Note: Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See https://archive.org/details/historyofparliam00morgiala THE HISTORY OF PARLIAMENTARY TAXATION IN ENGLAND Williams College David A. Wells Prize Essays Number 2 THE HISTORY OF PARLIAMENTARY TAXATION IN ENGLAND by SHEPARD ASHMAN MORGAN, M.A. [Illustration: LOGO] Printed for the Department of Political Science of Williams College by Moffat, Yard and Company, New York 1911 HENRY LOOMIS NELSON OLIM PRECEPTORI D. D. D. DISCIPULUS HAUD IMMEMOR S. A. M. PREFACE THIS is the second volume in the series of “David A. Wells Prize Essays” established under the provisions of the bequest of the late David A. Wells. The subject for competition is announced in the spring of each year and essays may be submitted by members of the senior class in Williams College and by graduates of not more than three years’ standing. By the terms of the will of the founder the following limitation is imposed: “No subject shall be selected for competitive writing or investigation and no essay shall be considered which in any way advocates or defends the spoliation of property under form or process of law; or the restriction of Commerce in times of peace by Legislation, except for moral or sanitary purposes; or the enactment of usury laws; or the impairment of contracts by the debasement of coin; or the issue and use by Government of irredeemable notes or promises to pay intended to be used as currency and as a substitute for money; or which defends the endowment of such ‘paper,’ ‘notes’ and ‘promises to pay’ with the legal tender quality.” The first essay, published in 1905, was “The Contributions of the Landed Man to Civil Liberty,” by Elwin Lawrence Page. The subject of the following essay was announced in 1906 by the late Henry Loomis Nelson, then David A. Wells Professor of Political Science. As first framed it read, “The Origin and Growth of the Power of the English National Council and Parliament to Levy Taxes, from the Time of the Norman Conquest to the Enactment of the Bill of Rights; Together with a Statement of the Constitutional Law of the United States Governing Taxation.” Mr. Nelson subsequently eliminated the last clause, thus restricting the field of the essay to English Constitutional History. The prize was awarded in 1907. Since the death of Mr. Nelson in 1908, the task of editing the successful essay has been given to the undersigned in coöperation with the author.