-tax, and, as a warning to them, I should like
to let them know how this tax is levied in England.

In theory the income-tax is the most just of taxes, since it compels, or
seems to compel, the people to contribute to the maintenance of their
country in proportion to the income they possess. In reality this tax,
levied as it is in England, is little less than the revival of the
Inquisition.

And, first of all, let me point out a great injustice, which I trust no
Government will ever inflict on the American people or any other, and
which is this: The income derived from property inherited, or any other
which the idlest man may enjoy without having to work for it, is taxed
exactly the same as the income which is derived from work in business,
profession, or any other calling.

I maintain that if I have a private income of, say, L2,000, and my work
brings me in another L2,000, the first income ought to be taxed much
more heavily than the second.

I maintain that if a man enjoys a private income, and does no work for
the community in return for the privilege of the wealth he possesses, he
ought to pay a larger percentage than the man who has to work for every
shilling which he amasses during the year.

But this is discussing, and in this article I only wish to show how the
free-born Briton is treated in the matter of income-tax.

A fact not altogether free from humour is that the salary of the English
tax-collector is a percentage of what he can extract from the tax-payer.

He asks you to send him the amount of your income, and warns you that
you will have to pay a penalty of L50 if you send him a false return. I
have it on the authority of Mr. W. S. Gilbert that every Englishman
sends a false return and cheats his Government; but now a good many men,
I am sure, cannot cheat the Government--those, for example, in receipt
of a salary from an official post, and many others whose incomes it is
easy to find out.

Of course, some cannot be found out; so that those who cannot conceal
their real and whole income have got to pay for those who can.

A merchant sends his return, and values it at L10,000. The collector
says to him, if he chooses to do so: 'Your return cannot be right. I
will charge you on L20,000. Of course, you can appeal.'

The merchant is obliged to lose a whole day to attend the Court of
Appeal, taking all his books with him, in order to prove that the return
he sent is exact.

Very often he pays doub