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old community like ours is acquired by inheritance, and the 
greater part of this Capital Wealth is usually retained in its 
Passive or its reserve form. Moreover, the prosperous 
Trader or Manufacturer rapidly accumulates more money than 
he can use in his business, and becomes an Investor, or Pas 
sive Capitalist, instead of a mere Active Capitalist. Wealth 
being held in such vast masses, there is no great pressure 
upon its owners to employ their wealth as Active Working 
Capital in a business under their personal direction. Now, it 
is the maintenance or increase of industry (with its resultant 
production of goods) that enriches a Nation, or, conversely, it 
is the restriction of Industry and Production that impoverishes 
a Nation. Legislation and Taxation should be dictated by 
consideration of the above-mentioned facts, and attention con 
centrated upon the point of in no way damaging Production. 
Therefore, the Active Working Capital of the Nation should 
be trenched upon as little as possible, but both this and its 
owners should receive the most generous treatment if a Nation 
is to maintain its existing prosperity and increase its future 
prosperity. 
On Whom Should the Levy Be Made ? 
Let us see where the wealth of the Country on which the 
Levy must be made lies. Tables 16 and 17 of the Inland 
Revenue Report give valuable and detailed information on this 
point. The following table is based on those tables, but the 
31 classes of estates dealt with have been condensed into six 
leading and representative classes, which, for the sake of easier 
reference, have been specified as A to F. Columns have been 
added giving the number of Capitalists that may be presumed 
to exist in each class and the average of Capital possessed. 
The total amount of Capital presumably owned by each class 
is also shown; these figures have been calculated out on the 
basis of the ratio of the Living to the Dead, taken as before