Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/333

 Ch. 8. them with the price of the commodity: in the ame manner as Tacitus oberves, that the emperor Nero gained the reputation of abolihing the tax on the ale of laves, though he only tranferred it from the buyer to the eller; o that it was, as he exprees it, "remium magis pecie, quam vi: quia, cum venditor pendere juberetur, in partem pretii emptoribus accrecebat ." But this inconvenience attends it on the other hand, that thee imports, if too heavy, are a check and cramp upon trade; and epecially when the value of the commodity bears little or no proportion to the quantity of the duty impoed. This in conequence gives rie alo to muggling, which then becomes a very lucrative employment: and it's natural and mot reaonable punihment, viz. confication of the commodity, is in uch caes quite ineffectual; the intrinic value of the goods, which is all that the muggler has paid, and therefore all that he can loe, being very inconiderable when compared with his propect of advantage in evading the duty. Recoure mut therefore be had to extraordinary punihments to prevent it; perhaps even to capital ones: which detroys all proportion of punihment, and puts murderers upon an equal footing with uch as are really guilty of no natural, but merely a poitive, offence.

is alo another ill conequence attending high impots on merchandize, not frequently conidered, but indiputably certain; that the earlier any tax is laid on a commodity, the heavier it falls upon the conumer in the end: for every trader, through whoe hands it paes, mut have a profit, not only upon the raw material and his own labour and time in preparing it, but alo upon the very tax itelf, which he advances to the government; otherwie he loes the ue and interet of the money which he o advances. To intance in the article of foreign paper. The merchant pays a duty upon importation, which he does not receive again till he ells the commodity, perhaps at the end of three months. He is therefore equally entitled to a profit upon Rh