"therein did declare, that these rumours were false and scandalous; and that "their authors should be apprehended and brought to condign punish"ment." (h) However, its original (i) establishment was in 1643, and its progress was gradual; being at first laid upon those persons and commodities where it was supposed the hardship would be the least perceivable, viz. the makers and venders of beer, ale, cider, and perry; (k) and the royalists at Oxford soon followed the example of their brethren at Westminster by imposing a similar duty; both sides protesting that it should be continued no longer than to the end of the war, and then be utterly abolished. (1) But the parliament at Westminster soon after imposed it on flesh, wine, tobacco, sugar, and such a multitude of other commodities, that it might fairly be denominated general: in pursuance of the plan laid down by Mr. Pymme (who seems to have been the father of the excise), in his letter to sir John Hotham, (m) signifying, " that they had proceeded "in the excise to many particulars, and intended to go on farther; "but that it would be necessary to use the people to it by little and [320] "little." And afterwards, when the nation had been accustomed to it for a series of years, the succeeding champions of liberty boldly and openly declared" the impost of excise to be the most easy and indifferent "levy that can be laid upon the people ;" (n) and accordingly continued it during the whole usurpation. Upon king Charles's return, it having then been long established, and its produce well known, some part of it was given to the crown in 12 Car. II. by way of purchase (as was before observed) for the feodal tenures and other oppressive parts of the hereditary revenue. But, from its first original to the present time, its very name has been odious to the people of England. It has nevertheless been imposed on abundance of other commodities in the reigns of king William III., and every succeeding prince, to support the enormous expenses occasioned by our wars on the continent. Thus brandies and other spirits are now excised at the distillery; printed silks and linens, at the printers; starch and hairpowder, at the maker's; gold and silver wire, at the wire drawers; plate in the hands of the vendor, who pays yearly for a licence to sell it ; lands and goods sold by auction, for which a pound-rate is payable to the auctioneer, who also is charged with an annual duty for his licence; and coaches and other wheel-carriages, for which the occupier is excised, though not with the same circumstances of arbitrary strictness as in most of the other instances. To these we may add coffee and tea, chocolate and cocoa paste, for which the duty is paid by the retailer; all artificial wines, commonly called sweets; paper and pasteboard, first when made, and again if stained or printed; malt, as before mentioned; vinegars; and the manufacture of glass; for all which the duty is paid by the manufacturer; hops, for which the person that gathers them is answerable; candles and soap, which are paid for at the maker's; malt liquors brewed for sale, which are excised at the brewery; cider and perry, at the vendor's; and leather and skins, at the tanner's: a list which no friend to his country would wish to see farther increased. h Com. Journ. 8 Oct. 1642. i The translator and continuator of Petavius's chronological history (Lond. 1659. fol.) informs us. that it was first moved for, 28 Mar. 1643, by Mr. Prynae. Aud it appears from the journals of the commons, that on that day the house resolved itself into a committee to consider of raising money, in consequence of which the excise was afterwards voted. But Mr. Prynne was not a member of parliament till 7 Nov. 1648; and published in 1654 "A protestation against the illegal, detestable, and oft condemned tax and extortion of excise in general." It is probably therefore a mistake of the printer for Mr. Pymme, who was intended for chancellor of the exchequer under the earl of Bedford. Lord Clar. b. 7. k Com. Journ. 17 May 1643. m 30 May 1643. Dugdale of the troubles, 120. n Ord. 14 Aug. 1649. c. 50. Scobel. 72. Stat. 1656. c. 19. Scobel. 453. I Lord Clar. b. 7. VOL. I. 30 [321] III. I proceed therefore to a third duty, namely, that upon salt; which is another distinct branch of his majesty's extraordinary revenue, and consists in an excise of 3s. 4d. per bushel imposed upon all salt, by several statutes of king William and other subsequent reigns. This is not generally called an excise, because under the management of different commissioners: but the commissioners of the salt duties have by statute 1 Ann. c. 21. the same powers, and must observe the same regulations, as those of other excises. This tax had usually been only temporary; but by statute 26 Geo. II. c. 3. was made perpetual. IV. Another very considerable branch of the revenue is levied with greater cheerfulness, as, instead of being a burden, it is a manifest advantage to the public. I mean the post office, or duty for the carriage of letters. As we have traced the original of the excise to the parliament of 1643, so it is but justice to observe that this useful invention owes its first legislative establishment to the same assembly. It is true, there existed post-masters in much earlier times: but I apprehend their business was confined to the furnishing of post-horses