In all cases, individuals will and must follow their lawful propensities, both in the means of employing capital and expending revenue; that is, they must be left free, in a general way, and only interrupted and regulated in particular cases; but, sometimes, the means must be furnished them of going right, and in other cases the inducements to do so augmented.  We shall take the subjects in the same order that they followed in the Second Book.

Though the manners of people, arrived at maturity, can only be regulated by their education, when young, if that is properly attended to, it will be sufficient; for though it will not prevent the generation that has attained wealth, from enjoying it according to the prevailing taste, it will prevent contamination being communicated with increased force, as it now is, to the children.  The evils then will go on in a simple proportion; they now go on with a compound one, and the evils arising from the [end of page #277] luxury of each generation are doubled on that which follows after.  If that is prevented, it will be all that probably is necessary; at all events it is probably all that is possible.

In taxation, the government should study to do away what is obnoxious in its mode of collection, for that does more injury to the subject, in many cases, than an equal sum would do levied in another manner; and when payments are to be made, the mode should be rendered as easy as possible.  Every unnecessary trouble should be avoided in collecting a tax.  In the tax on receipts and bills, why should the sums to which they extend not be printed on them, so as to prevent error, which is sometimes attended with great loss, and always with inconvenience?  If this had been done, how many law-suits, how many nefarious tricks, would have been prevented?  But not to speak of those inconveniences only, how much useless trouble, uneasiness, and uncertainty, would have been saved in the common way of transacting business?  In most cases, the subject is treated as if neither his time, nor his conveniency, nor his feelings, were worth attending to.  This is equally impolitic and unjust:  there is, perhaps, no country where people are more careful to keep within the pale of the law, than in England; but when they are within it, and have power, no people use it with a more insulting rigour; and for this there is no redress.

In many cases, this would be entirely prevented by proper attention in first laying on the tax.  There should be a board of taxation, to receive, digest, and examine, the suggestions of others.  In short, pains should be taken to bring to perfection the system.  At present, it is left to chance; that is to say, it is left for those to do who have not time to do it, and, of consequence, the blunders committed are seen by all the world. {212}