Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/673

FINANCE. the measure in which these social interests are regarded in fixing charges must the revenue-producing character of the industry be superseded. Hence the tendency under Government management to render services at cost. This is well illustrated in the history of the postal service, which in some States has ceased to be a source of net revenue. This feature should be carefully considered in all proposals for the assumption of various branches of industry by the State. From a purely fiscal point of view there is generally greater advantage in private ownership subject to taxation than in public ownership.

(3) Fees.—Fees are payments for definite services rendered by public authorities in the administration of public business. Such are court fees, license fees, and the like. They are based upon the theory that a special service is rendered to those who pay them over and above the general social service which the operations of government imply. As the benefit derived by the individual is intangible, there can be no question of an exact equivalence between the payment and the service rendered. The only rule which can be fixed is that they should not be so oppressive as to interfere with the orderly conduct of public affairs. Thus marriage fees, either to the State or Church, should not he so high as to promote unions not legally sanctioned. Court fees should not deprive the poorer classes of the protection of the law. Similar to fees in their nature are the taxes called special assessments in American finance. When a street is opened or a highway improved, while the public receives a benefit, yet the chief advantage is frequently enjoyed by the owners of the abutting real estate. For this they are compelled to pay by a special rate levied upon such real estate. Special assessments, like fees, contain therefore an element of commensurable private advantage. Unlike fees, they are levied upon real estate and are applied for the purpose of enhancing the value of that real estate. See.

(4) Taxes. — In the three kinds of payment thus far discussed, there is in general a direct benefit to the individual, and the payment is only made in exchange for a direct service of the State. In this they differ radically from taxes. The latter are forced contributions to the public treasury. In practice, as in the most advanced financial theory, taxes rest upon the duty of citizens to support the State. The benefits which the citizen enjoys from the existence of government are general and not specific, and no attempt to establish a parallel between such benefits and tax payments can be successful. Writers on finance have indeed frequently attempted to justify taxation on the ground that Government renders an equivalent service in protection to person and property; but there is obviously no demonstrable relation between the payments which may be exacted from individuals in taxation and the protection afforded them. Taxes are based, then, upon the duty of citizens to support the State of which they are members; and the measure of such duty is found in their ability to bear a share of the burden. For a comprehensive treatment of the theory and practice of taxation, see .

. In modern nations taxation greatly overshadows all other

sources of revenue. This is brought out in a detailed statement of the revenue of the United States for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1901, in which the sources of income are arranged, so far a practicable, by classes.

The foregoing statement reveals the multiplicity of Government revenues. A considerable group is not classed; though some of the items are related to the foregoing groups. Thus, all the items relative to Pacific railroad indebtedness are akin to the industrial operations of the State, as the Government subsidized in one form or another the construction of these roads. Perhaps another considerable item, profits arising from coinage operations, should be placed in the same class. It is obvious that the statement here made is one of gross revenues, for otherwise the postal service, which in the year in question was operated with a deficit of $4,954,762.21, could not figure in the table. In like manner the figures for receipts from taxation are aggregate returns without deduction of the costs of collecting the revenues, which, like the costs of the postal service, figure among the national expenditures.