r blessings that would otherwise be impossible.
Although the rate is often high, even higher than necessary, it is safe
to say that every tax payer of the country receives from the government
more than he contributes by taxation.

Taxes are direct or indirect.

DIRECT TAXES.--A _direct tax_ is levied directly at a given rate upon
property or polls. Taxes levied by villages, towns, townships, cities,
counties, and States are for the most part direct taxes.

A _poll_ tax is levied upon the polls, or heads, of the male
inhabitants who have attained a certain age, usually twenty-one years.

A _property tax_, as the name indicates, is levied upon property.
Property is of two kinds, real and personal.

_Real property_, usually called _real estate_, consists of lands and
buildings.

_Personal property_ is that which can be moved from place to place, and
includes everything that a person can own except real estate.

In all systems of taxation, much real estate, such as churches,
cemeteries, colleges, charitable institutions, and public buildings, is
exempt from taxes.

Five times in its history--namely, in 1798, 1813, 1815, 1816, and
1861--the United States levied a direct tax upon the people, but in
each case the law was in force but a single year. From 1861 to 1871
there was also an _income tax_; that is, a tax of a given per cent.
upon all annual incomes that exceeded a certain amount. In 1913,
Congress passed a new income tax law, with additional taxes on very
large incomes.

INDIRECT TAXES.--An _indirect tax_ is assessed upon the property of one
person, but is indirectly paid by another. The owner of the property
at the time of assessment pays the tax to the government, but a part or
all of the tax is ultimately paid by the consumer of the goods. All
taxes now levied by the national government are indirect.

The indirect taxes levied by the national government are _customs_, or
_duties_, and _internal revenue_.

CUSTOMS, OR DUTIES.--_Customs_, or _duties_, are taxes levied upon
certain goods imported from foreign countries. The Constitution
prohibits the taxation of exports.

The schedule or list of articles taxed and of duties to be paid is
called the _tariff_. Custom dues are collected by officers of the
national government at the custom-houses, located at the ports of
entry, usually, but not always, on or near the sea-coast. By far the
larger portion of the national revenue is derived from customs