a Seizure of contraband Goods, and yet, that frequently at the Hazard of their Lives: But the inland Officers can have no ſuch Opportunities. Be⯑ſides, the ſurveying Duty in the Exciſe is ſo continual, that without Remiſſneſs from the real Buſineſs itſelf, there is no Time to ſeek after them. With the Officers of the Cuſtoms it is quite otherwiſe, their whole Time and Care is appropriated to that Service, and their Profits are in pro⯑portion to their Vigilance.

If the Increaſe of Money in the Kingdom is one Cauſe of the high Price of Proviſions, the Caſe of the Exciſe-Officers is peculiarly pitiable. No Increaſe comes to them — They are ſhut out from the general Bleſſing — [7] They behold it like a Map of Peru— The Anſwer of Abraham to Dives is ſomewhat applicable to them, ‘There is a great Gulf fix'd.’

To the Wealthy and Humane, it is a Matter worthy of Concern, that their Affluence ſhould become the Misfor⯑tune of others. Were the Money in the Kingdom to be increaſed double, the Salary would in Value be re⯑duced one half. Every Step upwards, is a Step down⯑wards with them. Not to be Partakers of the Increaſe would be a little hard, but to be Sufferers by it is exceed⯑ingly ſo. The Mechanic and the Labourer may in a great Meaſure ward off the Diſtreſs, by raiſing the Price of their Manufactures or their Work, but the Situation of the Of⯑ficers, admit of no ſuch Relief.

Another Conſideration in their Behalf (and which is pe⯑culiar to the Exciſe) is, that as the Law of their Office re⯑moves them far from all their natural Friends and Rela⯑tions, it conſequently prevents thoſe occaſional Aſſiſtan⯑ces from them, which are ſerviccably felt in a Family, and which even the pooreſt, among the Poor enjoys. Moſt poor Mechanics, or even common Labourers, have ſome Relations or Friends, who, either out of Benevolence, or Pride, keep their Children from Nakedneſs, ſupply them occaſionally with perhaps half a Hog, a Load of Wood, a Chaldron of Coals, or ſomething or other which abates the Severity of their Diſtreſs, and yet thoſe Men thus re⯑lieved will frequently earn, more than the daily Pay of an Exciſe Officer.

Perhaps an Officer will appear more reputable with the ſame Pay than a Mechanic or Labourer. The difference ariſes from Sentiment, not Circumſtances. A ſomething like reputable Pride makes all the Diſtinction, and the thinking Part of Mankind well knows, that none ſuffer ſo much as they who endeavour to conceal their Neceſſi⯑ties.

The frequent Removals which unavoidably happen in the Exciſe, are attended with ſuch an Expence, eſpecially [8] where there is a Family, as few Officers are able to ſup⯑port. About two Years ago an Officer with a Family, under Orders for removing, and rather embarraſſed Cir⯑cumſtances, made his Application to me, and from a Con⯑viction of his Diſtreſs, I advanced a ſmall Sum to enable him to proceed. He ingenuouſly declared, that without the Aſſiſtance of ſome Friend, he ſhould be driven to do Injuſtice to his Creditors, and compelled to deſert the Duty of his Office. He has ſince honeſtly paid me, and does as well as the Narrowneſs of ſuch Circumſtances can admit of.

There is one general allowed Truth, which will al⯑ways operate in their Favour, which is, that no Set of Men under his Majeſty, earn their Salary with any Com⯑pariſon of Labour and Fatigue with that of the Officers of Exciſe. The Station may rather be called a Seat of conſtant Work, than either a Place, or an Employment. Even in the different Departments of the general Revenue they are unequalled in the Burthen of Buſineſs; a Riding-Officer's Place in the Cuſtoms, whoſe Salary is 60 l. a Year, is Eaſe to theirs; and the Work in the Window-Light Duty, compared with the Exciſe, is Lightneſs itſelf, yet their Salary is ſubject to no Tax, they receive Forty-nine Pounds Twelve Shillings and Sixpence, without De⯑duction.

The Inconveniencies which affect an Exciſe Officer are almoſt endleſs; even the Land Tax Aſſeſſment upon their Salaries, which though the Government pays, falls often with Hardſhip upon them. The Place of their Reſidence, on account of the Land Tax, has in many Inſtances created frequent Contentions between Pariſhes, in which the Officer, though the innocent and unconcerned Cauſe of the Quarrel, has been the greater Sufferer.

