of experiment? Is it wisdom to interrupt your enjoyment of every thing that is valuable, by dreams of something more free than freedom, more desirable than happiness? The lowest man in the community has wisdom enough to feel the force of this maxim; "When you are well, keep yourselves so." But there is not a philosopher in the nation wise enough to say, what would be the consequence of a change: neither Solon, nor Lycurgus, nor Plato, nor Locke, nor Sidney, if they were alive, would hazard a conjecture as to the effects on the constitution. If you were to adopt any one of those plans which have been offered to you, they might make a democracy, they might make an aristocracy, they might encrease the power of the crown, they might make any thing but the constitution of England; yet every man in the community, the gentleman and the artificer, the learned and the unlearned, the man who can read, and the man who cannot, are all alike ready to undertake the task of constitutionmaking; or, if any of them should happen not to have leisure from the shuttle or the plough, they have only to say, "we "entirely agree in the plan of reform digested and agreed on by "the grand national convention." And there is a constitution ready made to their hands. I do not say our constitution, the work only of human wisdom, is without defect; but there is an inherent strength in it, that has in all convulsions produced remedies for its evils and controls for its excesses; and through many revolutions has maintained liberty to this day. Now you have got it do not throw it away; condescend to enjoy and be happy; your country wants improvement; your constitution does not; cultivate the one, and you will be sure to enjoy the other. But if you grow discontented with your form of government, and are distracted about new schemes and new systems, you will be dupes of designing men in your own country, and strangers will not come near you. Amidst your controversies and your arms, the stranger would not know where to find the laws that are to be his protection; and you may find, perhaps too late, that you have been cheated of your happiness; you will be thought an unreasonable, and you will feel yourselves an unfortunate people; a people whom commerce could not enrich, and whom freedom could not satisfy.

No. LXXII.

THE SPEECHES OF MR. GRATTAN AND MR. BERESFORD ON THE REVENUES OF IRELAND....P. 78.

MR. GRATTAN began with observing, though the interference of a person utterly unconnected with revenue matters, in that department which was so ably administered by the present commissioners, might have somewhat of an invidious aspect, yet he was happy to declare that those gentlemen had not viewed it in that light, but had with the utmost alacrity given him every possible assistance, in promoting the object for which the committee was appointed and it appeared to him throughout, that they had acted not only honourably and diligently, but with a laudable ambition to distinguish themselves in the faithful discharge of the high trust reposed in them. He therefore desired to be considered as not imputing the smallest fault or applying the least censure to those gentlemen, while he endeavoured to rectify some errors and abuses, that in a succession of many years, and under different boards, had found way into the revenue establishment. Having said this, in justification of the present commissioners, to whom he declared no blame was imputable,

He proceeded to state the expence of collecting the revenue at two periods, viz. 1758 and 1783.

In 1758, he stated the expence of collecting to have

amounted to

In 1783, it amounted to

In the latter period, he allowed that

£. 81,000

180,000

23,000

an expence incurred by the new custom-house was included; but deducting that expence, the expence of collecting amounted to

157,000

The increase of collecting, he said, did not arise from the increase of articles taxed, or any necessity of adding to the number of officers employed in collecting, as was obvious to any one who would consider that most of the new taxes were only additional duties on articles heretofore taxed; and it was as easy for an officer to receive two shillings as one on any article; therefore that the increase of expence arose from the increase of salaries, he thought might very fairly be presumed.

In the year 1758, the expence of collecting, he said, was about 13 per cent. at present it is 16.

The revenue expences are divided into two classes....the establishment and the incidents.

The per centage for a course of years fluctuated from ten to fourteen; at present it is sixteen; so that the expence of collecting the revenue is not increased by the increase of the revenue itself, but by the increase of the per centage.

I have now, Sir, continued he, shewn you the facts, but not their causes; in order to come at their causes, I moved that an account should be laid before the committee of all the additions that had been made to the revenue establishments since 1758, stating the causes of such additions, and the authority by which they were made; this account was made out, it employed several clerks for several weeks, and is indeed so voluminous, that I own I have not yet had time to look through it; I do not therefore condemn nor approve what may there be found; when the committee examines, they will be the best judges; they will, I believe, see much to reform; and I am convinced from the candour of the commissioners, which I have already experienced, they will have their assistance.

