However, it is neither necessary nor desirable to justify the proposal on the mere ground of taxation. Only in form and administration is it a tax; primarily and in essence it is a method of distribution. It resembles the action by which the State takes possession of a newly discovered territory by the title of first occupancy. The future increases of land value may be regarded as a sort of no man's property which the State appropriates for the benefit of the community. And the morality of this proceeding must be determined by the same criterion that is applied to every other method or rule of distribution; namely, social and individual consequences. No principle, title, or practice of ownership, nor any canon of taxation, has intrinsic or metaphysical value. All are to be evaluated with reference to human welfare. Since the right of property is not an end in itself, but only a means of human welfare, its just prerogatives and limitations are determined by their conduciveness to the welfare of human beings. By human welfare is meant not merely the good of society as a whole, but the good of all individuals and classes of individuals. For society is made up of individuals, all of whom are of equal worth and importance, and have equal claims to consideration in the matter of livelihood, material goods, and property. In general, then, any method of distribution, any modification of property rights, any form of taxation, is morally lawful which promotes the interests of the whole community, without causing undue inconvenience to any individual. Whether a given rule of ownership or method of distribution which is evidently conducive to the public good is, nevertheless, unduly severe on a certain class of individuals, is a question that is not always easily answered. Some of the methods and practices appearing in history were clearly fair and just, others clearly unfair and unjust, and still others of doubtful morality. Frequently the State has compelled private persons to give up their land at a lower price than they paid for it; in more than one country freebooters and kingly favourites robbed the people of the land, yet their heirs and successors are recognised by both moralists and statesmen as the legitimate owners of that land; in Ireland stubborn landlords are to-day compelled by the British government to sell their holdings to the tenants at an appraised valuation; in many countries men may become owners of their neighbours' lands by the title of prescription, without the payment of a cent of compensation. All these practices and titles inflict considerable hardship upon individuals, but most of them are held to be justified on grounds of social welfare.