I p fe i j'jl m II I' III 102 Appendix, N° 54. 4S Geo. III. c. 41. Appendix, N' 55- ( a-) Appeudix, N° 56. Appendix, N° 55-( B.) Appendix, N° 57. Appendix, N° 56. Appendix, N° 54. Appendix, N° 58. ( Ireland.)— Eighth REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS [ Excife in the year ending 5th January 1808, amounted to £. 110,790. 3s, 4d. including a fum of £. 9,39%- 11 d' Paid 011 accoUnt ls? ar! f: s » ^ I? beino- attached to Officers, now in fad forming part of the Ertablifh- ment, and already ftated as fuch, ought no longer to be charged in the Incident Account. The chatge of £. 13,200. 2s. id. incurred for the Portage of Letters, and of£. i 7,527. is. 3d. on account of Stamps pur- chafed at the Stamp Office, for the ufe of this Department, can neither of them be cotifidered as fubftantially affeding the general income of the Public Revenue, provided they be carefully watched and duly checked. The Stamps fo iffued are required either to be returned unufed at the end of the year, or their value accounted for by the refpe& ive Officers to whom they had been delivered ; but as the Stamp Duties heretofore irn^ pofed 011 Permits and Certificates, the conrtant demand for which occa- fioned a confiderable part of this expence, have been lepealed, the future difburfements under this head may be expected to be greatly diminifhed. The expence of the Revenue Portage, including both Cuftoms and Excife for the year ending 5th January 1804, amounted to £. 11,194. iy s. 9 d. but in the year ending 5th January 1808, has fwollen to the fum of £. 26,24.2. os. nd. As we deemed the advanced rate of portage, and increafed bufinefs of thofe Departments, infufficient to account for the great augmentation of this head of expence, we were induced to examine how far it could be afcribed to other caufes, and have been informed by the Clerk of the Portage, that the great increafe of the Revenue Portage in the laft year is chiefly to be attributed to the regulations of the Excife J J Board, requiring all Permits and Permit Vouchers, together with other packages formerly conveyed as parcels, to be returned by poft. Thefe circumftances might in fome degree account for fuch increafe, if it only took place in the inward poftage, but- the increafe of the outward poftage appearing nearly equal to that of the inward, and the charge for exprefTes and carnage of books, & c. being augmented inftead of diminifhed, we are inclined to impute fome confiderable portion of this increafed expence, to an abufe of the privilege of fending and receiving private Letters at the public charge, enjoyed by no perfons belonging to thefe Departments, and extending, with a few exceptions, to Englifh as well as Irifh Letters, the portage of which would probablv amount to 5 or £. 6,000. a year. The power of receiving and lending official Letters at the public charge, is neceffary to every public Office, but fuch licenfe ought to be fparingly permitted to private correfpondence. We there- fore recommend that this privilege be confined, as in England, to the ' Commiffioners of both Boards, and their Secretaries ; that public Let- ters be addreffed to the feveral Officers by their titles of office, and all Letters inwards be taken to the Board Room of the Commiffioners, for ' the purpofe of their being occafionally infpected and opened in their ' prefence, and that the difcovery of any private inclofure fhould fubjeft the individual to cenfure and payment of the portage. In addition to the charge of £. 19,622. 6 s. r \ d. incurred on account of Stationary and Printing for the ufe of the Excife, it appears that the Cuftoms ex- pended within the fame period, on a like account, a fum of £. 6,804. 3 i d. making the expence of the two Boards for'Stationary and Printing j".