Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/59

 PUBLIC REVENUE. 47 inteiiclence of the distribution of that water of irrigation on which the whole success of the pro- cess rests, and which could not, without loss and inconvenience, be left in private hands. It is re- markable that the sovereigns of Bali, as will be af- terwards pointed out, though among the most ab- solute, claim the tax on land solely on the prin- ciple of distributing and supplying the water of ir- rigation. It may, indeed, be suspected that the early establishment of this right or prerogative has afforded the sovereign one of the principal means of subverting the equality of society, and of esta- blishing absolute power. The legitimate impost exacted as the reward of superintending the water of irrigation, increases in the progress of arbitrary power, and, accord- ingly, among every tribe where the right of property in the land is established, that is, among the whole of the civilized tribes, the sovereign, in one shape or another, comes at length to be considered as the sole proprietor, and the people as labouring it for his benefit. The proportion exacted as tax depends on the fertility of the soil, the extent of improvement, and the amount of the population. The encroachments of the so- vereign advance with the improvement of the so- ciety, and the peasant is ultimately left with no more than a bare subsistence. The whole of this subject will be more perfectly understood by fur-