To point out particularly the Impoſſibility of an Exciſe Officer ſupporting himſelf and Family, with any proper Degree of Credit and Reputation, on ſo ſcanty a Pittance, is altogether unneceſſary. The Times, the Voice of ge⯑neral [9] Want, is Proof itſelf. Where Facts are ſufficient, Arguments are uſeleſs; and the Hints which I have pro⯑duced are ſuch as affect the Officers of Exciſe differently to any other Set of Men. A ſingle Man may barely live; but as it is not the Deſign of the Legiſlature, or the Honourable Board of Exciſe, to impoſe a State of Celi⯑bacy on them, the Condition of much the greater Part is truly wretched and pitiable.

Perhaps it may be ſaid, Why do the Exciſe Officers complain; they are not preſſed into the Service, and may relinquiſh it when they pleaſe; if they can mend them⯑ſelves, why don't they? Alas! what a Mockery of Pity would it be, to give ſuch an Anſwer to an honeſt, faith⯑ful old Officer in the Exciſe, who had ſpent the Prime of his Life in the Service, and was become unfit for any Thing elſe. The Time limited for an Admiſſion into an Exciſe Employment, is between twenty-one and thirty Years of Age—the very Flower of Life. Every other Hope and Conſideration is then given up, and the Chance of eſtabliſhing themſelves in any other Buſineſs, becomes in a few Years not only loſt to them, but they become loſt to it.

‘There is a Tide in the Affairs of Men, which if embraced, leads on to Fortune—That neglected, all beyond is Miſery or Want.’

When we conſider how few in the Exciſe arrive at any comfortable Eminence, and the Date of Life when ſuch Promotions only can happen, the great Hazard there is of ill, rather than good Fortune in the Attempt, and that all the Years antecedent to that is a State of mere Exiſtence, wherein they are ſhut out from the common Chance of Succeſs in any other Way; a Reply like that can be only a Deriſion of their Wants. 'Tis almoſt impoſſible after any long Continuance in the Exciſe, that they can live any other Way. Such as are of Trades, would have their Trade to learn over again; and People would have but little Opinion of their Abilities in any Calling, who had [10] been ten, fifteen, or twenty Years abſent from it. Every Year's Experience gained in the Exciſe, is a Year's Ex⯑perience loſt in Trade; and by the Time they become wiſe Officers, they become fooliſh Workmen.

Were the Reaſons for augmenting the Salary grounded only on the Charitableneſs of ſo doing, they would have great Weight with the Compaſſionate. But there are Auxiliaries of ſuch a powerful Caſt, that in the Opinion of Policy, they obtain the Rank of Originals. The firſt is truly the Caſe of the Officers, but this is rather the Caſe of the Revenue.

The Diſtreſſes in the Exciſe are ſo generally known, that Numbers of Gentlemen, and other Inhabitants in Places where Officers are reſident, have generouſly and humanely recommended their Caſe to the Members of the Honourable Houſe of Commons: And Numbers of Traders of Opulence and Reputation, well knowing that the Po⯑verty of an Officer may ſubject him to the fraudulent De⯑ſigns of ſome ſelfiſh Perſons under his Survey, to the great Injury of the fair Trader, and Trade in general, have, from Principles both of Generoſity and Juſtice, joined in the ſame Recommendation.

THOUGHTS On the Corruption of Principles, and on the numerous Evils Ariſing to the Revenue from the too great Poverty of the Officers of Exciſe.

IT has always been the Wiſdom of Government to con⯑ſider the Situation and Circumſtances of Perſons in Truſt. Why are large Salaries given in many Inſtances, but to proportion it to the Truſt, to ſet Men above Temp⯑tation, and to make it even literally worth their while to be honeſt. The Salaries of the Judges have been augmented, and their Places made independent even on the Crown it⯑ſelf, for the above wiſe Purpoſes.

