e 22nd of May, Pitt presented a bill
for transferring certain duties on wines from the customs to the excise.
This transfer was made, after several divisions, despite the exertions
of Fox to render the measure unpopular, and the obstruction given to it
by those in the trade, as well as by others, who urged the difficulty
of applying the excise laws to wine, and the impolicy of extending those
laws beyond their existing limits. It is probable that there were some
who conceived that this measure would tend to render the minister very
unpopular; and it must be confessed that the step was a very hazardous
one for him to take. Englishmen had never looked with complacency upon
the intrusions and interference of excisemen, and there was still a
strong national feeling against any extension of the excise laws. When
Sir Robert Walpole, indeed, brought in a bill which had a tendency to
extend these laws, although he was at the time he introduced it at
the very height of his power, it nearly cost him his place. But the
principles of commerce and taxation were now better understood, than
they were in the days of Walpole, and the well-disposed among the people
felt convinced that the state of the revenue required the adoption of
every measure tending to its improvement, whence Pitt triumphed. The
bill was followed by another, which had reference to frauds committed
on the customs, by false accounts of imported goods, and the re-landing
clandestinely such as had received drawbacks at their exportation. To
prevent such practices, Pitt brought in, and carried through parliament,
M'hat was called "The Manifest Act," which enacted that no article
should be imported into Great Britain before the master of the vessel
had delivered to the custom-house officer a manifest, or declaration,
stating the place where they were laden, with a full description of
them, verified on oath; that no vessel should sail from any British
port, till the owner of the vessel had given a bond for two hundred
pounds, that he would not re-land any part of its cargo illegally;
and that no goods, entitled to drawback, should be put on board for
exportation, except by duly licensed persons.

At a subsequent date Pitt endeavoured to ascertain whether the
crown-lands could not be rendered more productive. To this end, and
in consequence of a message from the king, he moved, in the house of
commons, for the appointment of commissioners to inquire into the state
of woods