18033] 
ble to the fubje&% of his inquiries), I beg 
leave to fend you the following particu- 
Jars :—By the feveral Aéts of Parliament, 
which have been paffed for the purpofe of 
raifing a revenue by receipt-ftamps, it is 
provided, that the venders, either in town 
or country, fhall receive 16].per cent. as an 
allowance from the ftamp-office for prompt 
payment, for the lofs neceflarily incurred 
by keeping a large ftock, and tor the pa- 
per on which they are ftamped. On that 
fpecies of fiamp, therefore, the venders, 
either in town or country, are not juftified 
in making any additional charge for the 
paper; and in town it is never attempted 
to be done. With refpe& to ftamps for 
notes and bills of exchange, the regula- 
tion is fomewhat different. In obtaining 
of thefe ftamps, and of all others, the 
allowance made by the ftamp-office is only 
rol. per cent. which, as I apprehend, is 
made alfo for prompt payment (no credit 
being ever given), and the lofs fuftained 
by the keeping of alarge ftock. The fta- 
tioner or other perfon is obliged to find 
the paper on which they are imprefled ; 
and it feems only fair, that he fhould there- 
fore be entitled to make a_ reafonable 
charge for it to the confumers. It is only 
to be lamented that this charge is not fixed 
by the government; for, inftead of its being 
regulated by the real value of the paper, 
the ufual mode is to charge according to 
the amount of the ftamp ; fo that, if I pur- 
chafe a ftamp in town of the price of 201. 
I pay an additional fhilling for the paper, 
and fo on in proportion, by which means 
the profits of the. ftationer become very 
large. In the country there is fome dif- 
ference ; for there the price of the paper is 
marked upon-it, and of courfe they can- 
not demand much for it beyond that fum. 
It is true, that the ftationers in town plead 
in excufe for this mode of conduét the lofs 
fuftained by their ftock ; but when it is 
confidered, that their allowance is double 
the common intereft of money,that no real 
labour is employed in obtaining the com- 
modity, and that, at leaft thofe who refide 
in town, can eafily regulate their ftandard 
_ quantity by the demand which they have 
for confumption, the plea will not hold 
good. Ona quick fale, it is obvious that 
the prc fit muft be great; for the charge for 
a {mall piece of parchment, on which the 
cominon writs are printed, which cannot 
be ufed for any other purpofe, and which 
in reality colts nothing, is never Jefs than 
two-pence ; and for {mall pieces of paper 
about the eighth part of a fheet, a penny, 
which to them does not coft the eighth 
part of a half-penny. In-making thefe 
Anfiwer to Query refpeéting Stamps. 
493 
charges, it feems to me, that the queftion ° 
of right is totally unconfidered, and in its 
ftead they refort to a {pecies of force, The 
difcount or rebate allowed by the {tamp- 
office is never given, unlefs ftamps to the 
amount of ten pounds at leaf are obtained 
atone time; and as fewprivate perfonschoofe 
to lay out fo large a fum in this manner, ex-~ 
cept on very particular occafions,(though, 
all things being property confidered, it 
would be much the cheapeft plan), they 
purchafe them one by one, or as they want 
them, of the flationer, whois thus enabled, 
by the indolence of cthers, to fix his own 
price, as avarice or caprice may urge him. 
The belt proof probably of the profperity 
of this clafs of men is the Gazette. In 
it their names never appear, and, al- 
though the concuffions and revolutions of 
Jate years, have alimofl razed credit to its 
foundation, and filled the columns of that 
fearful publication with fuch variety of 
great names, yet, among all thefe, {carcely 
one ftationer is to be feen. Indeed, it isa 
bufinefs fo certain of profit, and fo com- _ 
paratively little liable to lofs, that a perfon 
with common affiduity and judgment can 
{carcely fail in it. The law-ftationer, too, 
perhaps of all others, is the leaft liable to . 
failure. ; 
It feems ftrange, that the attornies, 
who have fuch a conftant demand for 
{ftamps, fhould not have deviled fome me- 
thod of obtaining them at the leaft poffi- 
bleexpence.» Certainly the employment of 
fiationers is not recommended by cheap- 
nefs. It appears to me, that if a general 
fubicription were entered into in London, \ 
and a fociety formed under the direction 
of trufiees, for the purpofe of purchafing 
and diftributing flamps to the fubfcribers, 
not only a great expence would be faved, 
but, with the ffamp-office or government 
allowance, and a {mall and reafonable 
charge for paper and parchment, a fund 
might be raifed, which might be employed 
towards many beneficial purpofes. The 
trade of a ftationer-(or at Jeaft this branch 
of it) is fo perfetly mechanical, and re- 
quires fo little of animated exertion, that 
every part of this plan might be executed_. 
by boys, except what relaics tothe care of 
the money, which fhould be entrufted to 
one of the truftees, or to fome confidential 
perfon under him. The fam fub{eribed would 
only be wanted for a certain time ; and, 
as the profis increafed, it might be 
provided, that each fubteriber fhould be 
at liberty to draw cut a certain por- 
tion of the fum he originally fub- 
{cribed ; and thus not only would they, in 
a fhort time have the benefiz of obtaining 
4 K2 Ramps 
id 
: 
