EXCISE. 
In time, this resource was found to 
be wholly nsufficie from the waste and dila- 
ee ee 
‘To supply the ney, taxes were nglnaty ses ot 
Serre omen. that, the. poopie, mee) to 
contribute a of their private revenue, to answer the- 
and benefit of all. Taxes must vary in their nature, ac- 
cording to the situation of the community, and the mode 
‘pan nd wil icbaily Sere thn pip il svaronat chp 
upon will probably principal source 
public income ; in states, taxes uw) com- 
ies will be found most availing. In taxing commo- 
‘os, forei 
“manufacture, and inland trade of various descriptions : 
it is this last branch of revenue which constitutes the 
- It can 7 be doubted, thatin y community so 
uh, rans eenevery ity 
change 
ally took place in ancient time is evident, though the 
appear to have been subj to various rates ; and 
so far as Soe tr enewe verre laid on the sale or 
duties, was by officers stationed either at the 
ports, at the es of towns, or in cer- 
sy and the practice seems 
commercial states. Among 
“being inconsiderable, and the circulation of goods 
frequent and rapid, consumable commodities constitu- 
ted an obvious, and probably an easier source of reve- 
nue than other. These were therefore resorted to, 
when large sums for the public service were i 
In the Low a Be Holland, duties of this 
description criy wi brought to a system, and 
tig we have borrowed name from the 
England, though subsidies, aids, and benevolences, 
jod granted to the monarch, 
“commodities for their own use being obliged 
eles, which subsisted till the restoration. 
turn of King Charles in 1669, Cromwell’s ordinance of 
duties which had 
; .ed, ‘and assigned to the crown as a compensation for 
h° the feudal tenures, and other oppressive branches of the 
‘prerogative.. The commodities subjected to the tax at 
that time, were beer and ale, cider, perry, mead, vine- 
t 
civil list revenue. 
_'merScotch excise duties 
247 
tended by the Westminster parliament to butcher meat, 
‘wine, tobacco, sugar, and a number of other commodi- 
ties in general use. The mode of levying the duties 
i Arto 
im 
terwards found advisable to continue, not only makers 
and venders, but even private persons preparing the 
‘to account. 
In 1656, by an ordinance of Cromwell, new excise du- 
ties were imposed in room of the former, on beer and 
ale, cider, perry, wine, oil, tin, and various other arti- 
Upon the re- 
course fell to the ground ; but some part of the excise 
imposed were then re-establish« 
gar, spirits, coffee, chocolate, sherbet, and tea; the tax 
attaching only.to such as were made for sale, and cof- 
fee, chocolate, and tea, being rated by the gallon like 
‘strong waters. ~ 
These duties (with the exception of what had been 
rated upon the gallon of coffee, tea, and chocolate) were 
continued after the Revolution, and made part of the 
The duties on spirits were carried 
to the gate fund in 1736; and those on malt li- 
_quors in land, were applied to the same fund in 
1760. Large additions have from time to time been 
made to all of them. In 1694, a duty upon salt was 
established, which was properly an excise 
uty, though 
then put under different management. In 1697, malt 
was subjected to an excise duty, temporary at first, but 
revived in 1713, and, with large additions, continued to 
the present time. During the French wars in the reign 
of Anne, the exigencies of the state calling for new 
impositions, the articles of sweets, soap, leather, candles, 
hops, Peper, rinted goods, starch, gold and silver wire, 
were sido liable to excise. In 1724, the duties 
upon tea, coffee, and chocolate, were transferred to. the 
a 2 ag of the excise. The manufacture of glass 
had - ity anqich y excise duty jin the reign of 
King William, but a tax being deemed rejudicial 
to an infant manufacture, it was very “yt 
soon taken off ; 
however, in 1746, excise duties 
upon glass’ were again 
‘imposed, which, with considerable additions, still sub- 
sist, . The pcprege harp of revenue now under 
the excise, are the following: Sales by auction, subject- 
ed to excise duty in 1777; bricks and tiles in 1784; 
wine in 1786; tobacco in 1789 ; salt in 1798 ; and stone 
bottles in 1812. 
has pat of the excise ing Sant. 
to have nearly cotemporary with its establishment 
in England. Tacos duties were first imposed in Scot- 
land in 1644; these were farther ted and extend- 
ps in aap yi aay testy the _ various 
uties termed excise, more properly customs 
were aes by parliament in 1661, an Se — 
soap, salt, tobacco, cloth, hats, gloves, and other goods 
imported ; and along with these, = poe excise duty 
was imposed upon malt made within the kingdom. 
_ Brandy and mum imported, were subjected to excise in 
1673. Malt liquors and spirits made in Scotland in 1693, 
the duty upon malt itself being soon after taken.off, At 
the union in 1707, the excise duties then existing inEng- 
land were extended to the whole united kingdom, the for- 
being discontinued. .. Since that 
period, the excise duties have,-in general, been the same 
in both parts of the op wae some occasional des 
these acts, was more strict than it was af- - 
Excise. 
