PRINCIPLES OF TAXATION. 773 



Equally popular and plausible is the argument by wliicli this 

 assumption, and the administrative system based upon it, is up- 

 held and defended. " Is not all property," it is asked, " either 

 directly or through its owner, protected by the state or sover- 

 eignty?" "Do not all persons owe allegiance to the state?" 

 And if so, " why should not all persons and property contribute 

 to the requirements of the state for revenue in proportion to their 

 ability ? " 



But, popular and plausible as are the arguments and assump- 

 tions for such a system of taxation, which, in the case of the 

 United States, has been made operative under State, municipal, 

 and local governments over the persons, property, and business 

 of over seventy millions of people, and fortified by a vast amount 

 of adjudication, it will require but little investigation and analy- 



Section 1. A poll tax shall be assessed on every male inhabitant of the Commonwealth 

 above the age of twenty years, whether a citizen of the United States or an alien. 



Skc. 2. All property, real and personal, of the inhabitants of this State, not expressly 

 exempted by law, shall be subject to taxation. 



Sec. 3. Real estate, for the purpose of taxation, shall include all lands within this 

 State and all buildings and other things erected on or affixed to the same. 



Sec. 4. Personal estate shall, for the purposes of taxation, include goods, chattels, 

 money, and effects, wherever they are, ships and vessels at home or abroad, money at inter- 

 est, and other debts due the persons to be taxed more than they are indebted or pay inter- 

 est for, but not including in such debts due any loan on mortgage of real estate, taxable as 

 real estate, except the excess of such loan above the assessed value of the mortgaged real 

 estate, public stocks and securities, bonds of all railways, including street railways, stocks 

 in turnpikes, bridges, and moneyed corporations, within or without the State, the income 

 from an annuity, from ships and vessels engaged in foreign carrying trade, and so much of 

 the income from a profession, trade, or employment as exceeds the sum of two thousand 

 dollars a year; but no income shall be taxed which is derived from property subject to 

 taxation. 



The statute exempts from taxation the property of the United States and of the State ; 

 of the literary, benevolent, charitable, and agricultural institutions or societies incorporated 

 within the State ; all property of the common school districts; the household furniture of 

 every person not exceeding one thousand dollars in value, and wearing apparel ; farmers' 

 utensils, not exceeding three hundred dollars in value ; houses of religious worship ; mules, 

 horses, and neat cattle less than a year old ; swme and sheep less than six mouths old ; and 

 " the polls and estates of persons who by reason of age, infirmity, and poverty are unable 

 to contribute fully to the public charges." 



"No ship or vessel, unless actually engaged in foreign trade, or in part undergoing 

 repairs, shall be deemed to be engaged in such trade." 



The statutes of the State of New York to the same effect are more concise, but equally 

 comprehensive. They provide : 



1. " All lands and all personal estate within this State, whether owned by individuals or 

 by corporations, shall be liable to taxation, subject to the exemption hereafter specified. 



2. " The term ' personal estate ' and ' personal property ' shall be construed to include 

 all household furniture, moneys, goods, chattels, debts due from solvent debtors, whether 

 on account, contract, note, bond, or mortgage, public stocks and stocks in moneyed corpora- 

 tions ; they shall also be construed to include such portion of the capital of incorporated 

 companies, liable to taxation on their capital, as shall not be invested in real estate." 



