Thatthemercantilesystemhasnotbeenveryfavourabletotherevenueofthegreatbodyofthepeople，totheannualproduceofthelandandlabourofthecountry，IhaveendeavouredtoshowinthefourthbookofthisInquiry。Itseemsnottohavebeenmorefavourabletotherevenueofthesovereign，sofaratleastasthatrevenuedependsuponthedutiesofcustoms。
Inconsequenceofthatsystem，theimportationofseveralsortsofgoodshasbeenprohibitedaltogether。Thisprohibitionhasinsomecasesentirelyprevented，andinothershasverymuchdiminishedtheimportationofthosecommoditiesbyreducingtheimporterstothenecessityofsmuggling。Ithasentirelypreventedtheimportationofforeignwoollens，andithasverymuchdiminishedthatofforeignsilksandvelvets。Inbothcasesithasentirelyannihilatedtherevenueofcustomswhichmighthavebeenlevieduponsuchimportation。
Thehighdutieswhichhavebeenimposedupontheimportationofmanydifferentsortsofforeigngoods，inordertodiscouragetheirconsumptioninGreatBritain，haveinmanycasesservedonlytoencouragesmuggling，andinallcaseshavereducedtherevenueofthecustomsbelowwhatmoremoderatedutieswouldhaveafforded。ThesayingofDr。Swift，thatinthearithmeticofthecustomstwoandtwo，insteadofmakingfour，makesometimesonlyone，holdsperfectlytruewithregardtosuchheavydutieswhichnevercouldhavebeenimposedhadnotthemercantilesystemtaughtus，inmanycases，toemploytaxationasaninstrument，notofrevenue，butofmonopoly。
Thebountieswhicharesometimesgivenupontheexportationofhomeproduceandmanufactures，andthedrawbackswhicharepaiduponthere—exportationofthegreaterpartofforeigngoods，havegivenoccasiontomanyfrauds，andtoaspeciesofsmugglingmoredestructiveofthepublicrevenuethananyother。
Inordertoobtainthebountyordrawback，thegoods，itiswellknown，aresometimesshippedandsenttosea，butsoonafterwardsclandestinelyrelandedinsomeotherpartofthecountry。Thedefalcationoftherevenueofcustomsoccasionedbythebountiesanddrawbacks，ofwhichagreatpartareobtainedfraudulently，isverygreat。Thegrossproduceofthecustomsintheyearwhichendedonthe5thofJanuary1755amountedtoL5，068，000。Thebountieswhichwerepaidoutofthisrevenue，thoughinthatyeartherewasnobountyuponcorn，amountedtoL167，800。Thedrawbackswhichwerepaidupondebenturesandcertificates，toL2，156，800。BountiesanddrawbackstogetheramountedtoL2，324，600。InconsequenceofthesedeductionstherevenueofthecustomsamountedonlytoL2，743，400:fromwhich，deductingL287，900fortheexpenseofmanagementinsalariesandotherincidents，thenetrevenueofthecustomsforthatyearcomesouttobeL2，455，500。Theexpenseofmanagementamountsinthismannertobetweenfiveandsixpercentuponthegrossrevenueofthecustoms，andtosomethingmorethantenpercentuponwhatremainsofthatrevenueafterdeductingwhatispaidawayinbountiesanddrawbacks。