to persons who were desirous to travel expeditiously, and to the despatching of extraordinary pacquets upon special occasions. King James I. originally erected a post-office under the control of one Matthew de Quester or de l'Equester, for the conveyance of letters to and from foreign parts; which office was afterwards claimed by lord Stanhope, (o) but was confirmed and continued to William Frizell and Thomas Witherings by king Charles I., A. D. 1632, for the better accommodation of the English merchants. (p) In 1635 the same prince erected a letter-office for England and Scotland, under the direction of the same Thomas Witherings, and settled certain rates of postage: (9) but this extended only to a few of the principal roads, the times of car[322] riage were uncertain, and the post-masters on each road were requir ed to furnish the mail with horses at the rate of 24d. a mile. Witherings was superseded, for abuses in the execution of both his offices, in 1640; and they were sequestered into the hands of Philip Burlamachy, to be exercised under the care and oversight of the king's principal secretary of state.(r) On the breaking out of the civil war, great confusions and interruptions were necessarily occasioned in the conduct of the letter-office. And about that time the outline of the present more extended and regular plan seems to have been conceived by Mr. Edmond Prideaux, who was appointed attorney-general to the commonwealth after the murder of king Charles. He was chairman of a committee in 1642 for considering what rates should be set upon inland letters; (s) and afterwards appointed post-master by an ordinance of both the houses, (t) in the execution of which office he first established a weekly conveyance of letters into all parts of the nation; (u) thereby saving to the public the charge of maintaining post-masters to the amount of 70001. per annum. And, his own emoluments being probably very considerable, the common council of London endeavoured to erect another post-office in opposition to his; till checked by a resolution of the house of commons, (w) declaring that the office of post-master is and ought to be in the sole power and disposal of the parliament. This office was afterwards farmed by one Manley in 1654. (x) But, in 1657, a regular post-office was erected by the authority of the protector and his parliament," q Ibid. 650. 20 Rym. 192. t Ibid. 7 Sept. 1644. x Scobell. 358. o Latch. Rep. 87. r 20 Rym. 429. u Ibid. 21 Mar. 1649. P19 Rym. Feod. 585. s Com. Journ. 28 Mar. 1642. (25) One of the reasons assigned in the ordinance, for the establishment of one general post-of upon nearly the same model as has been ever since adopted, and with the same rates of postage as continued till the reign of queen Anne. (y) After the Restoration a similar office, with some improvements, was established by statute 12 Car. II. c. 35. but the rates of letters were altered, and some farther regulations added by the statutes 9 Ann. c. 10. 6 Geo. I. c. 21. 26 Geo. II. c. 2. 5 Geo. III. c. 25. and 7 Geo. III. c. 50. and penalties were enacted, in order to confine the carriage of letters to the public office only, except in some few cases: a provision which is absolutely necessary; for nothing but an exclusive right can support an office [323] of this sort: many rival and independent offices would only serve to ruin one another. The privilege of letters coming free of postage, to and from members of parliament, was claimed by the house of commons in 1660, when the first legal settlement of the present post-office was made; (2) but afterwards dropped (a) upon a private assurance from the crown that this privilege should be allowed the members. (b) And accordingly a warrant was constantly issued to the post-master-general, (c) directing the allowance thereof to the extent of two ounces in weight; till at length it was expressly confirmed by statute 4 Geo. III. c. 24.; which adds many new regulations rendered necessary by the great abuses crept into the practice of franking; whereby the annual amount of franked letters had gradually increased, from 23,6001. in the year 1715, to 170,000l. in the year 1763. (d) There cannot be devised a more eligible method 27 y Com. Journ. 9 June 1657. Scobell. 511. fice, is, that it "will be the best means to discover and prevent many dangerous and wicked designs against the commonwealth." The correspondence of the kingdom is still liable to the inspection of government; for, by a warrant from one of the principal secretaries of state, letters may be detained and opened; but if any person shall wilfully detain or open a letter delivered to the post-office, without such authority, he shall forfeit 201., and be incapable of having any future employment in the post-office. 9 Ann. c. 10. s. 40. But it has been decided, that no person is liable to this penalty, but those employed in the post-office. 