192 ADAM SMITH. 



affect in some small degree the wages of labour ; however, 

 the salt-tax, now repealed (somewhat hastily, by the efforts 

 of party,) pressed so very lightly that its loss has been 

 pretty generally lamented, and it certainly yielded to the 

 clamour against its disproportion to the price of the 

 article, and its requiring so many persons to collect it. 

 Dr. Smith, however, condemns much more strongly two 

 other measures which operate as taxes on the mere 

 necessaries of life, and yield no revenue ; the bounty on 

 exportation of corn, and the protecting duties on the 

 importation of that and meat. But he considers these as 

 clearly tending to raise the price of labour, and conse- 

 quently regards their repeal as sure to lower wages ; so 

 that the advocates of that repeal are prevented from 

 quoting his authority because they always deny this 

 tendency of the measure, or at least have always denied it 

 since the working-classes hearing the arguments originally 

 advanced for the repeal, from its being expected to lower 

 wages, plainly indicated their aversion to the change. 

 Dr. Smith shows that in other countries a high direct tax 

 is imposed on flour, and even on bread, instancing Hol- 

 land, where it was supposed to make the money price of 

 bread double in the towns; the country inhabitants 

 paying a poll-tax in lieu of it. The taxes on luxuries 

 fall pretty equally on the whole people, according to their 

 consumption. The great bulk of them is paid by the 

 inferior and most numerous classes, but no rise of wages 

 being caused by this payment, the burthen remains where 

 it first falls. Dr. Smith strongly recommends the repeal 

 of beer-taxes, and substituting malt-taxes instead; this 

 has since been so far effected that beer is no longer 

 directly taxed. But these taxes especially, on the upper 



