DEATH DUTIES 95 



and injury to the nation's chief industry, its 

 agriculture. Or, if at that time large sums were 

 extracted from such manufacturers in the form 

 of death duties, or in any other way, for the use 

 of Government or other purpose, then equally 

 there would result loss and injury to the nation's 

 chief industry. That is, the action of Govern- 

 ment at this crisis would have an effect on trade, 

 as bad as the neglect of the manufacturers to rise 

 to a great occasion. 



But such an extraction of capital might be 

 made at the same time for the use of Govern- 

 ment, from quite another set of persons, without 

 doing the trade of the nation any particular 

 harm. There are persons in every State who 

 are great art collectors, filling their houses with 

 specimens, and even building palaces to contain 

 their treasures. All the capital expended in 

 acquiring such of these treasures as come from 

 abroad, as they very largely do, is lost to the 

 nation for the time being, and remains a loss, 

 unless the treasures are ultimately dispersed, and 

 either return abroad or become public property. 

 Death duties levied at high rates on such an 

 art-collecting family would no doubt be severely 

 felt, particularly if the levy led to a partial dis- 

 persal of the collection ; but on the national 

 industry the levy would have no effect at all. 



No conceivable tax or duty, then, is peculiar 

 as causing a nation to live on its capital, death 

 duties no more so than a duty on tea or wine. 

 There are cases where heavy death duties may 

 happen to cause great loss to the nation ; there 



