PRINCIPLES OF TAXATION. 181 



And yet Mr. Carey's name, more than that of any other citizen 

 of the United States, is identified with a system of raising revenue 

 which is based exclusively on indirect taxation. 



Mr. Henry George, in one of his essays, also thus forcibly 

 makes clear a leading characteristic of the indirect taxes levied 

 by the Federal Government: " Propose," he says, "to abolish, or 

 even reduce, one of these taxes, and Washington will be filled 

 with lobbyists begging and working for its extension. What 

 does this mean ? It means that these taxes yield revenue to 

 private parties as well as to the Government." 



Carlyle was not far out of the way in characterizing legisla- 

 tors who advocate indirect taxation as having a purpose, " that 

 those who are not hungry should suppress those who are. The 

 pigs are to die i. e., be subject to taxation no conceivable help 

 for that ; but we, by God's blessing, will at least keep down their 

 squealing ! " 



The question of the relative merits of the two systems of tax- 

 ation under consideration, has long been since the days of 

 Jeremy Bentham a subject of discussion, with a trend of popular 

 sentiment unmistakably in favor of indirect, or it should rather 

 be said in opposition to direct taxation.* 



What satisfactory explanation can be given for a conclusion 

 so clearly adverse to public interest ? John Stuart Mill has 

 attempted it as follows : " The feeling is not grounded on the 

 merits of the case, and is of a puerile kind. An Englishman 

 dislikes not so much the payment as the act of payment. He 

 dislikes seeing the face of the tax collector and being subjected 

 to his peremptory demand. Perhaps, too, the money which he is 

 required to pay directly out of his pocket is the only taxation 

 which he is quite sure that he pays at all. That a tax of two 

 shillings per pound on tea, or of three shillings per bottle on 

 wine, raises the price of each pound of tea and bottle of wine 

 which he consumes by that and more than that amount can not 



* " We find, as the result of our examination and contrast, that direct taxation is, in 

 every essential feature, vastly superior to our present method ; that the former accords 

 with justice, economy, and all the other requirements of a sound policy; while indirect taxa- 

 tion violates every principle on which legislation should be based. It must be owned, how- 

 ever, that notwithstanding the weighty objections to the one and the economy and perfect 

 fairness of the other, there are few of our citizens who are desirous of making the proposed 

 change. Direct taxation is a phrase that grates on the nerves of all. Men start at its 

 sound as though it was a portent of evil ; something which had impressed them with deadly 

 fear. They seem to regard it as deeply imbued with the spirit of tyranny, to say the least, 

 if not as the most forbidding impersonation of that monster. So unpopular is this method 

 of taxation, that an aspirant for public station or honors would as soon think of committing 

 high treason as propose or advocate it ; and if his ambition ^ ere bounded by the present, 

 he would be right, for he could not more effectually destroy his popularity." Treatise on 

 Political Economy, by George Opdyke. 



