The Grange advance., 1874-11-18

| brought mourning to the whole nation,
with whom the world sympathized.
That he has been caught is crowning
satisfaction.
TAXATION N FRANCE.
The Burdens of the siich Compared
With Those OF the P0or.
The Paris correspondent Of the Lon.
don Times writes to that journal A
new edition Of NJ. Maurice Blocks use-
full and valuable work, La Stasistique
de la France comparee ouec les diuers
Pays de PEurope, contains great deal
Of fresh matter, and among this occurs
a passage in chapter on the enhances"
which is of particular interest at time
when Franco is more heavily taxed than
she has ever been before, when the un-
equal distribution Of taxation is one of
the battle-cries Of the radicals, and the
reform Of. that distribution in favor. of
the poor and to the detrlment of the
rich, one of the tempting promises they
hold out to the classes to which they
especially address themselves. There
can hardly be question more inter-
esting to solve than whether fiscal bur.
dens are or are not distributed in
France in a manner conformable with
justice. The best kind of tax has long
been subject of ardent discussion. TO
all kinds as yet known serious objec-
tions may be raised, and it is, of
course in vain to seek for an impost
which shall be agreeable to those who
pay it. In France the class that has
probably been the most attacked is
that of the ''indirect contributions"
which comprise stamps, duties on arti-
cles Of consumption, and the like. The
principal argument against them is that
they do not press in equal proportion
on the rich and on the poor. Mr..
Block, in his new edition, has taken a
novel view of the subject. He thinks
that in order fairly to judge Of the
question as to repartition Of taxation
from the point of a view of justice to
the individual, it does not suffice to
consider tax separately, for often the
various imposts complete, compensate,
and balance each other, but that the
proper way is to compare the whole of
the taxes paid by one contributor
with the whole of those
paid by another. This
is the task he has set himself, and it is
not an easy one but he seems to have
performed it successfully in the follow
ing way: He has taken four types of
taxpayers, one of them having a reve-
nue. of 100000 francs, half in land and
half in personal property the second
having fortune of 5000 francs . year,
half in land and half in money in the
FINDS the third having no fortune but
5000 francs a year, derived from sala-
ry; the fourth workman or artisan
earning 1900 francs year. He has
then passed in review all the taxes, i'm
posts and duties Of every kind that are
paid in the country and has set down
to each one of his four types the sum
which, under ordinary circumstances,
he ought to have to pay. The detailed
table given in the book is too extensive
to be reproduced, but the general re-
suits are as follows: The possessor of
an income of l0O, 900 francs pays ll,3O3
francs, or ll.30 per cent. 5000 pays
922 francs, or 1880 per cent.
5000 francs proceeding from salary pays
593 francs, or $50 per. cent. The man
who earns l.600 francs pays 293 francs,
or 1912 per cent. As these 293 francs
comprise 73 francs set down for tobacco,
if that tax payer does not smoke he
pays in taxes only 1906 per cent. of his
income. According to these calcula.
tons, Of which we may assume the cor.
rectness as proceeding from a statistic
an and economist of Mr.. Blocks rep
rtation, it is neither the highest nor the
lowest incomes that have SO much cause
to complain as the middling ones, the
owners of small fixed incomes derived
from land and government securities.
Considering that the revenue derived
by the State from the nation is the re.
suit Of about forty different taxes, it
may be thought remarkable that the
result comes as near as it does to q fair
proportion. Mr.. Block does not enter
into the political aspects Of the ques-.
tion, but states things as he finds them,
without comment OF inference of any
kind, His statistics may furnish fresh
arms to the radicals, wb will certainly
not admit that the man Of millions
should pay only, about { half per cent.
more than the working sman, and four
per cent. less than the small s*rentier,"
instead Of, by sliding icale, ascending
in propor' IN to the income Of the tax
payer. Il y2,.,i .;>.,5h T., .,....:,<f !,..
4r 4G"h An uooeaAsary. .if7.s. q; q.
The New York Journal Of Com
nserce has the following: ave desire
to cali the attention of unaerwriterssto
a new material used for martingalc
rings, knife handles, combs, &c., which
We are informed bears the name of