Page:Sir William Petty - A Study in English Economic Literature - 1894.djvu/75

76 sparingly. Its inconvenience is the small amount that can be raised in this way.

Benevolences (chapter ix) are money raised by forced loan from special classes. Such loans are justified when the classes so taxed have been benefited especially by the State (54). The inconveniences are, dangers arising to the State from factions, increase of bankruptcy, the liability to abuse, because some pay in order to secure personal favor to those in power. Legal penalties (chapter x) are treated under the head of taxation, because if fines were extended to all forms of crime the State's income would be considerably augmented. Every man has a labor-producing power. The State should regard this factor in the administration of the criminal law. Serious crimes should be punished by slavery, minor offenses should be fined. Religious heterodoxy ought to be tolerated, but its adherents must be made to pay for their conscientiousness. Infidels are to be kept at hard labor. The responsibility of defections among the laity from the established form of religion should rest upon the clergy, and their salaries should be taxed heavily by the State in case their flocks show signs of heterodoxy.

Monopoly (chap. xi) is the exclusive right of sale of any article without regard to its real value. A conspicuous example of a monopoly is the gabelle, or salt duty. As salt is universally used, the monopoly seems to have the same effect as a capitation tax (64). The pretext for a monopoly is the right of invention. Original inventors, however, rarely profit by their inventions, as generally they fall into the hands of projectors who gain all the profits. All offices instituted by the State with the right of