CHAPTER II 



NATIONAL TAXES 



BEFORE proceeding to consider the historical 

 argument on the "hereditary burden " theory, 

 some notice may be taken of a quasi-legal 

 argument, which is often popularly supposed 

 to give a legal foundation for the exceptional 

 taxation of land as compared with other 

 forms of property. 



If the law sometimes makes havoc of the 

 principles of common-sense in the matter of 

 taxation, common-sense in return sometimes 

 makes havoc of the law. Blackstone long 

 ago found it necessary to distinguish between 

 the terms reason, reasonable, and the like, 

 according to the popular and the legal usage, 



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