1244 
Ihf RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 15, 1921 
Don’t buy aPid in a poke 
Runts aren’t profitable, whether they’re 
pigs or furnaces. They take a lot more 
care than healthy ones—and in the end 
the dollars are a minus quantity.^ 
Good furnaces cost more than poor ones 
—they have to. It costs more to make a 
Sterling Furnace than a poor one—both 
because of special features like the side' 
pipe construction and also because good 
workmanship is not cheap, and good 
workmanship is built into every 
AT P Sterling Furnace 
The One Register Furnace 
But it more than repays this difference in 
fuel saving and longer life. Look under the 
case of your furnace when purchasing. You 
wouldn’t buy a “ pig in a poke.” 
We’ll gladly tell you all its ad¬ 
vantages if you’ll simply mail 
us a postal saying “Why?” 
SILL STOVE WORKS 
ROCHESTER, N. Y. 
NOBUCKLt 
HARNESS 
HANDIER. STRONGER 
WEARS LONGER 
30 
DAYS 
jr,al PostYou rseir 
INVESTIGATE—G 
. , . . 011 Walsh no-buckle harness, 
before buying any harness. Let me send 
you tins wonderful harness on 30 day. free trial. 
See for yourself this harness which outwears buckle 
harness because it has no buckles to tear .traps no 
low-t t0 , wear them, no hole, in « rap 2 
to weaken them. Highest possible quality of 1 eat he?. 
Try Walsh Harness on Your Team 
Return if not satisfactory. Costs less, saves 
T.i P a‘ rS ’ w , < ! ar3 longer, fits any niie horse perfectly 
Made in all styles, back pads, side backers, breech-" 
xngless. etc. EASY PAYMENTS of |1S down 
balance small monthly payments. Discount for ' 
Ca3 . h .-.. U , r ‘ t ' f0r catal °gue. price*, easy terms 
JAMES M. WALSH, Pres. wu- - 
WALSH HARNESS CO. 
Dept* J1 .1 
137 Keefe Ave. 
Milwaukee, WU. 
Trappers seeking the most for their catch 
should write to us at once. Our price list D 
will be mailed free. It shows the amazingly 
high prices we pay. 
TRAPPERS’ GUIDE. Our new trappers’ 
guide, which is worth $1.00, will be 
mailed upon receipt of 25c. and 2c. post* 
age. Send today. 
ASOSWNDiar 
122 W. 27 St.newYoRk Cit 
FREE 
a Price List 
FARM FOR SALE OR RENT 
MILLINGTON, N. J. 
Onn Aerpe Tritli house and improvements. 
£UU HUGS Fully stocked. h 2 mile from Church 
and School. Would rent to desirable parties. 
OWNER, Room 309 
10 E. 43rd St. - New York City 
TRAPPERS! Read This 
St.cM Oiler IK'Sp&lS 
skunk, wolf, muskrat, etc., howto 
make den, water, snow, log and blind sets ; how to fasten 
traps, make deadfalls, snares, stretch furs, etc. Every trap¬ 
per.should haveaeopy; will lielpyou make money. Price 35c 
FIIK NEWS AND OUTDOOR WORLD 
big illus. monthly magazine, tells about fur markets and 
prices, trapping, hunting, fishing, woodcraft, fur farm 
ing, ginseng and other roots and herbs. Filled with good 
stories of outdoor life, written by experienced men. You 
will get pleasure and profit from reading this magazine. 
Different from any you ever read. Price 16e per copy. 
SPECIAL OFF Elf. Send lOe coin and we will send 
you copy of book and copy of magazine. 
FUR NEWS AND OUTDOOR WORLD,370 7thAve..NewYork. R«n.33i 
NEW YORK FERTILE FARMS 
fordairying, hay, grain,garden truck,poultry stock, 
machinery and building, $35 to $150 per acre, Ad¬ 
dress MANDEVILLE REAL ESTATE AUENCY. Inc . Olean, N. Y. 
FARMS. ROSWELL ALLEN, Beleherfown.Mass. 