Certainly there can be nothing unreaſonable in ſup⯑poſing there is ſuch an Inſtinct as Frailty among the Offi⯑cers of Exciſe, in common with the reſt of Mankind; and that the moſt effectual Method to keep Men honeſt, is to enable them to live ſo. The Tenderneſs of Con⯑ſcience is too often overmatched by the Sharpneſs of Want; and Principle, like Chaſtity, yields with juſt [12] Reluctance enough to excuſe itſelf. There is a powerful Rhetorick in Neceſſity, which exceeds even a Dunning, or a Wedderburne. No Argument can ſatisfy the Feelings of Hunger, or abate the Edge of Appetite. Nothing tends to a greater Corruption of Manners and Principles, than a too great Diſtreſs of Circumſtances; and the Cor⯑ruption is of that Kind, that it ſpreads a Plaiſter for it⯑ſelf: Like a Viper, it carries a Cure, though a falſe one, for its own Poiſon. Agur, without any Alternative, has made Diſhoneſty the immediate Conſequence of Poverty, "Leſt I be poor and ſteal." A very little Degree of that dangerous Kind of Philoſophy, which is the almoſt cer⯑tain Effect of involuntary Poverty, will teach Men to be⯑lieve, that to ſtarve is more criminal than to ſteal, by as much as every Species of Self-Murder exceeds every other Crime; that true Honeſty is ſentimental, and the Practice of it dependent upon Circumſtances. If the Gay find it difficult to reſiſt the Allurements of Pleaſure; the Great the Temptations of Ambition; or the Miſer the Acqui⯑ſition of Wealth; how much ſtronger are the Provoca⯑tions of Want and Poverty. The Excitements to Plea⯑ſure, Grandeur, or Riches, are mere ‘Shadows of a Shade,’ compared to the irreſiſtable Neceſſities of Na⯑ture. Not to be led into Temptation, is the Prayer of Divinity itſelf; and to guard againſt, or rather to pre⯑vent ſuch inſnaring Situations, is one of the greateſt Heights of Human Prudence: In private Life it is partly religious; and in a Revenue Senſe, it is truly political.

The Rich, in Eaſe and Affluence, may think I have drawn an unnatural Portrait; but could they deſcend to the cold Regions of Want, the Circle of Polar Poverty, they would find their Opinions changing with the Cli⯑mate. There are Habits of Thinking peculiar to diffe⯑rent Conditions, and to find them out is truly to ſtudy Mankind.

That the Situation of an Exciſe Officer is of this dan⯑gerous Kind, muſt be allowed by every one who will con⯑ſider [13] the Truſt unavoidably repoſed in him, and compare the Narrowneſs of his Circumſtances with the Hardſhip of the Times. If the Salary was judged competent an Hundred Years ago, it cannot be ſo now. Should it be advanced, that if the preſent Set of Officers are diſſatisfied with the Salary, that enow may be procured not only for the preſent Salary, but for leſs; the Anſwer is ex⯑tremely eaſy. The Queſtion needs only be put; it de⯑ſtroys itſelf. Were Two or Three Thouſand Men to offer to execute the Office without any Salary, would the Government accept them? No. Were the ſame Number to offer the ſame Service for a Salary leſs than can poſſibly ſupport them, would the Government accept them? Cer⯑tainly No; for while Nature, in ſpite of Law or Reli⯑gion, makes it a ruling Principle not to ſtarve, the Event would be this; that as they could not live on the Salary, they would diſcretionarily live out of the Duty. Quaere, whether Poverty has not too great an Influence now? Were the Employment a Place of direct Labour, and not of Truſt, then Frugality in the Salary would be ſound Policy: But when it is conſidered that the greateſt ſingle Branch of the Revenue, a Duty amounting to near Five Millions Sterling, is annually charged by a Set of Men, moſt of whom are wanting even the common Neceſſaries of Life, the Thought muſt to every Friend to Honeſty, to every Perſon concerned in the Management of the Pub⯑lic Money, be ſtrong and ſtriking. Poor and in Power, are powerful Temptations; I call it Power, becauſe they have it in their Power to defraud. The Truſt unavoida⯑bly repoſed in an Exciſe Officer is ſo great, that it would be an Act of Wiſdom, and perhaps of Intereſt, to ſecure him from the Temptations of downright Poverty. To relieve their Wants would be Charity, but to ſecure the Revenue by ſo doing would be Prudence. Scarce a Week paſſes at the Office but ſome Detections are made of frau⯑dulent and colluſive Proceedings. The Poverty of the Offi⯑cers [14] is the faireſt Bait for a deſigning Trader that can poſſibly be; ſuch introduce themſelves to the Officer un⯑der the common Plea of the Inſufficiency of the Salary. Every conſiderate Mind muſt allow, that Poverty and Op⯑portunity corrupt many an honeſt Man. I am not at all ſurpriſed that ſo many opulent and reputable Traders have recommended the Caſe of the Officers to the good Favour of their Repreſentatives. They are ſenſible of the pinch⯑ing Circumſtances of the Officers, and of the Injury to Trade in general from the Advantages which are taken of them. The Welfare of the fair Trader and the Security of the Revenue are ſo inſeparably one, that their Intereſts or Injuries are alike. It is the Opinion of ſuch whoſe Si⯑tuation give them a perfect Knowledge in the Matter, that the Revenue ſuffers more by the Corruption of a few Officers in a County, than would make a handſome Addition to the Salary of the whole Number in the ſame Place.

