A Treatise of Taxes and Contributions: Shewing the nature and measures of crown-lands, assessements, customs, poll-moneys, lotteries, benevolence, penalties, monopolies, offices, tythes, raising of coins, harth-money, excize, &c.; with several intersperst discourses and digressions concerning warres, the church, universities, rents & purchases, usury & exchange, banks & lombards, registries for conveyances, beggars, ensurance, exportation of money [&] wool, free-ports, coins, housing, liberty ofPetty, William, Sir
History
A Treatise of Taxes and Contributions: Shewing the nature and measures of crown-lands, assessements, customs, poll-moneys, lotteries, benevolence, penalties, monopolies, offices, tythes, raising of coins, harth-money, excize, &c.; with several intersperst discourses and digressions concerning warres, the church, universities, rents & purchases, usury & exchange, banks & lombards, registries for conveyances, beggars, ensurance, exportation of money [&] wool, free-ports, coins, housing, liberty of
Petty, William, Sir
Finance -- Great Britain -- Early works to 1800; Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1660-1688; Taxation -- Great Britain -- Early works to 1800
41. In the next place, as an instance of the usefulness of what
hath been propounded, I ask what benefit will the mending of
High-wayes, the building of Bridges and Cawseys, with making of
Rivers navigable produce, besides the pleasure and beauty of them?
To which I also answer, as an instance of the premises, that the
same, together with the numerous millions of Cattle and Sheep
out of _Ireland_, shall produce a vaste superfluity of English
Horses, the which because they have the many excellent qualities of
beauty, strength, courage, swiftness, and patience concentrated in
them, beyond the Horses of other places, would be a very vendible
Commodity all over _Europe_; and such as depending upon the
intrinsick nature of the English Soyle could not be counterfeited,
nor taken away by others. Moreover, an Horse is such a Commodity as
will carry both himself and his Merchant to the Market, be the same
never so distant.
CHAP. III.
_How the Causes of the unquiet bearing of Taxes may be lessened._
We have slightly gone through all the six Branches of the Publick
Charge, and have (though imperfectly and in haste) shewn what would
encrease, and what would abate them.
We come next to take away some of the general Causes of the unquiet
bearing of Taxes, and yielding to Contributions, _viz._
2. 1. That the people think, the Sovereign askes more then he
needs. To which we answer, 1. That if the Sovereign were sure to
have what he wanted in due time, it were his own great dammage
to draw away the money out of his Subjects hands, who by trade
increase it, and to hoard it up in his own Coffers, where ’tis of
no use even to himself, but lyable to be begged or vainly expended.
3. 2. Let the Tax be never so great, if it be proportionable unto
all, then no man suffers the loss of any Riches by it. For men (as
we said but now) if the Estates of them all were either halfed or
doubled, would in both cases remain equally rich. For they would
each man have his former state, dignity, and degree; and moreover,
the Money leavied not going out of the Nation, the same also would
remain as rich in comparison of any other Nation; onely the Riches
of the Prince and People would differ for a little while, namely,
until the money leavied from some, were again refunded upon the
same, or other persons that paid it: In which case every man also
should have his chance and opportunity to be made the better or
worse by the new distribution; or if he lost by one, yet to gain by
another.
4. 3. Now that which angers men most, is to be taxed above their
Neighbours. To which I answer, that many times these surmizes
are mistakes, many times they are chances, which in the next Tax
may run more favourable; and if they be by design, yet it cannot
be imagined, that it was by design of the Sovereign, but of some
temporary Assessor, whose turn it may be to receive the _Talio_
upon the next occasion from the very man he has wronged.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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