CHAPTER II.

CHARITY, TAXATION, AND PAUPERISM.

Hidden causes.—Results mistaken for causes.—Cause of poverty not in-temperance, nor ignorance, nor crime.—Taxation the main factor ofpauperism.—The plan of charity.—I. Difficulty of finding work aggra-vated by taxation.—Work scarce not for want of land.—World thinlypopulated.—The cause : overcrowding.—Hardships of country life,and unprofitableness, drive men to cities.—The remedy : to encourageproduction of wealth.—Source of wealth.—Taxes oppress the poor.—Rustic occupations would draw off surplus ; raise wages according totheir law.—II. Overcrowding.—Its effects.—Charities only increaseit.—Fresh air funds.—Horrors of tenements.—Model'tenements butincrease them.—Soup kitchens reduce rate of wages.—These are a partof charity; no line of demarcation.—Remit fines by taxing real estateonly.—And make country life attractive.—This is not socialism.—Com-petition necessary.—Only abolish bad laws.—Education as a remedy.—The Gospel.—If so, charity wrong.—Lazy charity.—Personal responsi-bility.—Its consequence.

The following discussion of the effect of taxation uponpauperism shows how social evils are at least aggravatedby present systems of taxation.

Unphilosophical persons look for causes in those thingswhich present themselves most forcibly to the mind,ignoring the hidden but persistent conditions which have,in truth, produced the phenomena. They attribute therain-storm to the thunder-clap, overlooking the natural