Again, in the instance of procuring the Excise labels, which have to be pasted on each ream, section 9 requires that every one signed for by the workman on delivery, must be produced or accounted for, under a penalty of £10. each, which is equal to the duty upon no less than 1600 lbs. weight of paper; an idea necessarily inconsistent with that of its being packed in one parcel; and therefore, since for every time we divide such quantity, an additional label is required, a very forcible argument against so excessive a penalty may readily be deduced. The labels employed are of three colours,—red, blue, and green; denoting in which part of the kingdom the paper was made. Red being used for England; blue, for Scotland; and green for Ireland. The 27th section of the Act, relating to the real and nominal weight of each ream or parcel, is that to which I have referred as being liable to deceptive or dishonest purposes. It runs thus—“And be it enacted—That if any ream, &c., be found to weigh under or over the weight marked, in the proportion of 5 per centum, if the weight marked on such ream exceed twenty pounds, or 10 per centum if such weight be twenty pounds or less, the same shall be forfeited.” Of course there is no necessity for a proviso lest the maker should give a preference to an increase of weight upon that marked, but since some cylinder dried papers are apt afterwards to increase in weight, the addition is requisite to prevent unjust seizure. However, in all probability, at the suggestion of the paper maker, when aiding the Excise, in consequence of a great quantity to be charged, it has become customary to average the weight of a draft, instead of putting each ream separately into the scale. Thus the practicability of rendering this clause highly objectionable will be at once apparent, and deserves to be pointed out for the purpose of warning against the temptation. The quantity of paper manufactured in this country at the commencement of the eighteenth century, when the duty was first imposed, appears to have been far from sufficient to meet the necessities of the time. Even in 1721, it is supposed that there were but about 300,000 reams of paper annually produced in Great Britain, which were equal merely to two-thirds of the consumption. But in 1784, the value of the paper manufactured in England alone is stated to have amounted to £800,000.; and that, by reason of the increase in price, as also of its use, in less than twenty years, it nearly doubled that amount. I have extracted, from a Parliamentary report, various returns relating to the Excise duties levied upon paper, which, since an article of the kind is necessarily subjected to great alteration in value, according to the scarcity or abundance of raw materials, are, of course, better calculated to show a steady increase in the demand, than any mere references to statements of supposed value, from time to time.