If any should misinterpret the doctrine of this chapter, I must put them in mind of my original plan, which was to keep constantly in view those virtuous statesmen who think of nothing but the good of their subjects. Taxes and impositions in their hands, are the wealth of the father of the family; who therewith feeds, clothes, provides for, and defends every one within his house. The increase of taxes on this supposition is national oeconomy, as shall be afterwards shewn; frauds are the thefts of servants impairing the public good, and particularly the means o£ self-defence against the incroachments of ambitious neighbours.
As it is the duty of every statesman to make his people happy and flourishing, perhaps the speculations of one whose only interest in throwing them upon paper is to fill up his leisure agreeably, may some time or other tend to promote so glorious a purpose.
CHAP. VI.
Cumulative and proportional Taxes compared with one another, and farther examined.
After examining separately the nature and effects of cumulative and proportional taxes, it remains, for the more fully understanding this subject, to take a view of them together; the better to find out wherein they really differ, and how far the difference is only apparent.
It has been observed, that the payment of taxes diminishes no part of the produce of either land, or industry; the whole amount of these remains entire to the subjects of the state.
The taxes are paid out of the money which circulates in the alienation of them: from which we have concluded that they must constantly be confined within a certain proportion to alienation. We have also observed, that the imposition of taxes augments the mass of circulation, and makes it requisite for a statesman to contrive some method of increasing money in proportion to their increase. I hope these propositions have acquired an additional confirmation, from what has been already said in the preceeding chapters.
We have also seen how the amount of proportional taxes is ultimately taken from the superfluity of the rich, whom we have called the idle consumers: and how they are advanced by one set of the industrious, and refunded by another, until at last they fall upon those who cannot draw them back from any body. These last have been said to pay the taxes, the others only to advance them.
If therefore we suppose all desire of defrauding out of the way, we shall find the whole burden of proportional taxes confined to the inconvenience of advancing their amount by the industrious, and to the payment of them by the rich, which proportionally diminishes their income. Where credit therefore is well established, where payments are regularly made by buyers to sellers, and where people proportion their expence to their free income, the weight of proportional taxes will be very small. I appeal to experience for the truth of this.
Let us next examine the nature of cumulative taxes, as we have called them, in order to distinguish them from the others.