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    s30 2Vie Saturday Analyst and Leader. [S...

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    LOUIS NAPOLEON AND COBSI0A. T HE corresp...

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    The .Scientific Socialists At Glasgow. W...

    and freely distributed where they are most wanted , ^ W ^ aii ) artificial obstacles or restrictions being imposed . -The want to produce corn and cattle where we choose * f . . U *^ f J \< £ we . choose is a legitimate want , which , w its natare ^ is saUsfiable by anbody wfthout preventing anybod y else from sat ^ ng it , and without prejudice to the satisfying of the specie principal wants by all mankind . And the absurd and cruel Faws which formerly interfered with this ^ t ^ er ^ productive as such laws ever must be productive , not merely of great direct mischief , in rendering . food dear and scarce , J > u t . £ w almost incalculable saieiy

    indirect mischief , to an extent , we ma *; « tt # ittss & tti ^ - igrf ^^ -Tt ^ x ^ ^^ ap ^ vS tSev are paying " , and which levies its imposts not 111 proportion to their abiltvtSpa " but upon their necessities and wants . There is no " ood in attempting to blink the truth-there can be no such thS-iS Free Trad !\ vherc indirect taxes are imposed . V *™*** of twelve years ago the writer of this / ai ^ icle summarised the chief objections to Indirect taxation , and has had the satisfaction of seeing them subsequently adopted , in theory at least , by our most enlightened economists . One of the chief advantages that lias been usually urged in favour of indirect taxes , looked at from the

    Exchequer kand-point , is the very . thing that constitutes one of its chief defects when viewed from the stand-point . of common sense and common honesty , namely , the fact that by this system men arc taxed behind thier backs and without their knowledge to an extent thev would never tolerate under direct taxation when ^ each man could see vvhat he paid . One of the indirect mischiefs of tins is a premium upon reckless waste and extravagance on the part of the Governinexit . There is not one valid objection—not one . objection that . will bear a moment ' s scrutiny against direct . taxation . The only reason it is not adopted is that the unproductive dass ^ in whose W 1 « th fi Iftaislation of the country is lodged , desire that the taxes ine

    should come out of the industry and labour of the country , objection that direct taxation woidd involve a disclosure of people s ^ Sources , in order that they might be taxed "in proportion to Jheir ability to pay , " is futile , inasmuch as that disclosure takes place nowunderthe Income Tax . Indeed , there . is a scheme of direct taxation abundantly adaptable for immechate . practical apphcation which may be explained in very few words . That men should be taxed proTdrtionately to their capacity is now regarded m theory , however grosslit is violated in practice , as > * *^ e l

    y ^^ J" ^ practical purposes there is but one way of measuring this capacity , The method is to reckon a man up and see what he is worth in respect of the year for which the tax is levied . For examp le : —Take a freeholder with an estate yielding an ^ come of £ 100 per annum , and no other property ; then he is worth for the year £ 3 , 100 , that is £ 100 income received in respect of the past year and £ 3 , 000 being the market value of his estate at thirty years purchase . Take a man with £ 100 received from a clerkship , or other precarious vnnatim Vlnvino- the nast vear . and no other property , he is worth

    this £ 100 and no more . Take a leaseholder whoso estate brings in £ 100 a-year income , and is worth ten years' purchase ; he is worth £ 1 , 100 for the past year , in respect of which we stippose the tax to be due . Take the case of an annuitant with £ 100 for life , but without power of anticipation , that is , unable to sell his life interest , he would be worth , in respect of any given year , the £ 100 he had received within that year ; but if he had power of then he would be worth

    anticipation , and could sell his life interest this , plus the years' income ; suppose -his l » g wf orest to bo worth six years' purchase , then he wouH be worth . £ 700 for tlie past . year , because at any time during that year he would be worth £ 600 , the value of his life interest , and would have received £ 100 in respect x > f the past year . Suppose , then , the taxes to be levied at , say for illustration , 5 s . percent ., the freeholder would pay £ 7 15 s ., the leaseholder £ 2 15 s ., the wan of precarious business with £ 100 , earned within the past year , And no property , 5 s ., and the annuitant ttus would

