PRINCIPLES OF TAXATION. 769 



know no more concerning a 'wise progression' than I do about a 

 ' wise addition' or a 'wise multiplication/ A progression is or it 

 is not. If it is insignificant, then it is a delusion. The inequality it 

 aims at destroying subsists intact. If a true progression in taxa- 

 tion is established, here are the results we obtain : We will sup- 

 pose, for example, that the tax ought to be trebled when the 

 income is doubled ; then a tax of 10 francs on 100 francs of income 

 would rise to 200 francs on 2,000 francs, to 600 francs on 4,000 

 francs, to 1,800 francs on 8,000 francs, to 5,400 francs on 16,000 

 francs, to 16,200 francs on 32,000 francs, to 48,600 francs on 64,000 

 francs, and to 145,000 francs on 128,000 francs. I conclude that 

 the principle that ends in such a consequence can only be false. 

 What ! the tax would one day exceed my fortune ! I should be 

 the debtor of the fiscal system that had absorbed more than my 

 revenue. Then it would be for my interest not to augment it ! 

 I shall have accumulated only for the treasury, and the more I ac- 

 quire the more rapidly I shall be despoiled. . . . That system may 

 suit Utopians and retrograde people who completely absorb the 

 individual in the state, but it will not suit those who, relying on 

 facts, think the greatness and wealth of the state ought to pro- 

 ceed from the development of individuals. It may suit those 

 who seek equality at the basis, but not those who seek equality at 

 the summit. The theory of progressive taxation is a vestige of 

 the old prejudice that regarded wealth as an evil, as a sort of 

 theft from the rest of the country, and that it would be equitable 

 to make the rich man atone or make reparation for the possession 

 of his fortune and his pleasures. In warlike civilizations, where 

 wealth was based on violence, it is not difficult to understand the 

 legitimacy of this prejudice; but it finds no warrant in our in- 

 dustrial civilization, where all wealth, to be legitimate, must be 

 based on the appropriation of natural agents to our wants. But 

 the partisans of a wise progression in taxation have found means 

 of escaping from the absurdity of the above consequence namely, 

 confiscation. They propose that above a certain figure the pro- 

 gression shall stop. Under such a system they would favor him 

 who has but little money ; but they would favor still more him 

 whose wealth exceeds a certain limit. If you have 4,000 a year, 

 you pay the maximum of the progression; if you have more 

 than 4,000, the progression vanishes. A principle which ends in 

 such consequences does not exist." 



M. MENIER'S RULES. To establish a system of taxation which 

 will be equitable and effective without involving the principle of 

 progressive or discriminating taxes, M. Menier regards the fol- 

 lowing constructive rules as fundamental : 



1. Taxation should never be laid on circulating capital, " since 

 every tax that obstructs circulation impedes production in a geo- 



VOL. LI. 67 



