LOCAL TAXES 99 



ears whenever it was uttered. Most people, 

 indeed, seem to think that truth, like every- 

 thing else, is subject to senile decay. The 

 musty piece of practical wisdom that I wish 

 for a moment to recall is, that the most 

 effective way of securing economy in the 

 expenditure of money is to see that people 

 spend what is really their own money. We 

 may dispute whether more money is wasted 

 over education by the central or by the local 

 authorities, but there is no doubt that one 

 great check to extravagance was removed 

 by the total abandonment of fees. When a 

 man really levies rates on himself, and only 

 on himself, and spends his rates on objects of 

 his own choice, then you secure the greatest 

 efficiency and economy. But this means that 

 the more people do for themselves, and the 

 less there is done for them, so much more value 

 is got for the money, and so on so also of the 

 moral values concerned. To resume the main 



