330 THE BEE, OR March 3, 



As licences are paid at once, if not exceedingly 

 moderate, they may, in many cafes, , be opreffive. 



Confeftioners, perfumers, and hair-dreffers, might 

 be fubjefted to the paynlent of a licence with as much 

 propriety as the retailers of fmall beer. 



The coach-duty' may be reckoned a licence tax ; be- 

 ing charged per tale, it is not liable to the objeftion of 

 inequality. 



A fmall duty, charged per ton on all fhips and vef- 

 fcls, might be levied at little expence, and with great 

 certainty. 



Stamp-duties have, of late, become common ; all 

 perhaps, that can be faid in their favour, is, that they 

 aire cheaply colle£l:ed. They point out no particular 

 improvement by which they can be compenfated. 

 They are, in the firft inftance, unequal, and cannot 

 be retailed like impofts on merchandize or manufac- 

 ture. In their payment, nothing is feen but the 

 tax. 



" There arc two ftates in Europe, (fays ^lontef- 

 quieu), where there are heavy impofts on liquor ; in 

 the one (England), tlie brewer alone pays the tax ; 

 in the other (Holland), it is indifcriminatcly levied 

 upon all the confumers. In the firft, nobody feels the 

 rigour of the impoft ; in the fecond, it is looked upoii 

 as a grievance." 



Stamp-duties will always be obnoxious, and every ef- 

 fort will be made to evade them. There is no reafon to 

 appiehend, that before the receipt-tax can be made ef- 

 ficient, fuch encouragement muft be given to inform- 

 ers, as may prove prejudicial to morals. 



In fpite of Mr. Sherridan's affertion, taxes' of this 

 kind are perhaps, of all others, the leaft proper for ?, 

 free people. 



