A.D. 1776
—1850.
he pres-
sure of
ta2ation.
LAISSEZ FAIRE
on the poor man’s salt, and the rich man’s spice—on the
brass nails of the coffin, and the ribands of the bride—at bed
or board, couchant or levant, we must pay :—The school-boy
whips his taxed top; the beardless youth manages his taxed
horse, with a taxed bridle, on a taxed road;.and the dying
Englishman pouring his medicine, which has paid seven per
cent., into a spoon that has paid fifteen per cent., flings
himself back upon his chintz bed, which has paid twenty-two
per cent., makes his will on an eight pound stamp, and
expires in the arms of an apothecary, who has paid a licence
of £100 for the privilege of putting him to death. His
whole property is then immediately taxed from two to ten
per cent. Besides the probate, large fees are demanded for
burying him in the chancel. His virtues are handed down
to posterity on taxed marble, and he will then be gathered to
his fathers to be taxed no more.”
t Sidney Smith, Works (1839), 11. 13. Edinburgh Review, xxxm1. (Jan. 1820),
p. 77. The following summary, extracted from Mr Dowell’s work, 11. p. 257, gives
a convenient view of the nature of the taxation levied in Great Britain in 1815.
1. Direct Taxes.
The land tax . .
The taxes on houses and establishments
Property and income tax . . .
Property insured . . . 7
The tax on succession to property
Property sold at amction . 8
Coaches, posting and hackney cabs
Tonnage on shipping . .
x
1,196,000
6,500,000
14,600,000
918,000
1,297,000
284,000
171,608
171,651
£25.438.259
Total
Eatables: Salt .
Sugar . “
Currants, &e. .
Beer, malt, hops
Wine "
Spirits ” »
Tea . . .
Coffea
II, Taxes on Articles of Consumption.
. 1,616,671
2,957,403
541,589
9,596,346
1,900,772
6,700,000
8,591,850
276.700
Tobacco . . . . . . 3 . .
Coals, raw materials for manufactures, buildings, ship-building and
other trades
Manufactures
22,065,168
2.025.663
6,062,214
1.080.721
III. Stamp Duties.
Bills and hotes .
Receipts . .
Other instruments
Total
841,000
210,000
1,692,000
£67.530.68%