I very lately knew an Inſtance where it is evident, on Compariſon of the Duty charged ſince, that the Revenue ſuffered by one Trader (and he not a very conſiderable one) upwards of One Hundred and Sixty Pounds per Annum for ſeveral Years; and yet the Benefit to the Offi⯑cer was a mere Trifle, in Conſideration of the Trader's. Without Doubt the Officer would have thought himſelf much happier to have received the ſame Addition another Way. The Bread of Deceit is a Bread of Bitterneſs; but alas! how few in Times of Want and Hardſhip are capable of thinking ſo: Objects appear under new Co⯑lours, and in Shapes not naturally their own; Hunger ſucks in the Deception, and Neceſſity reconciles it to Conſcience.

The Commiſſioners of Exciſe ſtrongly enjoin that no Officer accept any Treat, Gratuity, or, in ſhort, lay himſelf under any kind of Obligation to the Traders un⯑der their Survey: The Wiſdom of ſuch an Injunction is [15] evident; but the Practice of it, to a Perſon ſurrounded with Children and Poverty, is ſcarcely poſſible; and ſuch Obligations, wherever they exiſt, muſt operate, directly, or indirectly, to the Injury of the Revenue. Favours will naturally beget their Likeneſſes, eſpecially where the Return is not at our own Expence.

I have heard it remarked by a Gentleman whoſe Know⯑ledge in Exciſe Buſineſs is indiſputable, that there are Numbers of Officers who are even afraid to look into an unentered Room, leſt they ſhould give Offence. Poverty and Obligation tye up the Hands of Office, and give a prejudicial Bias to the Mind.

There is another kind of Evil, which, though it may never amount to what may be deemed Criminality in Law, yet it may amount to what is much worſe in Effect, and that is, a conſtant and perpetual Leakage in the Revenue: A Sort of Gratitude in the Dark, a diſtant Requital for ſuch Civilities as only the loweſt Poverty would accept, and which are a Thouſand per Cent. above the Value of the Civility received. Yet here is no immediate Colluſion; the Trader and Officer are both ſafe, the Deſign, if diſ⯑covered, paſſes for Error.

Theſe, with numberleſs other Evils, have all their Origin in the Poverty of the Officers. Poverty, in De⯑fiance of Principle, begets a Degree of Meanneſs that will ſtoop to almoſt any Thing. A thouſand Refinements of Argument may be brought to prove, that the Practice of Honeſty will be ſtill the ſame, in the moſt trying and ne⯑ceſſitous Circumſtances. He who never was an hunger'd may argue finely on the Subjection of his Appetite, and he who never was diſtreſſed, may harangue as beautifully on the Power of Principle. But Poverty, like Grief, has an incurable Deafneſs, which never hears; the Oration loſes all its Edge; and "To be, or not to be, becomes the only Queſtion.

[16]There is a ſtriking Difference between Diſhoneſty ariſ⯑ing from Want of Food, and Want of Principle. The firſt is worthy of Compaſſion, the other of Puniſhment. Nature never produced a Man who would ſtarve in a well ſtored Larder, becauſe the Proviſions were not his own: But he who robs it from Luxury of Appetite deſerves a Gibbet.

There is another Evil which the Poverty of the Salary produces, and which nothing but an Augmentation of it can remove; and that is, Negligence and Indifference. Theſe may not appear of ſuch dark Complexion as Fraud, and Colluſion, but their Injuries to the Revenue are the ſame. It is impoſſible that any Office or Buſineſs can be regarded as it ought, where this ruinous Diſpoſition ex⯑iſts. It requires no ſort of Argument to prove that the Value ſet upon any Place or Employment will be in Pro⯑portion to the Value of it; and that Diligence or Neg⯑ligence will ariſe from the ſame Cauſe. The continual Number of Relinquiſhments and Diſcharges always hap⯑pening in the Exciſe, are evident Proofs of it.