5 T. R. 101. The 14th section of the above act imposes a penalty of 51. and costs for every offence, upon persons not authorized by the post-master-general, his deputies, or agents, who receive, convey, or deliver any letter, or make any collection of letters, or employ any conveyance for the purpose; to which is added a further fine of 1001. for every week the practice is continued. And the act renders carriers by land or water, and masters of coaches, liable to the penalties, though they carry letters without hire or reward. The 43 Geo. III. c. 81. enacts, that no person shall send or cause to be sent, otherwise than through the medium of the post, or by the authority of the post-master-general or his agents, any letter, on forfeiture of 51. for every letter so illegally sent, &c. The act makes an exception as to letters which are sent with, and relate to, goods sent by common carriers, if such letters are conveyed without any hire; as also to letters sent by a private friend, or any messenger on purpose, and as to the proceedings issuing out of any court. The 55 Geo. III.c. 155. makes similar regulations, with regard to letters sent to the Cape of Good Hope, the Mauritius, and the East Indies. See further, Burn. J. tit. Post. Chitty. (27) It is provided by the 24 Geo. III. sess. 2. c. 37. that no letter shall go free unless the member shall write the whole of the superscription, and add his own name, and that of the posttown from which the letter is to be sent, with the day of the year in words at length, with the year, which may be in figures; and unless it is put in the office on the day it is dated. And no letter shall go free to a member of either house, unless it is directed to him where he shall actually be at the delivery thereof, or to his residence in London, or to the lobby of his house of parliament. And if any person shall fraudulently alter or counterfeit such superscription, he shall be guilty of felony, and shall be transported for seven years. But in case of bodily infirmity, a member may authorize another person to write the superscription. By the 35 Geo. III. c. 53. no letter directed by, or to, any member shall go free, if it exceeds one ounce in weight; nor any letter directed by a member, unless he is within twenty miles of the post-town from which it is to be sent on the day, or on the day before the day, on which it is put into the post-office. No member shall send more than ten, or receive more than fifteen, letters on the same day, free of postage. Single letters sent and received by the non-commissioned officers and privates in the army and navy, under certain restrictions, shall be subject only to the postage of one penny each. It has been decided, that under these statutes a Roman catholic peer is not entitled to send or reChitty ceive letters free from postage. 2 Bos. & Pull. 139. than this, of raising money upon the subject; for therein both the government and the people find a mutual benefit. The government acquires a large revenue, and the people do their business with greater ease, expedition, and cheapness, than they would be able to do if no such tax (and of course no such office) existed. 28 V. A fifth branch of the perpetual revenue consists in the stamp-duties, which are a tax imposed upon all parchment and paper, whereon any legal proceedings, or private instruments of almost any nature whatsoever, are written; and also upon licences for retailing wines, letting horses to hire, and for certain other purposes: and upon all almanacks, newspapers, advertisements, cards, dice, and pamphlets containing less than six sheets of paper. These imposts are very various, according to the nature of the thing stamped, rising regularly from a penny to ten pounds. This is also a tax, which, though in some instances it may be heavily felt, by greatly increasing the expense of all mercantile as well as legal proceedings, yet (if moderately imposed) is of service to the public in general, by au[324] thenticating instruments, and rendering it much more difficult than formerly to forge deeds of any standing; since, as the officers of this branch of the revenue vary their stamps frequently, by marks perceptible to none but themselves, a man that would forge a deed of king William's time must know and be able to counterfeit the stamp of that date also. In France and some other countries the duty is laid on the contract itself, not on the instrument in which it is contained (as, with us too, besides the stamps on the indentures, a tax is laid by statute 8 Ann. c. 9. of 6d. in the pound upon every apprentice-fee, if it be 50l. or under; and 1s. in the pound, if it be a greater sum); but this tends to draw the subject into a thousand nice disquisitions and disputes concerning the nature of his contract, and whether taxable or not; in which the farmers of the revenue are sure to have the advantage. (e) Our general method answers the purposes of the state as well, and consults the ease of the subject much better. The first institution of the stamp-duties was by statute 5 & 6 W. & M. c. 21. and they have since in many instances been increased to ten times their original amount. 20 e Sp. of L. b. xiii. c. 9. (28) No action can be supported against the post-master-general, for the loss of bills or articles sent in letters by post. 1 Ld. Raym. 646. Comyns, 100, &c. ; for there is no resemblance or analogy between the post-master and a master-carrier, and no action for any loss in the post-office can be brought against any person, except him by whose actual negligence the loss accrued. Cowp. 754. Post masters in country-towns cannot charge a halfpenny or a penny a letter upon delivery at the houses in the town above the parliamentary rates, under pretence that they were not obliged to carry the letters out of the office gratis. Such a demand is illegal; and they are bound to deliver the letters to the inhabitants within the usual and established limits of the town, without any addition to the rate of postage. 