6 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



mand that lie be given his freedom, had followed precedents, he 

 would have denied the application, for such precedents were 

 opposed to it. But recognizing the change which an advanced 

 civilization had effected in the government of the English peo- 

 ple, and that the slave was held, to quote his language, " in virtue 

 of positive law " (precedent), " which preserves its force long 

 after the reasons and occasions from whence it was created are 

 erased from memory," he granted the application ; and incorpo- 

 rated into the policy of the English Government the 'principle of 

 which the British people have ever since been proud that no 

 person can continue to be a slave after he has planted his foot on 

 English soil. 



Other obstacles, at present almost insuperable, in the way of 

 establishing a correct system of taxation, are that the subject is 

 not properly taught, if taught at all, in the higher institutions of 

 learning of the United States and Great Britain ; that up to the 

 present time there is rarely if ever given a correct and scientific 

 definition of the terms "tax" and "taxation," which makes it 

 somewhat doubtful if those who talk about their meaning and 

 incidents know what they are talking about ; that there are no 

 text-books on the subject generally accepted as authoritative ; 

 that there is no clear and settled understanding even as to what 

 constitutes the main subject of taxation namely, property ; that 

 the meaning of terms which have formed the basis of statutes 

 and legal practice is entirely different in the United States and 

 other leading civilized nations ; and that, as a rule, professors of 

 economic science in the United States have failed to recognize in 

 their reasoning and teachings of this whole subject, that the Gov- 

 ernment of the United States, both Federal and State, differs in 

 many respects, both in theory and practice, from any other gov- 

 ernment that has heretofore existed ; and that therefore ideas and 

 experiences which are regarded as the basis of sound policy in 

 respect to taxation in the former are not accepted as such in the 

 latter. Thus the United States, alone of the great nations of the 

 world, regards debts and credits as property rightfully subject to 

 taxation. The United States is also the only nation in which the 

 taxation of exports is forbidden both to Federal and State gov- 

 ernments under any circumstances. To no other government, 

 furthermore, than that of the United States is applicable the fol- 

 lowing principle enunciated by the United States Supreme Court 

 (116 United States Reports, p. 631) respecting the assessment and 

 collection of taxes : " Any compulsory discovery, by extorting the 

 party's oath, or compelling the production of his private books 

 and papers to convict him of a crime or to forfeit his property, is 

 contrary to the principles of a free government. It is abhorrent 

 to the instincts of an American. It may suit the purposes of 