Perſons firſt coming into the Exciſe form very different Notions of it, to what they have afterwards. The gay Ideas of Promotion ſoon expire. The Continuance of Work, the Strictneſs of the Duty, and the Poverty of the Salary, ſoon beget Negligence and Indifference: The Courſe continues for a while, the Revenue ſuffers, and the Officer is diſcharged: The Vacancy is ſoon filled up, new ones ariſe to produce the ſame Miſchief, and ſhare the ſame Fate.

What adds ſtill more to the Weight of this Grievance is, that this deſtructive Diſpoſition reigns moſt among ſuch as are otherwiſe the moſt proper and qualified for the Employment; ſuch as are neither fit for the Exciſe, or any Thing elſe, are glad to hold in by any Means: But the Revenue lies at as much Hazard from their Want of Judgment, as from the other's Want of Diligence.

[17]In private Life no Man would truſt the Execution of any important Concern, to a Servant who was careleſs whether he did it or not, and the ſame Rule muſt hold good in a Revenue Senſe. The Commiſſioners may con⯑tinue diſcharging every Day, and the Example will have no Weight while the Salary is an Object ſo inconſiderable, and this Diſpoſition has ſuch a general Exiſtence. Should it be advanced, that if Men will be careleſs of ſuch Bread as is in their Poſſeſſion, they will ſtill be the ſame were it better; I anſwer, that as the Diſpoſition I am ſpeaking of, is not the Effect of natural Idleneſs, but of Diſſatisfaction in point of Profit, they would not con⯑tinue the ſame. A good Servant will be careful of a good Place, though very indifferent about a bad one. Beſides, this Spirit of Indifference, ſhould it procure a Diſcharge, is no ways affecting to their Circumſtances. The eaſy Tranſition of a qualified Officer to a 'Compting-Houſe, or at leaſt a School-Maſter, at any Time, as it naturally ſupports and backs his Indifference about the Exciſe, ſo it takes off all Puniſhment from the Order whenever it happens.

I have known Numbers diſcharged from the Exciſe, who would have been a Credit to their Patrons and the Employment, could they have found it worth their while to have attended to it. No Man enters into the Exciſe with any higher Expectations than a competent Mainte⯑nance; but not to find even that, can produce nothing but Coruption, Colluſion, and Neglect.

REMARKS ON THE QUALIFICATIONS of OFFICERS.

IN Employments where direct Labour only is wanting, and Truſt quite out of the Queſtion, the Service is merely animal or mechanical.—In cutting a River, or forming a Road, as there is no Poſſibility of Fraud, the Merit of Honeſty is but of little Weight. Health, Strength, and Hardineſs, are the Labourers Virtues. But where Property depends on the Truſt, and lies at the Diſcretion of the Servant, the Judgment of the Maſter takes a diffe⯑rent Channel, both in the Choice and the Wages. The Honeſt and the Diſſolute have here no Compariſon of Merit. A known Thief may be truſted to gather Stones: But a Steward ought to be Proof againſt the Temptations of uncounted Gold.

The Exciſe is ſo far from being of the Nature of the firſt, that it is all, and more, than can commonly be put together in the laſt: 'Tis a Place of Poverty, of Truſt, of Opportunity, and Temptation. A Compound of Diſcords, where the more they harmonize, the more they offend. Ruin and Reconcilement are produced at once.

To be properly qualified for the Employment, it is not only neceſſary that the Perſon ſhould be honeſt, but that he [19] be ſober, diligent, and ſkilful: Sober, that he may be always capable of Buſineſs; diligent, that he may be al⯑ways in his Buſineſs; and ſkilful, that he may be able to prevent or detect Frauds againſt the Revenue. The Want of any of theſe Qualifications is a Capital Offence in the Exciſe. A Complaint of Drunkenneſs, Negli⯑gence, or Ignorance, is certain Death by the Laws of the Board. It cannot then be all Sorts of Perſons who are proper for the Office. The very Notion of procuring a ſufficient Number for even leſs than the preſent Salary, is ſo deſtitute of every Degree of ſound Reaſon, that it needs no Reply. The Employment, from the Inſuffi⯑ciency of the Salary, is already become ſo inconſiderable in the general Opinion, that Perſons of any Capacity or Reputation will keep out of it; for where is the Mecha⯑nic, or even the Labourer, who cannot earn at leaſt 1 s. 9 d. Farthing per Day? It certainly cannot be proper to take the Dregs of every Calling, and to make the Exciſe the common Receptacle for the Indigent, the Ignorant, and the Calamitous.

