New-York tribune., 1901-05-05

the Wit Of man has at one time another. been
resorted To IL order 10 provide the -needful."
Take for instance the suggested tax on bache-
lOrs. No doubt the suggestion was made flip
PANTY. and was regarded a joke. But il may
come as a surprise to many Of our readers 70
learn that such tax at one time really existed
in England, and was duly collected. It first
imposed in l69J and continued in operation until
1IO6 During those ten lean" years a was
also imposed on births. marriages and deaths.
and il graduated that each paid
according TO his station in life The modest sum
OF 100000 year accrued TO the revenue of the
state from this source In l''tp also duty was
levied upon all seaborne coal imported into Lon
don. and the chrOncler tells uS that the proceeds
Of his impOst were ear marked for the purpose
II building those new churches in the Italian
style which Wren had raised in the metropolis
stand in the place Of old 81. Paul's and the
other churches destroyed ty the great fire Of
1876 About the same time the manufacture
Of tobacco pipes ATTRACTED the attention Of the
needy Chancellor of the Exchequer. but-and
smokers Of to-day should note this-the tax after
being ia existence three years was pronounced
a failure. and was forthwith repealed.
In the list of the principal taxes in force IL
England at the time of the death Of William III
we find two commodities mentioned which show
that at least two industries which fourished
then are now extinct Scotch linen and
whale fins do not now appear IL any com
merciaI price list. salt appears to have received
marked attention from succeeding finance min
sters all through the eighteenth century. and
il was not until 1875 that this indefensbe inn
post was finally repealed To carry on the war
against the United States-When they refused tC
pay the tea tax and declared for independence
Lord North compelled to provide addi-
tional revenue. Acting. no doubt. upon the sug-
gestion OF Adam Smith. whose famous treatise.
The Wealth Of Nations. was published about
that time lII6 A. D. he placed a tax of
threrpence in the pound on all land and houses
sold by auction. and sixpence in the pound
on all furniture plate and jewels disposed IF
in the same way; and IN addition he ad-
juSted A house to the annual value
Of the house. and introduced the scheme
Of rating which has been virtually in Oper-
alton down 10 the present day He also made
travellers by stage coach pay a percentage of
their fares into the public treasury. Pitt. il
11s9 repealed the tax on shops. which was
bringing in about f5oPH per annum. but at
the same time he placed an impOSt of an addi-
tional I'D. upon every newspaper. with I'd ad-
eiitionaI on advertisements appearing therein, on
the assumption that the men who bought news
papers could well afford to pay for such luxu-
ries. Bricks. mats. candles. printed linen and
calico were also taxed 10y the great financier as
well as race horses and agricultural horses. The
''elegants' Of the day We're called upon 10 pay
for leave to use perfumery and hair powder. and
il they bought one of the new tangled" watches
the government of the day demanded a sub
stantial fee.
AS is well known. Pitt. who was fertile in re-
sources. proposed the income tax u 1883 and