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of taxing fire, air, earth, and water; hackney coaches* and sausages (apropos, Mr. Poulett Thompson's excellent bill repeals the tax on sausages), little dogs and pedlars, bagnios or gaming houses† (such a tax is imposed by the King's Government in Ceylon), births, marriages, and deaths; in fine, every thing eatable or drinkable, usable or not usable, which in free England pays in some shape or other to the government? But Mr. Rickards and his coadjutors renew their clamour on the old doctrine, that the ability of the subject to pay, will be in proportion as he is free. I do not deny the abstract principle of the axiom, but I object to its sweeping application; if it were qualified by the admission, that in proportion to the freedom of a people, in such proportion would be their willingness to contribute to the demands of the state, then I could not refuse concurrence to it. But the amount of taxation on a people, is neither a way to judge of the degree of liberty which they possess, nor of the prosperity which they enjoy. When M. Necker published his able work on the financial state of France previous to the revolution, it presented to view several remarkable facts.

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are means of raising the revenue by taxation to any extent? A. Any change from established custom in India gives rise to considerable dissatisfaction. The land rent is what they readily pay; although it may appear exorbitant, yet it is a revenue which is paid without much difficulty; and a tax in any other shape, however small, is comparatively disliked, I think." (848.)

How the cranchie wallahs of Calcutta would stare if they were to be taxed!

The gaming-houses in Ceylon are, in fact, bagnios.

What are the licenses, probates, &c. in England but modifications of the Mahomedan taxation on the same events?

BRITTANY.

In the province 1,774 square leagues;-1,282 souls to each square league;-each head paying 10s. 11d.-A free province.

NORMANDY.

In the province 1,635 square leagues;-1,170 souls to each league; each head paying £1. 6s. 04d.-No distinct rights.

In the foregoing, we see that where there were abundance of manufactures, but no free institutions, the population was more numerous, and the average taxation greater than where the contrary existed; but as this subject is of considerable importance, not only to India but to England, let us examine it more narrowly.

Great Britain and Ireland enjoy the same political institutions, but the people of the latter country are less able to bear their taxation, ten shillings and six-pence per head per annum, than the people of Great Britain, who pay sixty shillings per head, which (including poor-rates, &c.) is the amount of their contribution to the state. The cause is obvious; one is a manufacturing as well as an agricultural country, where property and person are safe from violence; the other possesses few manufactures, and society is in a constant state of turmoil and party disputes, from previous misgovernment, which the ruling authorities are unable to subdue. The French, under M. Necker, paid a revenue of £24,850,000, averaging £1. Os. 8d. per head; but under the despotism of Napoleon, they contributed a much larger quota. St. Domingo, previous to its revolution, could furnish a much greater revenue than at the present moment, when enjoying all the blessings of freedom.

The following statement of the revenue, debt, &c. of the different countries in Europe compared with India and America will, however, best illustrate the subject:

Geographical square miles.

Population.

EXTENT of POPULATION, REVENUE, and DEBT, and the PROPORTION of each to each INDIVIDUAL in EUROPE, AMERICA,

States.

Proportion of
Revenue to
Population.

Proportion of Debt to Population.

and INDIA.

Revenue.

Debt.

Proportion of Population to Area in square miles.

£.

£.

£. s. d.

£. s. d.

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161,376

6,002,774 60,367,000 17,420,000 35,550,000 194,448 32,838,900 13,940,000 78,100,000 32,500,000 39,020,000 194,400,000

10

6

11 9

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Great Britain (without its colonies)

