778 I'llE NATURE AND CAUSES OF

II. The tax which each individual is bound to pay oughtto be certain, and not arbitrary. The time of payment, themanner of payment, the quantity to be paid, ought all to beclear and plain to the contributor, and to every other person.Where it is otherwise, every person subject to the tax is putmore or less in the power of the tax-gatherer, who can eitheraggravate the tax upon any obnoxious contributor, or extort,by the terror of such aggravation, some present or perquisiteto himself. The uncertainty of taxation encourages the in-solence and favours the corruption of an order of men whoare naturally unpopular, even where they are neither insolentnor corrupt. The certainty of what each individual oughtto pay is, in taxation, a matter of so great importance, that avery considerable degree of inequality, it appears, I believe,from the experience of all nations, is not near so great anevil as a very small degree of uncertainty.

III. Every tax ought to be levied at the time, or in themanner, in which it is most likely to be convenient for thecontributor to pay it. A tax upon the rent of land or of houses,payable at the same term at which such rents are usually paid,is levied at the time when it is most likely to be convenient forthe contributor to pay; or, when he is most likely to havewherewithal to pay. Taxes upon such consumable goods asare articles of luxury are all finally paid by the consumer, andgenerally in a manner that is very convenient for him. lie paysthem by little and little, as he has occasion to buy the goods.As he is at liberty too, either to buy or not to buy, as he pleases,it must be his own fault if he ever sutlers any considerableinconveniency from such taxes.

IV. Every tax ought to be so contrived as both to take outand to keep out of the pockets of the people as little as pos-sible, over and above what it brings into the public treasuryof the state. A tax may either take out or keep out of thepockets of the people a great deal more than it brings into thepublic treasury, in the four following ways. First, the levy-ing of it may require a great number of officers, whose sala-ries may eat up the greater part of the produce of the tax,and whose perquisites may impose another additional taxupon the people. Secondly, it may obstruct the industry ofthe people, and discourage them from applying to certainbranches of business which might give maintenance and em-ployment to great multitudes. While it obliges the peopleto pay, it may thus diminish or perhaps destroy some of the