    with power to sell his life interest £ 1 15 s ., ana oe perfect Jy ins t and fair as they are worth for the > year last past the respective smms of £ 8 , 100 , £ 1 , 100 £ 100 , jand £ 700 . The man who has no other property than the £ 100 earned ^ during the past year pays 5 s ., and the freeholder being thirty-one times amh ought to pay thirty-one times as much , and so of the rest . There is only Sne objection to this system , namely , that it is perfectly just and reasonable , aswoUas airaplo and practicable ; incidonts , which , as things now stand in financial matters , are generally fajal to whatever they are predicablo of . One of the merits ot the method of taxation suggested , is that by being the fairest and most equitable that can be devised ,-it would minimise the temptation to mako ialso returns , and shirk the payment of taxes , whereas under the present iniquitous and irrational system , the inducement to commit , what is m the oyo of the law at least , a fraud upon the revenue , is maximized . 8 o much for the ffonoral principle . AH indirect taxation , including the

    " licensing system , " b simply an obstacle to production , a snacirte upon freedom , a commercial nuisance . Instead of taxing a man upon wealth that he has produced and realized , ltimpodosasaconditipn precedents to the orention of wealth a burdensome and vexatious nocuniary mulct . It is an antioipativo flno upon induatry , a ponalty imposed beforehand upon enterprise and labour . It is an oppressiveand a cruel difficulty needlessly thrown in way of a man s gettinghis living Itf m honest calling , and projanto stimulates a tendency to rosort to illicit nie & iw of gawung « hvhhood . What can bo tffc Diicb a grosserinfringement o | ' the Millets' liberty , a inoro flag-runt

    violation of free-trade , or more flagitious as an impediment to commercial enterprise , than the evils involved in the two-words " paper dutyF " ' We give this instance because it is reudere d notable Inrecent discussions . It may be true that there are worse taxes than this in existence , with such a mass Of penalties and' lines still imposed upon the sale and _ production of ' articles -of primary neccssitv , but in principle . it is as -bad as the worst ' of them ; while for pretended « ' purposes of revenue " it is almost loo ' trifling to deserve notice , though larg-e enough and mischievous enough to hamper and damage , not to say cripple , a most important branch of industry . It may be less bad an infliction than tin ; income and property tax , as hitherto levied , for the simple reason that in these last the principle of taxing- men in proportion to wlmt

    they are worth has been systematically sel at nought . In a word , indirect taxation is totally irreconcilable with the iret > trtitle principie , and it would be unjust to those far-seeing and cnlrghtoiied public men , who , single-handed , forced the adoption of this gruil . principle so flir as it has been recognised and reduced to practice in our legislation , upon a reluctant government , in spite of the ino * t formidable opposition in parliament , that the aristocrai-y and landed interest , with all its resources of power , position , mid wealth could organise , and who are ' still labouring to work out its logical and legitimate application in all the details of our cccp . omir .-al regime , not to give them credit here for their ¦ achievement . It would not only be unjust , it would be inappropriate to omit flic names of Mr . ' CoBDKX and Mr . Bkigitt . in connexion with tlic

    present subject , because their labours , have produced , and * ecin destined still to produce the most . fundamental and benelicoul reforms that have perhaps ever been effected in our social cconuiiiy . Perfect freedom of production , and distrilmtioivr ^ bf whidi dirct-t taxation is an essential eoildition , is indis . solnbly bound " up v . ith the best and real ( not the spurious and counterfeit ) liberty ot the subject , whether political , social , or religious . The tyranny of cast and class : social despotism : the stripping an innocent wife of her property . , and giving it to be squandered by a profligate worthless ¦ . husband still invested with the power of coercion , at least , if not with that of the thuinli maltK

