Property and Income.

In order to take a comprehensive view of the subject, we must form some idea of the manner in which property, especially in land, and the income from it, and from labour, is divided among the people. The labourer is a receiver of income from labour, which makes land or other property productive, and so his financial condition must be also considered.

Everybody should contribute to the expenses of "peace, order, and good government," in proportion to the benefit which it confers upon him in the receipt and enjoyment of his income.

Everybody pays some taxes. The poor man pays much more, in proportion to his income, than the rich, or even than the well-to-do man. The workman for wages from which he can barely save a little, in providing well for himself and his family, pays a much larger share of his receipts than the master who makes an income by means of the workman's labour, or the owner of land, or other property from which, profit, interest, or income is derived. The Government gives no more protection to the income from labour, than to that from other pursuits.