M i MAKEA UOM.AR AN HOIK. SELL M I’.NDETS 
fit GRIS a patent patch for instantly mending leaks 
O in all utensils. Sample p a c k a ge free. 
COI.LETTF MFC. CO.,I*ept. 308, Amsterdam, N. Y. 
FREE 
Guarantee 
We guarantee you will be 
satisfied with our check, 
or we will ship back your 
fura. 
Every trapper knows that the place to 
get highest prices is where they have 
experts assorting and grading. The fact that I grade every skin 
personally assures you of getting every cent your catch is 
worth. Don’t take my word for it, but ship a small lot at first and 
be convinced. You take no risk, for my iron clad guarantee 
protects you. 
My new price list contains np-to-the-minute quotations. Send for 
a copy now, before you forget. A postal card will do. 
[l55 W^St" 
|NEW YORK CITY 
A Primer of Economics 
By John J. Dillon 
Part XLVI 
TAXATION 
What are taxes? 
Taxes are compulsory contributions to 
the public funds for the purpose of pay¬ 
ing the expense of government, and fre¬ 
quently also for corrective purposes, and 
other social policies. 
Are taxes for government expenses 
justifiable? 
Governments are organized primarily 
to protect life and property and to se¬ 
cure liberty; this service involves an ex¬ 
pense, and it is therefore right and pro¬ 
per that a tax be levied to defray the 
necessary and economic expenses of gov- 
. eminent. 
In what way is taxation used to carry 
out social policies? 
Society has sanctioned a tax on wines 
and liquors for the purpose of restricting 
their use, and on the dispensation of them 
to prevent abuses. We tax dogs to pay 
damage to sheep and other domestic ani¬ 
mals injured by them. We tax oleomar¬ 
garine to prevent the sale of it in Imita¬ 
tion of butter. We impose a license tax 
on produce commission merchants to cor¬ 
rect abuses to distant shippers. A heavy 
tax is imposed on the issue of State banks 
to prohibit the issue entirely, and to give 
national banks exclusive privilege of is¬ 
suing currency. In like manner a tax is 
sometimes imposed on commodities to 
keep them from being shipped out of the 
country, and on foreign goods to prevent 
or restrict their importation. 
Is taxation justly distributed? 
It is doubtful if any absolutely just 
.system of taxation ever has or ever can 
be devised. The best system is likely to 
impose a greater burden on some than on 
others. The policy advocated by the 
early Christian philosophers, and ac¬ 
cepted by many economists of the presenr 
time, is that the subject should be taxed 
in proportion to his ability to pay, and 
not in proportion to the apparent bene¬ 
fits he receives from government. IT is 
ability to pay is generally estimated more 
by his annual income than by his total 
possessions. It is, however, a quite gen¬ 
erally accepted theory that income from 
investments or permanent revenue should 
be taxed heavier than temporary revenue 
or income from labor or professional ser¬ 
vices, but this theory lias not as yet been 
generally adopted in practice. 
Do taxes impose a hardship ou the 
people? 
In some cases taxes may and frequently 
do impose a hardship. The payment of 
taxes always, implies a sacrifice which, 
however, is felt more by some than by 
others. We tax chauffeurs for the privi¬ 
lege of driving automobiles ou the public 
highways; and in some instances with¬ 
draw the privilege when they violate the 
law. We impose a tax on peddlers, ou 
milk distributors and on many other pub¬ 
lic vendors to collect a revenue and also 
for regulative purposes. These are all 
social expedients that impose a burden ou 
the subject, and have been adopted by 
governments generally and sanctioned by 
society and usage. The justification is 
social welfare. 
What principles have been accepted as 
a proper guide for a fair and equitable 
system of taxation? 
In his “Wealth of Nations” Adam 
Smith laid down in considerable detail 
four canons of taxation, and these have 
been quite generally accepted by econo¬ 
mists since his time. Briefly epitomized, 
these maxims are: 
1. Every subject should contribute to 
the public revenue in proportion to the in ¬ 
come which he enjoys under the protec¬ 
tion of the State. 
