26 RA TES AND TAXES 



that taxes fall on persons in the maxim that 

 benefits also fall on persons, and equity 

 demands that if possible the bearers of the 

 loss, or payers of the tax, should also be the 

 receivers of the benefit and conversely. 



But as in taxation so in expenditure, we 

 must consider other canons besides that of 

 equity. In this case, also, certainty and 

 economy are often of greater importance. 

 Public funds ought really to be given to the 

 objects for which they are intended. Evasion 

 must be guarded against as rigidly as in 

 taxation. If grants in aid of rates are given 

 from the central funds, the precise objects 

 should, as a rule, be specified, or there is 

 a danger of malversation. The canon of 

 economy is obviously of fundamental im- 

 portance throughout. Any waste in expen- 

 diture means more taxation. Inefficiency, 

 also, means more taxation, and generally 

 every fault in expenditure means not only 



