248 ADAM SMITH. 



pains, either to inform himself, or to acquire sound 

 notions of principle. Mr. Bentham has, in his admir- 

 able tract on the subject (' Protest against Law Taxes'), 

 demonstrated unanswerably that these imposts are the 

 very worst that have ever, to any considerable extent, 

 been adopted by any civilized nation. Dr. Smith, 

 however, had very sound ideas on the necessity of 

 separating the judicial from the executive office in 

 every State. 



3. Institutions or works are of three classes those 

 for aiding the commerce of the country, those for the 

 education of youth, and those for instructing its adult 

 citizens. 



(1.) Those for aiding commerce may either be directed 

 to help the general commerce of a country, or to help 

 particular branches. To the former class belong canals, 

 roads, bridges of which the cost, either as to making 

 or repairing, may be well and justly defrayed by a toll 

 on those who use them. In some countries, as in 

 France, this expense is defrayed by the State on all 

 the common roads; in others, as in England, the 

 property of tolls is in private hands, and the burthen 

 of repairing the roads lies on them. The repair of the 

 Languedoc Canal was intrusted, with its tolls, to the 

 Engineer Riqueti's family. A local administration 

 in such cases is always better than a central less 

 costly, and less liable to abuse. To the class of works 

 required for particular branches of commerce belong 

 factories, established in countries either wholly barbar- 

 ous, or varying widely in their customs and laws from 

 our own ; establishments of Consuls and Ministers ; 

 regulated companies, and joint stock companies. 

 Those joint stock companies the members of which 

 have the privilege of transferring their shares, and of 

 being only liable each to the extent of his subscription, 

 have a tendency to draw more capital into the trade 

 than could be invested by the members of private 

 partnerships. Hence they are only to be approved in 



