ESSAY VIII.

Of TAXE S.

HERE is a prevailing maxim, among fome rea

THE

foners, that every new tax creates a new ability in the fubject to bear it, and that each encrease of public burdens encreafes proportionably the iuduftry of the people. This maxim is of fuch a nature as is most likely to be abused; and is so much the more dangerous, as its truth cannot be altogether denied: but it must be owned, when kept within certain bounds, to have fome foundation in reafon and experience.

When a tax is laid upon commodities, which are confumed by the common people, the neceffary confequence may feem to be, either that the poor must retrench something from their way of living, or raise their wages, so as to make the burden of the tax fall entirely upon the rich. But there is a third confequence, which often follows upon taxes, namely, that the poor encrease their industry, perform more work, and live as well as before, without demanding more for their labour. Where taxes are moderate, are laid on gradually, and affect not the neceffaries of life, this confequence naturally follows; and it is certain, that fuch difficulties often ferve to excite the industry of a people, and render them more opulent and laborious, than others, who enjoy the greatest advantages. For we may obferve, as a parallel inftance,

that the most commercial nations have not always pof feffed the greatest extent of fertile land; but, on the contrary, that they have laboured under many natural difadvantages. TYRE, ATHENS, Carthage, Rhodes, GENOA, VENICE, HOLLAND, are ftrong examples to this purpose. And in all hiftory, we find only three inftances of large and fertile countries, which have poffeffed much trade; the NETHERLANDS, ENGLAND, and FRANCE. The two former feem to have been allured by the advantages of their maritime fituation and the neceffity they lay under of frequenting foreign ports, in order to procure what their own climate refused them. And as to FRANCE, trade has come late into that kingdom, and feems to have been the effect of reflection and obfervation in an ingenious and enterprizing people, who remarked the riches acquired by fuch of the neighbouring nations as cultivated navigation and commerce.

The places mentioned by CICERO †, as poffeffed of the greatest commerce in his time, are ALEXANDRIA, COLCHUS, TYRE, SIDON, ANDROS, CYPRUS, PAMPHYLIA, LYCIA, RHODES, CHIOS, BYZANTIUM, LESBOS, SMYRNA, MILETUM, Coos. All thefe, except ALEXANDRIA, were either fmall iflands, or narrow territories. And that city owed its trade entirely to the happiness of its fituation.

Since therefore fome natural neceffities or difadvantages may be thought favourable to industry, why may not artificial burdens have the fame effect? Sir WILLIAM TEMPLE ‡, we may obferve, afcribes the industry of the DUTCH entirely to neceffity, proceeding from their natural disadvantages; and illuftrates his doctrine by a ftriking comparifon with IRELAND; "where,"

Epift. ad ATT. lib. ix. ep. 11.

Account of the NETHERLANDS, chap. 6.

fays

fays he, by the largenefs and plenty of the foil, and fcarcity of people, all things neceffary to life are fo "cheap, that an induftrious man, by two days labour,

may gain enough to feed him the reft of the week. "Which I take to be a very plain ground of the laziness "attributed to the people. For men naturally prefer "eafe before labour, and will not take pains if they can "live idle; though when, by neceffity, they have been "inured to it, they cannot leave it, being grown a cuf"tom neceffary to their health, and to their very enter

tainment. Nor perhaps is the change harder, from "conftant eafe to labour, than from conftant labour to "ease." After which the author proceeds to confirm his doctrine, by enumerating, as above, the places where trade has moft flourished, in ancient and modern times; and which are commonly obferved to be such narrow confined territories, as beget a neceffity for industry.

The best taxes are fuch as are levied upon confumptions, especially thofe of luxury; because such taxes are leaft felt by the people. They feem, in fome measure, voluntary; fince a man may chufe how far he will ufe the commodity which is taxed: They are paid gradually and infenfibly: They naturally produce fobriety and frugality, if judicioufly impofed: And being confounded with the natural price of the commodity, they are scarcely perceived by the confumers. Their only difadvantage is, that they are expenfive in the levying.

Taxes upon poffeffions are levied without expence ; but have every other difadvantage. Moft ftates, however, are obliged to have recourfe to them, in order to fupply the deficiencies of the other.

But the moft pernicious of all taxes are the arbitrary. They are commonly converted, by their management, into punishments on induftry; and alfo, by their unavoidable

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voidable inequality, are more grievous than by the real burden which they impofe. It is furprifing, therefore, to see them have place among any civilized people.

In general, all poll-taxes, even when not arbitrary, which they commonly are, may be efteemed dangerous: Because it is fo eafy for the fovereign to add a little more, and a little more, to the fum demanded, that these taxes are apt to become altogether oppreffive and intolerable. On the other hand, a duty upon commodities checks itfelf; and a prince will foon find, that an encrease of the impoft is no encrease of his revenue. It is not easy, therefore, for a people to be altogether ruined by fuch

taxes.

Hiftorians inform us, that one of the chief causes of the deftruction of the ROMAN ftate, was the alteration, which CONSTANTINE introduced into the finances, by fubftituting an univerfal poll-tax, in lieu of almost all the tithes, cuftoms, and excifes, which formerly composed the revenue of the empire. The people, in all the provinces, were fo grinded and oppreffed by the publicans, that they were glad to take refuge under the conquering arms of the barbarians; whofe dominion, as they had fewer neceffities and lefs art, was found preferable to the refined tyranny of the ROMANS.

It is an opinion, zealously promoted by fome political writers, that fince all taxes, as they pretend, fall ultimately upon land, it were better to lay them originally there, and abolish every duty upon confumptions. But it is denied, that all taxes fall ultimately upon land. If a duty be laid upon any commodity, confumed by an artifan, he has two obvious expedients for paying it; he may retrench fomewhat of his expence, or he may encreafe his labour. Both thefe refources are more eafy

and

and natural, than that of heightening his wages. We fee, that, in years of fcarcity, the weaver either confumes lefs or labours more, or employs both thefe expedients of frugality and induftry, by which he is enabled to reach the end of the year. It is but juft, that he fhould fubject himself to the fame hardships, if they deferve the name, for the fake of the publick, which gives him protection. By what contrivance can he raife the price of his labour? The manufacturer who employs him, will not give him more: Neither can he, because the merchant, who exports the cloth, cannot raife its price, being limited by the price which it yields in foreign markets. Every man, to be fure, is defirous of pufhing off from himself the burden of any tax, which is impofed, and of laying it upon others: But as every man has the fame inclination, and is upon the defenfive; no fet of men can be fuppofed to prevail altogether in this contest. And why the landed gentleman fhould be the victim of the whole, and fhould not be able to defend himself, as well as others are, I cannot readily imagine. All tradefmen, indeed, would willingly prey upon him, and divide him among them, if they could: But this inclination they always have, though no taxes were levied; and the fame methods, by which he guards against the impofition of tradesmen before taxes, will ferve him afterwards, and make them fhare the burden with him. They must be very heavy taxes, indeed, and very injudiciously levied, which the artizan will not, of himself, be enabled to pay, by fuperior induftry and frugality, without railing the price of his labour.

I fhall conclude this fubject with obferving, that we have, with regard to taxes, an inftance of what frequently happens in political inftitutions, that the confequences of things are diametrically oppofite to what we

fhould