from a regard to the increase of his own revenue,
is one of the principal advantages proposed
by this species of land-tax. The term,
therefore, allowed, for the indemnification of
the landlord, ought not to be a great deal
longer than what was necessary for that purpose,
lest the remoteness of the interest should
discourage too much this attention. It had
better, however, be somewhat too long, than
in any respect too short. No incitement to
the attention of the sovereign can ever counterbalance
the smallest discouragement to that
of the landlord. The attention of the sovereign
can be, at best, but a very general and
vague consideration of what is likely to contribute
to the better cultivation of the greater
part of his dominions. The attention of the
landlord is a particular and minute consideration
of what is likely to be the most advantageous
application of every inch of ground
upon his estate. The principal attention of
the sovereign ought to be, to encourage, by
every means in his power, the attention both
of the landlord and of the farmer, by allowing
both to pursue their own interest in their
own way, and according to their own judgment;
by giving to both the most perfect security
that they shall enjoy the full recompence
of their own industry; and by procuring
to both the most extensive market for
every part of their produce, in consequence
of establishing the easiest and safest communications,
both by land and by water, through
every part of his own dominions, as well as
the most unbounded freedom of exportation
to the dominions of all other princes.
If, by such a system of administration, a
tax of this kind could be so managed as to
give, not only no discouragement, but, on the
contrary, some encouragement to the improvement
of land, it does not appear likely to occasion
any other inconveniency to the landlord,
except always the unavoidable one of
being obliged to pay the tax.
In all the variations of the state of the society,
in the improvement and in the declension
of agriculture; in all the variations in
the value of silver, and in all those in the
standard of the coin, a tax of this kind would,
of its own accord, and without any attention
of government, readily suit itself to the actual
situation of things, and would be equally just
and equitable in all those different changes.
It would, therefore, be much more proper to
be established as a perpetual and unalterable
regulation, or as what is called a fundamental
law of the commonwealth, than any tax which
was always to be levied according to a certain
valuation.
Some states, instead of the simple and obvious
expedient of a register of leases, have
had recourse to the laborious and expensive
one of an actual survey and valuation of all
the lands in the country. They have suspected,
probably, that the lessor and lessee, in order
to defraud the public revenue, might combine
to conceal the real terms of the lease.
Doomsday-book seems to have been the result
of a very accurate survey of this kind.
In the ancient dominions of the king of
Prussia, the land-tax is assessed according to an
actual survey and valuation, which is reviewed
and altered from time to time.[54] According
to that valuation, the lay proprietors pay
from twenty to twenty-five per cent. of their
revenue; ecclesiastics from forty to forty-five
per cent. The survey and valuation of Silesia
was made by order of the present king, it
is said, with great accuracy. According to
that valuation, the lands belonging to the
bishop of Breslaw are taxed at twenty-five
per cent. of their rent. The other revenues
of the ecclesiastics of both religions at fifty
per cent. The commanderies of the Teutonic
order, and of that of Malta, at forty per cent.
Lands held by a noble tenure, at thirty-eight
and one-third per cent. Lands held by a
base tenure, at thirty-five and one-third per
cent.
The survey and valuation of Bohemia is
said to have been the work of more than a
hundred years. It was not perfected till after
the peace of 1748, by the orders of the present
empress queen.[55] The survey of the duchy
of Milan, which was begun in the time of
Charles VI., was not perfected till after 1760.
It is esteemed one of the most accurate that
has ever been made. The survey of Savoy
and Piedmont was executed under the orders
of the late king of Sardinia.[56]
In the dominions of the king of Prussia,
the revenue of the church is taxed much higher
than that of lay proprietors. The revenue of
the church is, the greater part of it, a burden
upon the rent of land. It seldom happens
that any part of it is applied towards the improvement
of land; or is so employed as to
contribute, in any respect, towards increasing
the revenue of the great body of the people.
His Prussian majesty had probably, upon
that account, thought it reasonable that it
should contribute a good deal more towards
relieving the exigencies of the state. In some
countries, the lands of the church are exempted
from all taxes. In others, they are taxed
more lightly than other lands. In the duchy
of Milan, the lands which the church possessed
before 1575, are rated to the tax at a third
only of their value.
In Silesia, lands held by a noble tenure are
taxed three per cent. higher than those held
by a base tenure. The honours and privileges
of different kinds annexed to the former,
his Prussian majesty had probably imagined,
would sufficiently compensate to the
proprietor a small aggravation of the tax;