CHAPTER III 



LOCAL TAXES 



IN the preceding chapter it was shown that 

 there is no justification for the popular 

 argument that so far as the national taxes 

 are concerned the taxes that fall on agri- 

 cultural land may be looked on as a kind 

 of rent charge that equitably accrues to the 

 State. It is, however, chiefly in reference 

 to local rates that this theory of the heredi- 

 tary burden is most often used, and it can 

 only be met by a careful examination of 

 the historical evidence. The history of 

 local rates in England has been very fully 

 and impartially treated by Dr. Cannan, 



and the history has been brought down 



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