imputed to it, likewise, the declension of agriculture,
it being imposed not only upon manufactures,
but upon the rude produce of the land.
In the kingdom of Naples, there is a similar
tax of three per cent. upon the value of
all contracts, and consequently upon that of
all contracts of sale. It is both lighter than
the Spanish tax, and the greater part of
towns and parishes are allowed to pay a composition
in lieu of it. They levy this composition
in what manner they please, generally
in a way that gives no interruption to the
interior commerce of the place. The Neapolitan
tax, therefore, is not near so ruinous
as the Spanish one.
The uniform system of taxation, which,
with a few exceptions of no great consequence,
takes place in all the different parts of the
united kingdom of Great Britain, leaves the
interior commerce of the country, the inland
and coasting trade, almost entirely free. The
inland trade is almost perfectly free; and the
greater part of goods may be carried from one
end of the kingdom to the other, without requiring
any permit or let-pass, without being
subject to question, visit or examination, from
the revenue officers. There are a few exceptions,
but they are such as can give no interruption
to any important branch of inland
commerce of the country. Goods carried
coastwise, indeed, require certificates or coast-cockets.
If you except coals, however, the
rest are almost all duty-free. This freedom of
interior commerce, the effect of the uniformity
of the system of taxation, is perhaps one of the
principal causes of the prosperity of Great
Britain; every great country being necessarily
the best and most extensive market for the
greater part of the productions of its own industry.
If the same freedom in consequence
of the same uniformity, could be extended to
Ireland and the plantations, both the grandeur
of the state, and the prosperity of every part
of the empire, would probably be still greater
than at present.
In France, the different revenue laws which
take place in the different provinces, require a
multitude of revenue officers to surround, not
only the frontiers of the kingdom, but those
of almost each particular province, in order
either to prevent the importation of certain
goods, or to subject it to the payment of certain
duties, to the no small interruption of
the interior commerce of the country. Some
provinces are allowed to compound for the
gabelle, or salt tax; others are exempted from
it altogether. Some provinces are exempted
from the exclusive sale of tobacco, which the
farmers-general enjoy through the greater part
of the kingdom. The aides, which correspond
to the excise in England, are very different in
different provinces. Some provinces are exempted
from them, and pay a composition or
equivalent. In those in which they take place,
and are in farm, there are many local duties
which do not extend beyond a particular town
or district. The traites, which correspond to
our customs, divide the kingdom into three
great parts; first, the provinces subject to the
tariff of 1664, which are called the provinces of
the five great farms, and under which are comprehended
Picardy, Normandy, and the greater
part of the interior provinces of the kingdom;
secondly, the provinces subject to the
tariff of 1667, which are called the provinces
reckoned foreign, and under which are comprehended
the greater part of the frontier provinces;
and, thirdly, those provinces which
are said to be treated as foreign, or which,
because they are allowed a free commerce with
foreign countries, are, in their commerce with
the other provinces of France, subjected to
the same duties as other foreign countries.
These are Alsace, the three bishoprics of Mentz,
Toul, and Verdun, and the three cities of
Dunkirk, Bayonne, and Marseilles. Both in
the provinces of the five great farms (called
so on account of an ancient division of the
duties of customs into five great branches,
each of which was originally the subject of a
particular farm, though they are now all
united into one), and in those which are
said to be reckoned foreign, there are many
local duties which do not extend beyond a
particular town or district. There are some
such even in the provinces which are said to
be treated as foreign, particularly in the city
of Marseilles. It is unnecessary to observe
how much both the restraints upon the interior
commerce of the country, and the number of
the revenue officers, must be multiplied, in
order to guard the frontiers of those different
provinces and districts which are subject to
such different systems of taxation.
Over and above the general restraints arising
from this complicated system of revenue
laws, the commerce of wine (after corn, perhaps,
the most important production of France)
is, in the greater part of the provinces, subject
to particular restraints arising from the
favour which has been shown to the vineyards
of particular provinces and districts above those
of others. The provinces most famous for
their wines, it will be found, I believe, are
those in which the trade in that article is subject
to the fewest restraints of this kind. The
extensive market which such provinces enjoy,
encourages good management both in the
cultivation of their vineyards, and in the subsequent
preparation of their wines.
Such various and complicated revenue laws
are not peculiar to France. The little duchy
of Milan is divided into six provinces, in each
of which there is a different system of taxation,
with regard to several different sorts of
consumable goods. The still smaller territories
of the duke of Parma are divided into
three or four, each of which has, in the same
manner, a system of its own. Under such
absurd management, nothing but the great