5 Burr. 2709. 2 Bl. Rep. 906. Cowp. 182. Chitty. (29) This most fruitful source of revenue has been so frequently submitted to parliamentary regulation, that the mere enumeration of the statutes relating to it would occupy many pages. By the 44 Geo. III. c. 98. all the former acts were consolidated; but several more recent statutes have new-modelled some of the duties, and added to the number of articles upon which stamp-duties are imposed. (See 55 Geo. III. c. 184.) The provisions of the statutes still in force are too complicated and extensive to be compressed into a note; as far as they affect the general concerns of life, and the ordinary transactions of trade, there is an adequate security provided against any serious mistakes in the knowledge possessed by the distributors, who are generally competent to advise the applicant upon the nature of the stamp required for his particular purpose. The high rate of duty imposed upon law proceedings was for some time a ground of general complaint, as presenting an obstacle to the attainment of justice by indigent suitors. The legislature at length, and with becoming promptitude, when a reduced expenditure justified a mitigated taxation, took this subject into consideration, and passed an act to repeal most of the duties on law oceedings, in the courts of Great Britain and Ireland; as also the duties on bonds, on commis As early as VI. A sixth branch is the duty upon houses and windows. the conquest mention is made in domesday book of fumage or fuage, vulgarly called smoke farthings; which were paid by custom to the king for every chimney in the house. And we read that Edward the black prince (soon after his successes in France), in imitation of the English custom, imposed a tax of a florin upon every hearth in his French dominions. (f) But the first parliamentary establishment of it in England was by statute 13 & 14 Car. II. c. 10. whereby an hereditary revenue of 2s. for every hearth, in all houses paying to church and poor, was granted to the king for ever. And, by subsequent statutes for the more regular assessment of this tax, the constable and two other substantial inhabitants of the parish, to be appointed yearly (or the surveyor, appointed by the crown, together with such constable or other public officer), were, once in every year, empowered to view the inside of every house in the parish. But, upon [325] the Revolution, by statute 1 W. & M. st. 1. c. 10. hearth-money was declared to be "not only a great oppression to the poorer sort, but a badge "of slavery upon the whole people, exposing every man's house to be en"tered into, and searched at pleasure, by persons unknown to him; and "therefore to erect a lasting monument of their majesties' goodness in every "house in the kingdom, the duty of hearth-money was taken away and "abolished." This monument of goodness remains among us to this day but the prospect of it was somewhat darkened, when in six years afterwards by statute 7 W. III. c. 18. a tax was laid upon all houses (except cottages) of 2s. now advanced to 38. per annum, and a tax also upon all windows, if they exceeded nine in such house. Which rates have been from time to time (g) varied, being now extended to all windows exceeding six; and power is given to surveyors, appointed by the crown, to inspect the outside of houses, and also to pass through any house two days in the year, into any court or yard, to inspect the windows there. A new duty from 6d. to 1s. in the pound was also imposed by statutes 18 Geo. III. c. 16. and 19 Geo. III. c. 59. on every dwelling-house inhabited, together with the offices and gardens therewith occupied: which duty, as well as the former, is under the direction of the commissioners of the land-tax. 30 VII. The seventh branch of the extraordinary perpetual revenue is a duty of 21s. per annum for every male servant retained or employed in the several capacities specifically mentioned in the act of parliament, and which almost amount to an universality, except such as are employed in husbandry, trade, or manufactures. This was imposed by statute 17 Geo. III. c. 39. amended by 19 Geo. III. c. 59., and is under the management of the commissioners of the land and window tax. 31 VIII. An eighth branch is the duty arising from licences to hackney coaches and chairs in London, and the parts adjacent. In 1654 two hundred hackney coaches were allowed within London, Westminster, and six miles round, under the direction of the court of aldermen. (h) f Mod. Un. Hist. xxiii. 465, Spelm. Gloss, tit. Fuage. g Stat. 20 Geo. II. c. 3. 31 Geo. II. c. 22. 2 Geo. III. c. 8. 2 Geo. III. c. 38. sions of bankrupts, on bonds on replevy of goods, and also on copy of wills or power of attorney deposited in any ecclesiastical court. See 5 Geo IV. c. 41. See further as to the subject of the stamp-duties, 3 Chitty's Com. L. 163 to 192. Chitty (30) The tax upon houses and windows was much increased by subsequent statutes. See 43 Geo. III. c. 161. of which is the 48 Geo. III. c. 55. 52 Geb. III. c. 93. and 57 Geo. III. c. 25. ; but subsequently reduced by 4 Geo. IV. c. 11. (31) The tax upon servants is settled by 48 Geo. III. c. 55. and 52 Geo. III. c. 93, and reduced by 4 Geo. IV. c. 11. |