The  confining  the  discount  to  the  excess  beyond  fifty  dollars,  coun-
teracts the  provision  wherever  that  excess  is  not  considerable.
It  is  provided  by  the  last  clause  of  this  section,  that  no
person,  whose  bond  is  unsatisfied,  aft^er  it  becomes  due,  shall
have  a  fiiture  credit  with  the  collector,  until  it  shall  be  dis-
charged. The  words  "the  collector,"  have  been  supposed  to
owifine  the  non-allowance  of  credit  to  the  particular  coUectw
to  whom  the  bond  was  given;  in  which  sense,  a  further  credit
may  be  had  in  another  district;  which  would  considerably
lessen  the  utility  of  the  regulation.    The  removal  of  this  amU-


$8  HAMILTON*e    WORKS.  [ JBr. JiL

guity,  so  as  to  render  the  exdusion  gexiieral,  may^  add  to  the
efficacy  of  the  provisioB.
Section  29.  The  compensatioiis  to  the  officers  established  hj
this  section  require  revision;  they  are,  in  many  instances,  iiuk
dequate ;  in  some,  disproportionata  Besignations,  in  consequenoe
of  it,  have  taken  place,  and  others  are  suspended  on  the  expecfeBr
tion  of  a  fftvorable  alteration  during  the  present  session.  It  s
certain,  that  competent  allowances  are  essential  to  the  idea  of
having  the  service  performed  by  characters  worthy  of  trust  And
how  much  the  security  of  the  revenue  depends  on  this,  is  evidenii
There  are  many  ports  where  the  officers  receive  next  to  nothing
for  their  services.  It  were  superfluous  to  comment  on  the  ines^
pediency  of  such  a  state  of  things.
