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JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
NOTES ON BEVENUE-BAISING. 
SYLLABUS OF PAPER BY R. H. Mc CARTHY. 
(Read 17th March, 1887.) 
A wise system of taxation is necessary to the prosperity of a 
community. Examples of over-taxation. Contributions to revenue 
may be in money, kind, or labour. Examples of revenue-raising 
among the Romans and other ancient peoples — the Aztecs and 
Incas in Europe in the Middle Ages, &c. Sketch of English 
taxation — under Romans, Saxons, and Plantagenets. Origin and 
rise of Customs duties. Benevolences. Poll-taxes. Monopolies. 
Ship-money. Excise founded. Land tax. Tax on newspapers. 
Duties on marriages and on bachelors. Increase of taxation 
during wars of last century. Pitt's taxes. Zenith reached in 
1815. Spread of Free-trade ideas, and consequent wholesale 
repeal of Customs duties.. History of taxation of last forty 
years one of reduction and abolition. Some stamp and license 
duties of to-day. A word about foreign and colonial finance. 
Theory of taxation. Adam Smith's maxims. Objectionable 
taxes. Examples. Conclusion. 
THE GROWTH OF OUB COLONIAL EMPIBE. 
SYLLABUS OF LECTURE BY FRANK PHILLIPS, F. R.C.I. 
(Read 24th March, 1887.) 
The British Empire : As it was fifty years ago, and as it is in the 
present day. Its area and population. Comparison of the increase 
of trade of the Empire during the past fifty years. The products 
of the Colonies and British Possessions. Railways, telegraphs, 
and means of communication. Governments. Imperial federation. 
Emigration. Position of Plymouth in relation to the Colonies. 
