Page:Sir William Petty - A Study in English Economic Literature - 1894.djvu/78

449] so far as to have all taxable goods accumulated upon some single commodity for ease of collection. Beer has been proposed as the object of this accumulated excise, on the supposition that, as men drink, in the same proportion they make all other expenses. This supposition is, however, notoriously untrue, for observation shows that the poorer classes of laborers sometimes drink twice as much as gentlemen. All things proposed in place of beer, such as salt, fuel, and bread, are open to the same objection. Of all excises, hearth or smoke money seems the best. It is "the easiest, and clearest, and fittest to ground a certain revenue upon." The tax must be small or it may become unbearable. If the incidence of the tax is shifted from the tenant to the landlord, the tax becomes a tax on housing.

The advantages of a proper excise are: "The natural justice that every man should pay according to what he actually enjoyeth." If it be not farmed, but regularly collected, it encourages thrift. "No man pays double or twice for the same thing, forasmuch as nothing can be spent but once." It gives an opportunity for getting an accurate account of the wealth, growth, trade and strength of the nation at all times. The tax should be collected by special officers, whose time will be taken up entirely in this employment. Holland's experience confirms this last recommendation, and in the manner of collecting the tax, her practice should be followed.