    " moderate correction with a stick as thick as ; " pt .-:, and insults inflicted ujou all other religious sects iiHuwhh- ot tlic dominant one ; the government usurped by one of the three estates ¦ , . the realm , and . that estate converting the crown , mtu a seal vi «? iht-c . and the commons into its own representatives—these arc ot 1 he very essence of that effete feudalism whose iuiri ' n pillar and support-was the system of " protection " and consequent indirect taxes ... wlm-li the labours of these great economical reformers have swept av . oy . And as practical sociologists , Mr . -Cobden and Mr . 1 ] i ; ic . ilt \ yill be more and more appreciated in proportion as the science is bettor

    understood . . The instances we have giveii are apposite for . lllustratnijr our fundamental ' axiom in it ' s practical application . It should not lor a moment be lost sight of . Like those great cosmical laws . Mich as gravitation , which operate with perfect indifference to magnitudes . and while the rain drop is not too insignificant for tlieir . influence , control the motions of astral systems « o vast that our ruilky way might be but the visible fragment of one ofthcm . it determines alike the morality or immorality of individual actions , imil tin- go & l * ness or badness of lniblie laws and institutions .

    S30 2vie Saturday Analyst And Leader. [S...

    s 30 2 Vie Saturday Analyst and Leader . [ Sept . i > 1 ) , I 860

    Louis Napoleon And Cobsi0a. T He Corresp...

    LOUIS NAPOLEON AND COBSI 0 A . T HE correspondent of the Times has discovered another Corsica Bosyvem . in . the Mayor of Ajaccio , who , it soems , has been addressing the Emperor of the FiiBSCit , on his lnte visit to lie island , in terms of the most profuse adulation . So iinu-li ni tlm latter article is often adjudged to Princes arid Potentates , sonietnni's for no conceivable reason , sometimes for liberties never grant oil , mid for reforms never carried out , though often promised , tlnit oiio-n . glad now and then to find u , good solid pedestal or basis where lame may take her stand , and blow her trumpet to all tho wmil * . We do not know whether this is tho Emvbbou ' s first vu * it-to tiic

    nest of his family ( it certainly is not the first visit of lii * autlionly . as we shall proceed to show ) . . His feelings , ono would think , innst have been strange enough as he stood amongst the \ x \\\ tn walls nm redroofwof Ajaccio , its cactus hedges , and sugar loaf hills ; espcc *» ully . if ho visited that library of the Prefecture which uoiitsnnh tlio little note written by his undo when a simple officer «•»!* iii'txlierv . claiming . for his mother a i'aw roods of miroory gunlen us her ngla —the mothor of the Bon ^ i'abtks ! Hero , at least , Lor is N ai'OU ' . o . n may ¦ receive praise without nausea , for it in just . In one iinportiim respect ho has accomplished , and that in a few yeurs , lor ( . oi '& u'i 1 what no previous government or dymisty has on ' octed . w i ^ 'i'l '"!^ ovenattumnod : not Pisansnor Genokhionor 'J ' llT . onc'Jii ..

    , . . nor the . English in their short , nor tho French in their l < mtf «« tl » jl > " < tion , till thoir present ruler camq . to the throno . Ho bain put a ntop . and for over , wo trunt , to systematic brigaiuli . sin , to the v" - " detta , and to the curso and disgrace of private aissuH *! nation , uu hateful serpent over biting 1 } ts own tail in u venomous aim ( - ' . ' '> '" j circle . Ho has boon in earnest , and used tho Ktrmity hnnd ; in "j states of tho Church pillage is an institution ; in On-ece tho lm »<» is still a child of tho family j in New Orleans vepuWiwiu cnoW 'J . " ' not prevent a horrible crop of ' midnight murders j . in . ' n' ' lliu ] .,, t assaasin m connived lib and sheltered ; thoroforcs it ' is » k > . 1 ip i . matter to brook , a whole vooplo of tho confirmed habit <> 1 IjIuhusucu

    and this Juouis Napoleon has done lov the craulo ol iumji ^ - ,, , It has been hard work ; ono of tho last systematic bnn < Ul »» ; Vn ! f . 'J in a narrow cave , difficult of access , kont four hundred irooi » nj '• till his nro-viuions wore exhausted—any attempt to boiso lu . in ' r [ j t'evtninacitthj and no doubt many siinilnriiiMtanctw ol rtoiouiji "

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 29, 1860, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_29091860/page/6/