[Appendix D(27) 1792 Report of Commissioners of Inquiry]

N° 27.

N° 2 REVENUE.

[Received from the Duke of ATHOLL, October 8th, 1791.]

WITH respect to the allegation, that the revenues of the Isle of Man are not nearly so productive as they ought to be, it may arise in some degree from several of the inferior officers being deficient in their duty, and likewise from an error in the system of attempting altogether to prevent the use of Geneva and Brandy in the island, limiting the quantity of Tobacco below the real consumption of the inhabitants, and even rendering that limited quantity, by the way in which it has been monopolized, of bad quality and high price.

The characters and conduct of the inferior Revenue Officers may be best known from the information of the Deputy Receiver General and the Collectors. The smuggling of Brandy, Geneva, and Tobacco, has prevailed more within the last two years than for sometime before, and has sunk the insular revenue considerably. .

The stations of the different Revenue Officers around the island are by no means the best : the troops too, which have been from time to time sent here, are usually kept together at Castletown, instead of being distributed through the island, so as to render due assistance to the Officers of the Revenue.

ATHOLL,