WHO PAYS YOUR TAXES?

CHAPTER I.

CHANGES NEEDED.

Study of principles, the first step.—Empiricism in taxation.—Its origin.—What taxes are paid for, and what they are commonly supposed to bepaid for.—Men should not contribute in proportion to ability; whythose who get the most benefit from the community at large should paymost for such benefit'.—A formulation of principles.—How Mr. Georgeexpresses it.—Evils of the income tax and of taxes on legacies.—Impos-sibility of collecting personal taxes.—Real estate the proper object oftaxation.—Mortgages should not be taxed, nor should the amount ofmortgages be deducted from assessments on real estate.—Custom dutiesnot considered, and why.—What should be taxed.

The first step toward correct tax legislation is thestudy of the principles on which it depends. Withoutthis we have no assurance that change is improvement.Before we began to find principle in medicine, the science,if it could be called a science, consisted of mere experi-ment. Tax legislation is passing through the samestage: without seeking definite and ascertained prin-ciples, founded on equity, the law strikes now at thisobject and now at that, as a means of raising money.