Silver watches 6s.
Though the purpose of the act was protective, it is evident that in the case of many of the articles enumerated, the duty was entirely a revenue tax. In March, 1786, steps were taken towards laying an excise duty. A committee was appointed to draw up a bill for the purpose. The committee reported at the same session and an elaborate excise act was passed, which was to go into effect on May 16; but at the session in that month the act was suspended until the next session, when a committee of revision was appointed. There is no farther mention of any legislation in regard to the excise until December, when another excise law was passed to go into effect on May 15, 1787, and remain in force for three years. Neither of these acts seem to have been generally enforced. No collectors were appointed under the act of March. Under the December act collectors were appointed in May, 1787, but there is no record of any subsequent appointments.
When government under the United States constitution went into operation, in 1789, it became impossible for Rhode Island to pursue an independent policy in regard to customs duties, and the General Assembly at the May session passed a law providing that the same duties, payable in the same money, be collected in Rhode Island as should be ordered by Congress for the United States. In September the assembly supplemented this provision by enacting a law similar to that which had been passed by Congress. Goods imported from the United States and from North Carolina were exempt from duty. In May, 1790, the state adopted the constitution and the power to levy impost duties ceased.
The want of method in keeping accounts at the time renders it impossible to state exactly the amount of revenue received under the acts imposing import duties. I have found however nearly complete returns of the duties collected in the counties of Providence and Newport, which contained the principal posts of entry.
| County of Providence. | |
|---|---|
| (Includes receipts from October 1, 1783) | |
| Total nominal receipts | £21,533-14-7 3/4 |
| Receipts in paper money of 1786, | 11,464-4-1 |
| Receipts in specie | 10,069-10-6 3/4 |
| Specie value of paper money receipts | 1,550-14-6 3/4 |
| 11,620-5-1 1/2 | |
| Value in present dollars | $42,414. |
| County of Newport. | |
| (Includes receipts from July, 1783, May, 1789, and from Sept. 1789) | |
| Total nominal receipts July, 1783, May, 1789, | 18,900-1-8 3/4 |
| Receipts in paper money of 1786, | 10,131-12-8 3/4 |
| Receipts in specie | 8,768-1-0 |
| Specie value of paper money receipts | 2,181-10-4 1/2 |
| Total specie value of receipts | 10,949-11-4 1/2 |
| Value in present dollars | $39,966. |
| Receipts from September, 1789, | 3,202. |
| Total | 43,168. |
| Providence County | 42,414. |
| Total for both counties | 85,582. |
Such figures, of course, are not exact, and it has been impossible to find more than fragmentary returns from other counties. Such counties were, however, comparatively unimportant. It will probably not be far from the truth if we place the total receipts under the customs acts for the period of between six and seven years, when they were in force, at something over $90,000 or about $14,000 a year. The interest on the public debt must have amounted to between $30,000 and $40,000 per annum, so that the revenue from customs duties fell far short of satisfying the purpose for which it was imposed.
Tonnage Duties.
Tonnage duties were imposed as early as 1690, and continued until Rhode Island entered the union. They were first levied for the support of the fort and were payable in either money or powder. About the middle of the eighteenth century a light house was built and additional tonnage duties were imposed for its support. The amounts varied from time to time, according to the needs of the fort or light house, and there was discrimination in favor of vessels engaged in home trade. In 1767, a time of peace, the duty imposed for the support of the fort was 2 S., or 1 lb. of powder per ton for all vessels above ten tons, not owned by inhabitants of the colony. The "light money" was 4 1/2d. per ton for foreign vessels and 3s. for each clearing for coasters.
Notes.
[1]. Gneist, Hist. of the Eng. Const., Vol. 1, p. 34.