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By Root 1942 0

neither to be removed nor concealed, it stands foremost for the Object of Taxation; and ought most particularly to be burthened with those Debts which have been incurred by defending the Freedom of its Inhabitants. But besides these general Reasons, there are some which are in a Manner peculiar to this Country. The Land of America may, as to the Proprietors, be divided into two Kinds, that which belongs to the great Landholders and that which is owned and occupied by the industrious Cultivator. This latter Class of Citizens is, generally speaking, the most numerous and most valuable part of a Community. The Artisan may, under any Government minister to the Luxuries of the Rich, and the Rich may, under any Government, obtain the Luxuries they covet. But the free Husbandman is the natural Guardian of his Country’s Freedom. A Land Tax will probably, at the first mention, startle this Order of Men, but it can only be from the Want of Reflection, or the Delusion must be kept up by the Artifice of others. To him who cultivates from one to five hundred Acres, a Dollar per hundred is a trifling Object; but to him who owns an hundred Thousand it is important. Yet a large Proportion of America is the Property of great Landholders, they monopolize it without Cultivation; they are (for the most Part) at no Expence either of Money or personal Service to defend it; and, keeping the Price higher by Monopoly than otherwise it would be, they impede the Settlement and Culture of the Country. A Land Tax, therefore, would have the salutary Operation of an Agrarian Law, without the Iniquity. It would relieve the Indigent, and aggrandize the State, by bringing Property into the Hands of those who would use it for the Benefit of Society. The Objections against such a Tax are twofold, first that it is unequal, and secondly that it is too high. To obviate the Inequality, some have proposed an Estimate of the Value of different Kinds of Lands. But this would be improper, because first it would be attended with great Delay, Expence and Inconvenience. Secondly it would be uncertain, and therefore Improper, particularly when considered as a Fund for public Debts. Thirdly, there is no reason to beleive that any Estimate would be just; and even if it were, it must be annually varied or else come within the Force of the Objection as strongly as ever; the former would cost more than the Tax, and the latter would not afford the Remedy asked for. Lastly, such Valuations would operate as a Tax upon Industry, and promote that Land Monopoly which every wise Government will study to repress. But further, the true Remedy for any Inequality will be obtained in the Apportioning other Taxes, of which there will always be enough to equalize this. Besides, the Tax being permanent and fixed, it is considered in the Price of Land on every Transfer of Property, and that produces a Degree of Equality which no Valuation could possibly arrive at. In a word, if exact numerical Proportion be sought after in Taxes, there would be no End to the Search. Not only might a Poll Tax be objected to as too heavy on the Poor and too light on the rich, but when that Objection was obviated, the phisical Differences in the human Frame would alone be as endless a Source of Contention, as the different Qualities of Land. The second Objection that the Tax is too high, is equally futile with the former. Land which is so little worth that the Owner will not pay annually one Penny per Acre for the Defence of it, ought to belong to the Society by whom the Expence of defending it is defrayed. But the Truth is that this Objection arises from, and is enforced by, those Men who can very well bear the Expence, but who wish to shift it from themselves to others. I shall close this Subject by adding, that as such a Tax would, besides the Benefits to be derived from the Object of it, have the farther Advantage of encouraging Settlements and Population, This would redound, not only to the national Good, but even to the particular Good of the Land holders themselves.

With Respect to the Poll-Tax there