A PRINCIPAL reafon why many are difatisfied with

the prefent government, is drawn from the heavy taxes impofed for its fupport. No man will deny that our burdens are heavy and there is no man in the nation who would not wifh, if poffible, to have them reduced. But before we attack the present system, or wish to overturn it on that account, we would do well to confider the few things following.

It is utterly impoffible, that any government can be fupported without funds. And, for the fupport of fuch a government as ours, the funds must be confiderable. We must not only maintain a standing army, proportionable to what is kept on foot by neighbouring ftates. We must have a fleet fufficient to protect our trade. Our colonies, in different parts of the world must be protected. And the intereft of our national debt must be paid. Little more than a century ago, the government of both kingdoms was fupported, with few taxations. But then we had no national debt: we had no colonies: we had no ftanding armies: we had no fhips of war. Merchant fhips were hired by government,

for

for war, as they now are for transports. Our troops in the time of war, were only raised for a few weeks; and, for the most part, they fubfifted themselves. A great proportion of the land, in both countries, belonged to the crown and its revenues were confiderably augmented by wardships, escheats, and other feudal perquifites. And thefe, though not levied as our taxes now are, were no lefs burdenfome to the people. The nation thought themselves happy, when they could exchange the one fort of burdens for the other.

It must be acknowledged, that the power of taxation is one branch of the power of legislation: and wherever the legislative authority is lodged, by the conftitution of any country, there must the power of impofing taxes be lodged. Accordingly, the fcriptures exprefly require us to pay tribute, or taxations of whatever kind, to every government, to whofe lawful commands, in other things, we are called to be subject. It is perfectly rea fonable that it fhould be fo. How can we, who live at a distance from the feat of government, and know but little of its affairs, be as capable to judge of what is neceffary for the support of government, as they whom the nation has chofen, to attend to this very thing? And it is our peculiar happiness, that no taxes can be impofed upon us, unless with the confent, and even at the motion, of our reprefentatives.

Heavy as our taxes are, we are far from being as much burdened as our neighbours: even fuch of them as live under a republican government. To be convinced of this, one needs only look into any approved geographical grammar. In Holland, for inftance, their taxes are incomparably heavier than ours: and they fall in a much greater proportion upon the poor. Their taxes upon merchandize are indeed eafy; fo that their

richest

ticheft merchants pay little more to the state, than the poorest It mechanic: hence their flourishing trade. But all the neceffaries of life are taxed. A man cannot buy a pound of meat in the fhambles, nor a bufhel of corn in the market that is not fu ject to a duty. Even their putrid and ftagnant water is not free. Every hearth, yea, every human head is taxed. "And a certain writer obferves with juftice, that they have nothing free, but the air they breathe.-In France, befides a heavy land tax, the gabelle, or tax upon falt, was intolerable. Salt being a monopoly in the hands of government, every family was not only obliged to take all the falt they used at an exorbitant price; they were even forced to take a fixed quantity, whether they used it or not. They likewife paid a poll-tax, and a tenth part of all perfonal eftates, and of the income of all employments. This laft article alone, would be heavier than all our taxes together. And except the falt-duty, I hear not that any of the reft have. been reduced, fince the revolution. On the contrary, it was one of the first decrees of the prefent convention, that all taxes fhould continue as they were, till the na-, ¿tion" was fitfled. Thus, their republican government, after confifcating, at leaft, one third of the property of the nation, as belonging to the king, to emigrants, and perfons' guillorined, and nearly another third, as having belonged to the church, leave the people as much burdened as ever. They who wish to know the flate of taxation in Spain, may perufe the book referred to in the margin *. I fhall only mention the following par ticulars. In Madrid, the King receives one third of the rent of every houfe. Corn, cattle, and all the produce of the earth pays a heavy duty, every time that it is fold, according

Townsend's journey, particularly, vol. ii. p. 155,-189.

according to its value. And in fome places, (for all plaṛ ces in Spain are not taxed alike,) a duty of four per cent. is levied upon all cattle brought into their cities for flaughter; and at certain feafons of the year much more. These are only a few examples of the taxes that our neighbours pay. Have we the fame reason to complain as they have?

Taxes are not, in reality, fo burdenfome, as many. people are apt to imagine: the longer they are continued, they become the lighter, till they cease to be any burden at all. This may be thought a bold affertion; but it is capable of demonstration. Let the land tax be an inftance. Suppofe it fixed, at a real two fhillings in the pound, and rendered permanent. In that cafe, when a man buys an eftate, he knows what it must pay to government, he buys it with that burden upon it, and the price is diminished accordingly. It is plain, that if it is worth 27 years purchafe with that burden, it would be worth 30 without it. One tenth of every eftate really belongs to government: this he does not purchase, but only the nine parts, that belonged to the former proprietor. The fame is the cafe with him that fucceeds to it, as his father's heir. He is heir only to the nine parts that were his father's; government is not dead, and therefore continues to inherit its own tenth part. The only burden, therefore, that lies upon the proprietor of the estate, is that of gathering in the two fhillings of yearly rent that belongs to government, along with his own eighteen, and paying it in to the collector of the land tax. The fame may be said of the house tax, the window tax, and all others, that affect heritable property.

With regard to duties on merchandife, the cafe is ftill more favourable to the trader. Suppose, for instance,

the

1

the duty on tobacco to be 1s and 3d per pound, and that it can be imported from America at 9d. The man who enters upon that branch of business knows it and it is the fame thing to him, as if he paid 2s as the importation price; with only the two following differences. First, there is a difference to the nation at large: in regard that five eights of the money continues in the country, whereas, in the other cafe, the whole would go to America. Secondly, there is a confiderable advantage to the trader himself. Suppofe a man imports a cargo of a hundred thousand pound weight; he pays for the whole, duty included, ten thousand pounds. He regulates his felling price, fo as to make 5. per cent profit, upon the money laid out, and his clear gain is L. 500. But if the duty was taken off, and he was only to pay the importation price, he would have his whole cargo for L. 3750. And his profit, at the above rate of 5 per cent, would be no more than L. 177:10. Thus all the burden lying upon the merchant is only that of being a factor for government, to gather in the duty from his customers, and pay it to the proper officer. And for this factorage, he is paid L. 322:10. befides the advantage of having much more money paffing through his hands. Every perfon acquainted with figures, will find the above calculation juft; and therefore, the argument.conclufive. The fame argument will hold, with relation to every tax upon articles of trade or manufac ture; unless the tax raises the price fo as to leffen the demand.

"But does not all this fall upon the confumer ? Though the landed gentleman and the merchant do "not feel the burden, the poor labourer does, and the

community at large."-No doubt, taxations laid upon commodities, muft fall upon the confumer: but we

. should