Certain of the moral aspects of tax dodging have been dealt with in an earlier connection.[63] Contrary as it may seem to the principle of economic interest there is a good deal of carelessness and stupidity in this field, and cases are occasionally found of property that has been over-assessed. On the other hand more or less deliberate dodging is indulged in very largely. So far as this practice deserves the stigma of corruption it is a stigma which rests to a very considerable extent upon the so-called class of “good citizens.” Certain residents of “swell suburbs” who daily thank God that their government is not so corrupt as that of the neighbouring city are among the worst offenders of this kind. As directors of corporations men of the same standing are sometimes responsible for monumental evasions. Of course what was said with regard to the reaction of business against state regulation holds good here also. There are plenty of legitimate methods of protesting against unjust or oppressive taxes,—before the courts, before legislatures, and by open propaganda designed to influence party organisations. But the furtive concealment or misrepresentation of taxable values is a matter of entirely different moral colour, and it is the latter practice that we now have to consider. Tax dodging is so common and so well established that it has built up an exculpatory system of its own. Instead of bringing his conscience up to the standards set by the law the ordinary property owner inquires into the practice of his neighbours, and governs himself accordingly. Wherever business competition is involved the threat of possible bankruptcy practically forces him into this course. Yet withal our citizen is likely to be somewhat troubled in his mind about his conduct, at least until he learns how shamelessly John Smith who lives just a little way down the street has behaved. This information quite restores his equanimity, and at the next assessment he may outdo Smith himself. Thus the extra legal, if not frankly illegal, neighbourhood standard tends constantly to become lower. And not only taxpayers but tax officials themselves are affected by local feeling and fall into the habit of closing their eyes to certain kinds of property and expecting only a certain percentage of the valuation fixed by law to be returned.