I find that there exists a charity fund for superannuated officers, such as have served forty years without censure: this fund is supplied by a stoppage of six-pence in the pound of all salaries, and the superannuated officer receives out of it 3-5ths of his salary. When this fund has been found insufficient, from the increased number of revenue officers, pensions have been granted on the incidents, in order to make it out. The progress is natural, from private charity to public bounty, and from public bounty to abuse. Every man who is tired of doing his duty, or who is unable or unwilling to do it, if he can make interest with government, gets an order to the commissioners, and is immediately put on the revenue incidents, from which he in fact receives a pension: not an open, but a masked pension. I do not speak of the present administration, or the present commissioners. This abuse has been growing five and twenty years; the present is the proper time to check it.

I find that the number of pensions on the incidents are 343.... I have made observations on almost all of them, but I will not go through the painful task of animadverting on them now, as my object is to prevent future abuses, not to disturb the present possessors; I must, however, remark, that having served forty years, has not always been deemed a necessary title to a pension; thirty-eight years, thirty-five years, twenty-nine years,

twenty-two years, and sometimes the words long service, have been deemed sufficient.

Great importunity, I know, will at last prevail over men; and however the commissioners may determine to act with rigorous attention, and to grant no pensions but to men who have served the necessary period of forty years, yet still they will be fortified in their determination by a resolution of this house; besides there are many offices in the revenue that may be performed by men who are become unfit for the more active and laborious duties; and by putting such men into those easy offices, the necessity of pensions may in a great measure be obviated.

The orders of government have sometimes issued to place persons on the revenue incidents, without any reference to the commissioners, or any reason being assigned to entitle the pensioner to such. This kind of procedure carries its own censure along with it. Government would not issue a peremptory order, if any reasons could be found for granting such pensions. This is, I think, a very great hardship on the commissioners, who often resisted, but resisted in vain. Where men are responsible, they should have power; and what they have not power to control, they should not be answerable for.

To remedy this abuse, and to fortify the commissioners, I will propose a resolution, "That no person shall be entitled to "receive a pension on the revenue incidents, who has not served forty years without censure, or who has not been so wounded "or hurt in discharge of his duty, as to be rendered totally un"fit for service; or who is not the widow of some officer that "has lost his life in the revenue service."

I find, Sir, that there have been granted several additional salaries, which have been continued to the successors of the grantee.... This practice I would abolish, as nothing would be more absurd, than to reward John for the services performed by Tom.

Some expence has also been incurred by the experimental offices:.... These cannot be abolished, but may be limited to two years.

I come now to useless officers, whose employments, I think, ought to be abolished as they fall in; though it would be cruel to turn the present possessors adrift, as they have no other means of living.

And first, land carriage officers. These appear to be of very little use, and from the nature of their duty cannot well be moved into any other situation. It is impossible for them to perform any considerable service, except by searching all persons coming in or going out of the city; and this would be a breach of law, and an high infringement of the subject's liberty. VOL. III.

I desired to know the amount of salaries paid to this class of men for ten years last past, and find it amounts to 12,000l. the seizures made by them in the same space of time amount to 1000. Their usefulness may be estimated from those circum

stances.

Coast officers are of as little use as land carriage officers, and with them ought to be abolished.

I sent for a paper to inform myself concerning hearth-money officers. I find that since the year 1760, the hearth-money has increased 10,000l. per annum, and that the expence of collecting it has increased one-third; the revenue of hearth-money has increased one-sixth, and the expence of collecting it one-third: this is in a great measure owing to the creation of new collectors. I enquired into the necessity of that creation, and was informed that it arose from the great extent of some of the former districts; a single collector being formerly obliged to collect in a range often from thirty to forty miles. Yet I do not find that any great increase of the hearth-money took place directly after the creation of additional collectors; and the 10,000l. a year, which I have stated may, I think, rather be supposed to arise from the increase of houses in twenty-four years, than from the increase of hearth-money collectors.

Hearth-money supervisors appear to me very useless officers, and may be put down; but this I submit to the commissioners; at present I do not mean to take any further notice either of them or coast officers.

The law expences incurred by the revenue every year are already enormously great, and ought to be reduced; I speak freely on this head, because I know that the present law servants of the crown are too independent in fortune and principle, to regard any vails of this sort.

The number of bills passed each session have increased, and the sessions being in future annual, must also multiply expence ; this is therefore a subject worthy of enquiry: I do not mean to move any thing on it at present, but shall just mention that within a very short space, the law expences have amounted to 11,000/

Revenue cruizers have been another subject of very great expence.

The seizures made by these vessels amount to 40,000%

The expence of their establishment to 140,000l. Till of late there has been one great error in the mode of conducting these vessels, which is now rectified by the commissioners. The error was this: the captain of each cruizer was permitted to supply his own crew with provisions, for which he made a charge against the revenue. Now it is manifest, that this made it his interest to have nominally a large crew, but actually a