2. The amount of tax and the time of 
payment ought not to be left to the judg¬ 
ment or caprice of the tax collector or 
any other officials. Taxes should be cer¬ 
tain—not arbitrary. The subject himself 
and everyone else should know the basis 
of payment and the time and place for 
payment. 
3. The tax ought to be collected at a 
time and in a manner most convenient 
for the contributor to pay it. 
4. The tax should be collected at the 
least possible expense. The people 
should be required to pay little more than 
the State receives. 
Would an observance of Adam Smith’s 
first maxim insure a just and equitable 
tax? 
A strict observance of the spirit of 
this first principle would result in a tax 
fair to all; but it is doubtful if it is 
possible to levy a tax strictly in accord¬ 
ance with the principle in every individual 
ease. Moreover, we have no standard by 
which we could judge of the exact, justice 
of individual assessments. At best the 
payment of taxes is a sacrifice. The man 
with a hundred-thousand-dollar : neome 
would pay a percentage tax with less 
sacrifice than the man with an income of 
one thousand dollars. A uniform income 
tax or a property tax therefore may 
not be entirely equitable, yet to impose 
a tax on the basis of benefits received 
would not be entirely just, either. The 
person weakest in mind and body may 
derive the greatest benefit from govern¬ 
ment because, if deprived of government, 
he would be at the mercy of the strong 
and cunning; but it would hardly be 
equitable or just to exact more from him 
than from his more fortunate neighbor. 
The tax on commodities is always paid 
by the consumer. A workman with a 
family of 10 will use. more tea and con¬ 
sequently pay more of the tea tax than 
his rich employer with a family of three. 
Nothing devised by human intelligence is 
perfect; and the best we can hope to do 
in a system of taxation is to lay down 
fair and equitable principles and to mete 
out the greatest measure of justice in 
the practical application of them. 
Do the economists who agree with 
Adam Smith on the equity of taxation as 
defined in his first maxim also agree on 
the application of it? 
Many persons who aecept Adam Smith’s 
first principle differ widely as to its 
application. Some persons contend that 
taxes are paid as an equivalent for the 
protection received, and should be paid 
in proportion to the value of property 
protected. On this theory the person 
with twice as much property as another 
should pay double for the protection of 
it. Still others insist that since persons 
are protected as well as property, a uni¬ 
form tax should be levied on each person 
as an equivalent for personal protection, 
and a percentage tax should be levied on 
property to pay the remaining part of 
government expense. Another and more 
prevailing view is that the benefits of 
government are comprehensive and in¬ 
definite. These benefits are therefore in¬ 
capable of exact appraisement; and the 
nearest approach to justice will be to de¬ 
mand an equal sacrifice from each sub¬ 
ject in as far as that object can be at¬ 
tained under general principles and de¬ 
finite rules. 
Are taxes levied generally on com¬ 
modities? 
Taxes have not been levied generally 
on commodities in this country, but some 
commodities have always been taxed, and 
in war times a commodity tax has gen¬ 
erally been levied ou commodities that 
are classed as luxuries. At the present 
time a large line of luxuries are taxed 
to meet expenses of the late World War. 
In addition to domestic taxes, this coun¬ 
try derives a revenue from a tax on some 
imports from foreign countries. 
The general run of farmers in this lo¬ 
cality are doing fairly well this Fall, al¬ 
though some crops were light. Hay was 
very light, and not much for sale. Wheat 
a fair crop, and price at mill $1.05 per 
bu. Oats not first-class, 42c. Potatoes 
not an average, and worth $1. Farmers 
have to pay 50c per lb. for butter. Cheese 
retails at 30c. Milk, per qt., what we 
pay, 10c. Cabbage has sold at $35 per 
ton. Red kidney beans, 8c per lb., whole¬ 
sale. Buckwheat very poor, ou account 
of the hot, dry weather; no price yet. 
Corn a good crop, the best in years; a 
good yield of silage corn. A good acre¬ 
age of Winter wheat sown and most of it 
looks fine now. Most farmers are well 
along with their work. Beans a good 
crop, and cabbage very light. w. IT. R. 
Steuben Co., N. Y. 
