HEAVY EFFECTS OF LIGHT TAXES.
COURTER—As taxation and expenditure are reduced, the power to economize is diminished. But there is an important fact connected' with the subject which does not appear to receive sufficient consideration. It does not always follow that the public reap the full benefit of a reduc- tion of taxation, while it is certain that the revenue suffers by a dimi- nution of expenditure. Articles from which the tax has been removed do not, for a long time, sink in price to the consumers equal to the amount of the taxes abolished. On the contrary, it is well known, that for a long time, and as long as possible, the greater part of the abolished taxes goes' into the pockets of the merchants ; but a diminished expen- diture immediately affects the revenue. The public servants being de- prived of, dr contracted in, their incomes, cannot afford to consume the same quantity of tax-paying articles as formerly, and the consequences are at once felt in the Excise.
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