A truly worthy Commiſſioner lately dead, made a pub⯑lic Offer a few Years ago, of putting any of his Neigh⯑bours Sons into the Exciſe; but though the Offer amounted almoſt to an Invitation, one only, whom ſeven Years Apprenticeſhip could not make a Taylor, accepted it; who, after a Twelvemonth's Inſtruction, [...] ordered off, but in a few Days finding the Employment be⯑yond his Abilities, he prudently deſerted it, and returned Home, where he now remains in the Character of an Huſbandman.

There are very few Inſtances of Rejection even of Per⯑ſons who can ſcarce write their own Names legible; for as there is neither Law to compel, nor Encouragement to incite, no other can be had than ſuch as offer, and none will offer who can ſee any other Proſpect of Living. Every one knows that the Exciſe is a Place of Labour, [20] not of Eaſe; of Hazard, not of Certainty; and that downright Poverty finiſhes the Character.

It muſt ſtrike every conſiderate Mind to hear a Man with a large Family faithful enough to declare, that he cannot ſupport himſelf on the Salary with that honeſt Independance he could wiſh. There is a great Degree of affecting Honeſty in an ingenuous Confeſſion. Eloquence may ſtrike the Ear, but the Language of Poverty ſtrikes the Heart; the firſt may charm like Muſic, but the ſe⯑cond alarms like a Knell.

Of late Years there has been ſuch an Admiſſion of im⯑proper and ill qualified Perſons into the Exciſe, that the Office is not only become contemptible, but the Revenue inſecure. Collectors, whoſe long Services and Qualifi⯑cations have advanced them to that Station, are diſgraced by the Wretchedneſs of new Supers continually. Cer⯑tainly ſome Regard ought to be had to Decency, as well as Merit.

Theſe are ſome of the capital Evils which ariſe from the wretched Poverty of the Salary. Evils they certainly are; for what can be more deſtructive in a Revenue Office, than CORRUPTION, COLLUSION, NEGLECT, and ILL QUALIFICATIONS.

Should it be queſtioned whether an Augmentation of Salary would remove them, I anſwer, there is ſcarce a Doubt to be made of it. Human Wiſdom may poſſibly be deceived in its wiſeſt Deſigns; but here, every Thought and Circumſtance eſtabliſh the Hope. They are Evils of ſuch a ruinous Tendency, that they muſt, by ſome Means or other, be removed. Rigour and Severity have been tried in vain; for Puniſhment loſes all its Force where Men expect and diſregard it.

Of late Years the Board of Exciſe has ſhewn an ex⯑traordinary Tenderneſs in ſuch Inſtances as might other⯑wiſe have affected the Circumſtances of their Officers. Their Compaſſion have greatly tended to leſſen the Diſtreſſes [21] of the Employment: But as it cannot amount to a total Re⯑moval of them, the Officers of Exciſe throughout the Kingdom have (as the Voice of one Man) prepared Peti⯑tions to be laid before the Hon. Houſe of Commons on the enſuing Parliament.

An Augmentation of Salary ſufficient to enable them to live honeſtly and competently, would produce more good Effect than all the Laws of the Land can enforce. The Generality of ſuch Frauds as the Officers have been detected in, have appeared of a Nature as remote from in⯑herent Diſhoneſty, as a temporary Illneſs is from an in⯑curable Diſeaſe. Surrounded with Want, Children, and Deſpair, what can the Huſband or the Father do.—No Laws compel like Nature—No Connections bind like Blood.

With an Addition of Salary, the Exciſe would wear a new Aſpect, and recover its former Conſtitution. Lan⯑guor and Neglect would give Place to Care and Chearful⯑neſs. Men of Reputation and Abilities would ſeek after it, and finding a comfortable Maintenance, would ſtick to it. The unworthy and the incapable would be re⯑jected; the Power of Superiors be re-eſtabliſhed; and Laws and Inſtructions receive new Force. The Officers would be ſecured from the Temptations of Poverty, and the Revenue from the Evils of it; the Cure would be as extenſive as the Complaint; and new Health out-root the preſent CORRUPTIONS.