i66 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



poll tax of the United States finds few precedents in history. Un- 

 der the Byzantine Empire a so-called universal poll tax was sub- 

 stituted in lieu of almost all the tithes, customs, and excises which 

 had before been relied on for revenue ; and this substitution and 

 its influence was regarded by Hume as one of the chief causes 

 of the decadence of the Roman state (see page 584, voh xlviii, 

 March, 1896). 



The first so-called poll tax in England was granted in 1377, 

 and from that date down to the time of Queen Anne was an im- 

 portant source of revenue, and, not being uniform, except in its 

 incidence per capita, gave rise to great popular dissatisfaction, 

 both by reason of its amount and inequality, and also by the in- 

 quisitorial methods employed for its assessment and collection. 

 At first (1377) the rate was fourpence on every head, male and 

 female, above fourteen years of age. Subsequently, under the 

 reign of Richard II, in order to avoid the unfairness of subjecting 

 all rich and poor, noble and serf to such a uniform tax, a more 

 equitable system was introduced, the taxpayers being classified 

 by reference to rank, condition of life, and property, the rate 

 ranging from six pounds thirteen shillings for dukes and arch- 

 bishops, to two pounds for barons and knights, and three shillings 

 fourpence on those of " least estate." The retention of the former 

 uniform rate of fourpence on all married laborers and upon all 

 single men and women above fourteen years of age, who were 

 presumed to be without estate, was, however, a cause of great dis- 

 satisfaction among the masses, and the attempt to collect it un- 

 doubtedly constituted the prime cause of the famous " Wat Tyler 

 rebellion " of 1381. In the case of the last poll tax authorized in 

 England under Queen Anne a like attempt at classifying persons 

 was continued ; the rate commencing at one shilling per annum on 

 all persons worth more than fifty pounds, and rising to ten pounds 

 for peers of the realm, both spiritual and temporal. One curious 

 provision of this final enactment was, that in all cases Catholics 

 were to pay double the rate imposed on Protestants. Bachelors 

 and widowers without children were also subjected to special 

 rates. Some writer has remarked that such exactions could only 

 have been designed and authorized by a government of misan- 

 thropes ; for if one with a view of escaping them abandoned 

 single blessedness, he only involved himself in greater difficul- 

 ties ; for there was a tax upon marriages, a tax upon births, and, 

 if the health of the victim broke down under these exactions, a 

 sum varying from three to thirty florins, according to his station, 

 had to be paid before his sorrowing relatives could bury him. 

 These taxes on marriages were enforced in England from 1G95 to 

 1705, and during the first five years of their continuance yielded 

 an average annual revenue of about two hundred and fifty thou- 