88,560

24,591,396 47,142,033 819,600,000

278

1 18 4

33 6 1

Prussia

80,240

12,552,278 8,149,000 29,701,000

156

13 0

27 71

Netherlands

19,136

6,116,685 6,590,000 148,500,000

320

19 0

23 5 5

Sweden

126,960

2,900,000 2,170,000

23

15 0

Norway

92,768

1,050,132 354,000

252,100

11

69

Denmark

Poland

16,304

1,931,014 1,238,000 3,729,000

118

14 104

1

36,668

4,035,700 1,206,000 5,740,000

110

60

1

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135,136

13,909,000 6,420,000 70,000,000

103

13 5

5

27,552

5,013,950 2,110,000 5,649,000

182

1

1

3 10
18 43
334

0 8

2 61

Swo Sicilies

31,592 7,414,717 3,521,000 18,974,000

234

961

2 11 2

Sardinia

21,840

4,333,966 2,750,000 4,584,000

198

12 8

1

1 21

States of the Church

12,976

2,483,940 1,238,000 17,142,000

191

9 10

7

0 9

Grand Duchy of Tuscany

6,320

1,300,000 623,400 1,884,000

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Switzerland

11,636

2,037,000 440,000

175

4 33

Ottoman Empire in Europe

160,000

9,476,000 2,475,000 3,667,000

59

5 21

7 83

Bavaria

22,160

4,037,017 2,973,000 11,311,000

182

14 81

2 16 04

Saxony

5,568

1,350,000 1,009,000 3,300,000

224

13 5

2 9 1

Hanover

11,620

1,537,500

990,000 2,384,000

132

12 10

1 11 0

Wurtemberg

5,744

1,535,400

851,950 2,505,000

269

10 54

1 12 71

Baden

4,384

1,141,727

901,290 1,670,000 260

15 91

1 9 21

Hesse (Darmstadt)

2,960

697,901

537,260 1,184,900

269

14 7

1 13 111

Hesse (Electorate)

3,328

718,000

476,000 220,000

215

13 7

6 14

United States, North America

1,570,000

12,856,165 5,600,000 7,500,000

8

8 61

11 8

East-India Company's Territories

514,190

98,000,000 18,500,000 34,700,000

192

3 91

7 04

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This table shews the absurdity of the doctrine, that the freedom of a nation is tested by the amount of revenue which it supplies; America, for instance, pays little more than Russia, as much as Austria, and double the amount of India; Denmark averages nearly the same as Spain, and the Ottoman empire and Switzerland are almost alike, while as regards their debt, Russia and America, Spain and France are on a footing. A difference in the system of finances, agriculture, and manufactures in nations affords a material difference in the ability of the people to pay heavy or light taxes, or to bear enormous or trivial debts. In Switzerland, as well as in England or Holland, the taxes are carried to nearly the greatest possible extent, but the Dutchman or Briton could in time of war, or under a despotic sovereign, bear more than the Swiss; the reason is obvious, the former possess extensive agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, the latter are a poor but brave and free people. The inhabitants of the barren rock of St. Helena may be as free as the citizens of London, but will they be as rich? I admit, nay I am certain, that liberty is a powerful incitement to the prosperity of a nation (I mean that liberty which provides for personal safety, security of property, and the authority of public opinion); but, as Switzerland, Norway, and Sweden prove, there are other ingredients as well as the essence of freedom requisite for the creation and progression of wealth. When Mr. Rickards, therefore, complains that the Hindoos are not rich because they do not possess such free institutions as Englishmen, he should recollect the difference in manufactures there is between them, and remember that by following his advice, the people of India will be less able from year to year to bear even their present assessment. In England, the agricultural interest, although not of much more value than the manufactur

ing interest,* is protected in every shape; the farmer on signing his lease contracts two positive debts,† one to the landlord for rent, the other to the soil for the expenses of tillage; he relies on the goodness of the seasons, and the rate of the markets, for the provision of means to liquidate his engagements. The government cannot control the seasons, but they may the markets, and to prevent ruin to the landed interest by either of these contingencies failing, an impost is put on foreign corn, because an immoderate importation would be as fatal as a complete drought, while

* The late Mr. Colquhoun estimated the annual creation of property in Great Britain and Ireland for the year 1812 as follows: 1 have excluded the East and West-India possessions, &c.

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Banks, viz., chartered banks and private bank

ing establishments

3,500,000

Foreign income

5,000,000

Dependencies in Europe

1,818,000

£432,339,372

When the Hindoo farmer enters on his land, either by heritage or purchase, he does so knowing that from time immemorial it was subject to a certain assessment in proportion to its produce, which never entered into the bargain of sale, no more than the tithe or poor laws do on land in England, or the ground rent of a house; the Hindoos, therefore, in reality do not feel any burthen from the assessment, for instead of their taxes being heavier than formerly, they are lighter; and had they a mart for the exchange or sale of their grain, sugar, coffee, and pepper, &c., they would soon become rich, on account of the fertility of the land.

It will be seen from this, that corn laws are an advantage to the small farmers as well as to the great land proprietors. The English farmer, besides, is differently situated from the French, Spanish, or Portuguese; if the corn fail them, they have their wine as a stand by. Moreover in England, the tradespeople do not, like the farmers, all deal in one article, on which their whole support depends. M.

Necker

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