THE WEALTH OF NATIONS.

805

only to be a tax upon tl\e interest of money proportioned tothat upon the rent of land ; so that when the latter is at fourshillings in the pound, the former may be at four shillings inthe pound too. The tax at Hamburgh, and the still more mo-derate taxes of Undcrwald and Zurich , are meant, in the samemanner, to be taxes, not upon the capital, but upon the in-terest or neat revenue of stock. That of Holland was meantto be a tax upon the capital.

Taxes upon the Profit of particular Employments.

In some countries extraordinary taxes are imposed uponthe profits of stock ; sometimes when employed in particularbranches of trade, and sometimes when employed in agri-culture.

Of the former kind arc in England the tax upon hawkersand pedlars, that upon hackney coaches and chairs, and thatwhichjthe keepers of ale-houses pay fora licence to retail aleand spirituous liquors. During the late war, another tax ofthe same kind was proposed upon shops. The war having-been undertaken, it was said, in defence of the trade of thecountry, the merchants, who were to profit by it, ought tocontribute towards the support of it.

A tax, however, upon the profits of stock employed in anyparticular branch, of trade, can never fall finally upon thedealers (who must in all ordinary cases have tlieir reasonableprofit, and, where the competition is free, can seldom havemore than that profit), but always upon the consumers, whomust be obliged to pay in the price of the goods the tax whichthe dealer advances; and generally with some overcharge.

A tax of this kind when it is proportioned to the trade ofthe dealer, is finally paid by the consumer, and occasions nooppression to the dealer. When it is not so proportioned, butis the same upon all dealers, though in this case too it isfinally paid by the consumer, yet it favours the great, and oc-casions some oppressions to the small dealer. The tax of fiveshillings a week upon every hackney coach, and that of tenshillings a year upon every hackney chair, so far as it is ad-vanced by the different keepers of such coaches and chairs, isexactly enough proportioned to the extent of their respectivedealings. It neither favours the great, nor oppresses thesmaller dealer. The tax of twenty shillings a year for a li-cence to sell ale; of forty shillings for a licence to sell spiri-tuous liquors ; and of forty shillings more for a licence to sell

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