An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of

774

The Wealth of Nations

of them are at present. America pays no tythe, and could, therefore,

very well afford to pay a land tax. The lands in America and the

West Indies, indeed, are, in general, not tenanted nor leased out to

farmers. They could not, therefore, be assessed according to any

rent roll. But neither were the lands of Great Britain, in the 4th of

William and Mary, assessed according to any rent roll, but accord-

ing to a very loose and inaccurate estimation. The lands in America

might be assessed either in the same manner, or according to an

equitable valuation, in consequence of an accurate survey, like that

which was lately made in the Milanese, and in the dominions of

Austria, Prussia, and Sardinia.

Stamp duties, it is evident, might be levied without any varia-

tion, in all countries where the forms of law process, and the deeds

by which property, both real and personal, is transferred, are the

same, or nearly the same.

The extension of the custom-house laws of Great Britain to Ire-

land and the plantations, provided it was accompanied, as in jus-

tice it ought to be, with an extension of the freedom of trade,

would be in the highest degree advantageous to both. All the in-

vidious restraints which at present oppress the trade of Ireland,

the distinction between the enumerated and non-enumerated com-

modities of America, would be entirely at an end. The countries

north of Cape Finisterre would be as open to every part of the

produce of America, as those south of that cape are to some parts

of that produce at present. The trade between all the different

parts of the British empire would, in consequence of this unifor-

mity in the custom-house laws, be as free as the coasting trade of

Great Britain is at present. The British empire would thus afford,

within itself, an immense internal market for every part of the

produce of all its different provinces. So great an extension of

market would soon compensate, both to Ireland and the planta-

tions, all that they could suffer from the increase of the duties of

customs.

The excise is the only part of the British system of taxation,

which would require to be varied in any respect, according as it

was applied to the different provinces of the empire. It might be

applied to Ireland without any variation; the produce and con-

sumption of that kingdom being exactly of tho same nature with

those of Great Britain. In its application to America and the West

Indies, of which the produce and consumption are so very differ-

ent from those of Great Britain, some modification might be nec-

essary, in the same manner as in its application to the cyder and

beer counties of England.

A fermented liquor, for example, which is called beer, but which,

as it is made of molasses, bears very little resemblance to our beer,

makes a considerable part of the common drink of the people in

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775

Adam Smith

America. This liquor, as it can be kept only for a few days, cannot,

like our beer, be prepared and stored up for sale in great breweries;

but every private family must brew it for their own use, in the

same manner as they cook their victuals. But to subject every pri-

vate family to the odious visits and examination of the tax-gather-

ers, in the same manner as we subject the keepers of ale-houses

and the brewers for public sale, would be altogether inconsistent

with liberty. If, for the sake of equality, it was thought necessary to

lay a tax upon this liquor, it might be taxed by taxing the material

of which it is made, either at the place of manufacture, or, if the

circumstances of the trade rendered such an excise improper, by

laying a duty upon its importation into the colony in which it was

to be consumed. Besides the duty of one penny a-gallon imposed

by the British parliament upon the importation of molasses into

America, there is a provincial tax of this kind upon their importa-

tion into Massachusetts Bay, in ships belonging to any other colony,

of eight-pence the hogshead; and another upon their importation

from the northern colonies into South Carolina, of five-pence the

gallon. Or, if neither of these methods was found convenient, each

family might compound for its consumption of this liquor, either

according to the number of persons of which it consisted, in the

same manner as private families compound for the malt tax in

England; or according to the different ages and sexes of those per-

sons, in the same manner as several different taxes are levied in

Holland; or, nearly as Sir Matthew Decker proposes, that all taxes

upon consumable commodities should be levied in England. This

mode of taxation, it has already been observed, when applied to

objects of a speedy consumption, is not a very convenient one. It

might be adopted, however, in cases where no better could be done.

Sugar, rum, and tobacco, are commodities which are nowhere

necessaries of life, which are become objects of almost universal

consumption, and which are, therefore, extremely proper subjects

of taxation. If a union with the colonies were to take place, those

commodities might be taxed, either before they go out of the hands

of the manufacturer or grower; or, if this mode of taxation did not

suit the circumstances of those persons, they might be deposited

in public warehouses, both at the place of manufacture, and at all

the different ports of the empire, to which they might afterwards

be transported, to remain there, under the joint custody of the

owner and the revenue officer, till such time as they should be

delivered out, either to the consumer, to the merchant-retailer for

home consumption, or to the merchant-exporter; the tax not to

be advanced till such delivery. When delivered out for exporta-

tion, to go duty-free, upon proper security being given, that they

should really be exported out of the empire. These are, perhaps,

the principal commodities, with regard to which the union with

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