12 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



total expenditures of the local authorities of the kingdom for 

 1893, defrayed from rates on the annual value of houses, or lands 

 occupied, from gas and water rents, tolls, dues, loans, etc., and less 

 the grant of subsidies from the Imperial Government, was about 

 56,000,000, making an aggregate of 131,400,000 or $657,000,000. 



For the year 1890 the aggregate receipts of the Federal and 

 State governments of the United States, mainly from taxes, as 

 reported by the census for that year, were $1,040,473,013, appor- 

 tioned as follows: Federal taxation, $461,154,000; State or local 

 taxation, $578,328,000. Deducting the cost of postal service repaid 

 by postal charges, and the receipts from the sale of public lands, 

 the aggregate expenditures of the Federal Government would 

 have been about $390,000,000. 



Of these large sums it is safe to say, more especially of the 

 latter national summary, that very small proportion, not even as 

 much as a single dollar, has been raised under a statute framed 

 and enacted solely from recognition of and conformity with any 

 correct economic principles ; and that in most, if not all, tax legis- 

 lation, ideas not warranted by thought and experience, and based 

 on expediency or political considerations, have always predomi- 

 nated. Illustrations of the truth of this assertion are abundant, 

 but for the present one most pertinent, drawn from recent experi- 

 ence, must suffice. In August, 1891, the Farmers' Alliance of the 

 State of Maryland held a convention in Baltimore, for the purpose 

 of advocating a complete revision of the tax laws of their State, 

 the imperfection, injustice, and practical futility of which were 

 not questioned. And after general debate the following resolu- 

 tions were unanimously adopted, not one of which is econom- 

 ically true ; not one of which in the light of experience can be 

 successfully enforced by other than a despotic government ; and 

 every one of which, if enforced, would prove prejudicial to the 

 interests of the community which sanctions and enacts them : 



Resolved, that the burden of all taxation ought to be imposed equally 

 and impartially on all property, of whatsoever kind, both personal and 

 real, without distinction and discrimination; that every exemption from 

 taxation is equivalent to direct appropriation for the benefit of the owner 

 of exempt property, and an increased levy on the projjerty of those who 

 pay taxes ; that no tax law which provides for the exemption of any prop- 

 erty of any kind can be either expedient or just; that no law, no contract, 

 no device which by any means directly or indirectly imposes the payment 

 of any part of any tax upon any man not the bona fide owner of that prop- 

 erty ought to be tolerated ; that debts secured by mortgages at legal inter- 

 est are among the best and most productive forms of property, and should 

 be taxed when the mortgages are recorded.* 



* In the following chapters the absurdity of the above resolutions will be specifically 

 demonstrated. 



