TBANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 183 



especially Mr. Frederick Purdy, Professor J. E. T. Rogers, and Mr. Dudley Baxter. 

 The recent partial inquiry by" a select committee has cliieiiy served to prove the 

 extent and difficulty of the reform which is needed. 



We have considerable opposition raised to customs and excise duties, because 

 they are indirect taxes ; but the fact is, that direct taxation is practically impossible. 

 Careful examination shows that it is difficult to draw any clear distinction between 

 taxes in this respect. There are few or no direct taxes borne only by those who 

 pay them. The incidence of the local rates, for instance, is an undecided question, 

 but I do not doubt that they fall to a considerable extent indirectly. The incidence 

 of the stamp-duties is almost wholly indirect, but defies investigation. The income- 

 tax no doubt approaches closely to the character of a direct tax, but it has the in- 

 superable inconvenience of being paid by the honest people and escaped by the 

 rogues. I am inclined to look upon schemes of imiversal direct taxation as affording 

 much scope for interesting speculation, but as being, in practice, simply impossible. 



I have another point to urge. Is not the time come when the remission of taxes, 

 whether of one kind or another, may properly cease to be a main object ? The 

 surplus revenue of future years will doubtless be more than sufficient to enable the 

 Chaucellor of the Exchequer to reform or abolish those small branches of internal 

 revenue which occasion far more inconvenience and injury than they are worth. 

 There will still, should war be happily avoided, remain a considerable surplus, and 

 the question presses upon us, Shall this revenue be relinquished, or shall it be 

 applied to the reduction of the national debt ? 



In considering this subject, I may first point out that there probably exists no 

 grievous pressure of taxation, and no considerable inequality as regards the several 

 classes of the people. We are now able to estimate, with some approach to accu- 

 racy, the actual proportion of income which is paid by persons of different incomes. 

 The accounts now published by Government, and the labours of several eminent 

 statisticians, especially Professor Leone Levi and Mr. Dudley Baxter, permit us to 

 make this calculation. The most recent addition to our information is contained 

 in an elaborate paper read by Mr. Baxter before the Statistical Society in January 

 18(j9, and since published in the form of a volume. Mr. Baxter has, with great 

 industry and skill, collected a mass of information concerning the habits of persons 

 in different classes of society, which he combines with the published accounts of 

 the revenue and with the statistics of income previously estimated by himself and 

 Mr. Leone Levi. Both he and Professor Levi come to the conclusion that the 

 working classes, so long as they make a temperate use of spirituous liquors and 

 tobacco, pay a distinctly less proportion of their income to the State, and even in- 

 temperance does not make their contribution proportionally greater than those of 

 more wealthy persons. 



It happens" that, before I was aware of Mr. Baxter's elaborate inquiries, I under- 

 took a similar inquiiy on a much more limited scale, by investigating the taxes 

 paid by average families spending £40, £85, and £500 a year. My conclusions, as 

 might be expected, were not exactly coincident with those either of Mr. Baxter or 

 Professor Levi ; yet there was no great discrepancy. I conceive that families of 

 the classes mentioned, consuming moderate quantities of tobacco and spirituous 

 liquors, all pay about 10 per cent, of their income in general or local taxation, al- 

 lowance being" made for the recent reduction of the sugar-duty and the repeal of 

 tbe corn-duty. But thete is this distinction to be noticed, that the taxation of the 

 middle classes is mostly imavoidable, whereas at least half the taxation of the poorer^ 

 classes depends upon the amount of tobacco and spirituous liquors which they con- 

 sume. Families of artisans or labourers abstaining from the use of these stimu- 

 lants are taxed very lightly, probably not paying more than 4 or 5 per cent, of 

 their income. Now, while many men are total abstainers and many are intempe- 

 rate, I think we cannot regard the taxes upon stimulants as we do other taxes. 

 The payment of the tax is voluntaiy, and is, I believe, paid without reluctance. 

 The more we thus investigate the present incidence of taxation, the more it seems 

 inexpedient to proceed further in the reduction of the customs and excise duties. 

 The result would be to leave by far the larger mass of the people almost free from 

 any thing but local taxes, and to throw the whole cost of Government upon the 

 wealthier classes, and especially those who have tangible property. 



