PRINCIPLES OF TAXATION. 165 



of Bristol Cathedral at that time while the building was being 

 repaired. The hotel and the church to the left of the cathedral 

 are also recognized by him. 



A more transparent fraud could hardly be devised, but its very 

 imbecility assures its success. We may be certain that for many 

 years to come the " Silent City " will be the " wonder and pride of 

 Alaska's bleak hills," and tourists eager to " pierce the veil " will 

 speculate on the probability of its being " perhaps altogether 

 within the recesses of another world." 



Thus it comes about, as I have elsewhere said, that " there is 

 no intellectual craze so absurd as not to have a following among 

 educated men and women. There is no scheme for the renova- 

 tion of the social order so silly that educated men will not invest 

 their money in it. There is no medical fraud so shameless that 

 educated men will not give it their certificate. There is no non- 

 sense so unscientific that men called educated will not accept it 



PRINCIPLES OF TAXATION. 



BY DAVID A. WELLS, LL.D., D.C.L., 



CORKESPONDANT DE L'lNSTITUT DE FRANCE, ETC. 



VIII. NOMENCLATURE AND FORMS OF TAXATION. 



THE most simple form of taxation is a pott or capitation tax. 

 Both terms may be regarded as identical in use and meaning, 

 but the former is probably more frequently used in tax treatises 

 and discussions. 



WHAT is A POLL TAX ? In a strictly economic sense the es- 

 sential requisite of a " poll " or " head " tax is that it be laid on all 

 polls or heads, and be unvarying in amount. A varying poll tax 

 would be an arbitrary exaction, and would not be sustained for a 

 moment as a proper exercise of the right of taxation, if laid with- 

 out reference to a man's ownership of property. So soon, how- 

 ever, as the amount of the tax exacted is made dependent upon 

 the amount of the property owned, the tax ceases to be a varying 

 poll tax, and becomes a tax on the property itself. The popular 

 idea of a poll tax in the United States is an annual tax, small in 

 amount, uniform as respects rate, and applicable only to adult 

 male persons. Such conceptions are not, however, in accord with 

 historical experience, which is to the effect that uniformity in as- 

 sessment has never been an essential or even usual feature of this 

 form of taxation, but as a rule the tax has been intentionally rated 

 to the person assessed according to his rank and station and sup- 

 posed property. The " poll " or " capitation " tax of history has, 

 therefore, been rather an " income " than a per capita tax ; and the 



