To set the first in motion an oppressor need have only soldiers, and
share the booty with them; for the second, besides the protectors of the
land and the stores, he must have collectors and clerks for the
distribution of the corn; for the third, besides the soldiers for
keeping the land and his property, he must have collectors of taxes,
assessors of direct taxation, supervisors, custom-house clerks, managers
of money, and coiners of it.
The organization of the third method is much more complicated than that
of the second. By the second, the getting in of corn may be leased out,
as was done in olden times and is still the custom in Turkey; but by
putting taxes on men there is need of a complicated administration,
which has to ensure the right levying of the taxes. And therefore by the
third method the oppressor has to share the plunder with a still greater
number of men than by the second; besides, according to the very nature
of the thing, all the men of the same or of the foreign country who
possess money become sharers with the oppressed.
The advantage of the third method over the first and second consists
chiefly in the following fact: that by it there is no need to wait for a
year of scarcity, as in the time of Joseph, but years of famine are
established forever, and (whilst by the second method the part of the
labour which is taken away depends upon the harvest, and cannot be
augmented _ad libitum_, because if there is no corn, there is nothing to
take) by the new _monetary_ method the requirement can be brought to any
desired limit, for the demand for money can always be satisfied, because
the debtor, to satisfy it, must sell his cattle, clothes, or houses. The
chief advantage to the oppressor of this method is that he can take away
the greatest quantity of labour in the most convenient way; for a
money-tax, like a screw, may easily and conveniently be turned to the
utmost limit, and golden eggs be obtained though the bird that lays them
is all but dead.
Another of its advantages for the oppressor is that its violence reaches
all those also who, by possessing no land, formerly escaped from it by
giving only a part of their labour for corn; whereas now, besides that
part which they give for corn, they must now give another part for
taxes. A drawback for the oppressor is that he has to share the plunder
with a still greater number of men, not only with his direct assistants,
but also with all those men of his own country, and even of foreign
countries, who may have the money which is demanded from the slaves.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account