Page:Sir William Petty - A Study in English Economic Literature - 1894.djvu/76

447] arranging their scale of fees, where the duties performed are out of all proportion to the charges made, are monopolies. The sale of such offices should be made a source of public revenue.

Tithes (chapter xii) are properly an excise for the support of the clergy paid in naturalibus. They are the pattern for a just tax, and seem most equal to defray public charges. So far as raw products are concerned there is no difficulty. But in regard to housing, cloth, drink and manufactured goods, the system cannot be equally applied. The inconveniences are the uncertainty of the amount that can be raised, owing to the variations in the market price of goods; the liability to fraud when the tax is farmed out for collection; the necessity of an additional tax on manufactured articles, that have already paid the tax in a raw state.

Several smaller ways of raising money are then mentioned (chapter xiii). These are: The establishment of state banks, or of monts-de-piété; state monopoly of such articles as salt and tobacco; state poor control and guardianship of minors, lunatics and idiots; the maintenance of theatres and places of amusement; birth and death taxes; taxes on Jews and aliens. In under-peopled countries it is not advisable to lay a tax on aliens. On Jews such a special tax can be justified. They deal in lucrative trades and manage frequently to elude taxation. The assessment of an aliquot part on estates, real and personal, is entirely bad. An opening is given to fraud, collusion and oppression. It is impossible to check its fairness or correctness.

The method of raising money by tampering with the currency has been already discussed. The next