wage statistics are necessary. Some writers, such as King,1 arrive at national income by valuing the production of the country as well as by multiplying the book income of families by the number of families in the class and adding up the whole. Other writers, such as Théry,2 estimate from death-duty statistics the national income by calculating what is the principal income from the different classes of property. The transfers of property by death or by gift are reported for tax purposes, and these are assumed to be one-fourth of the national income. Other writers build up their estimates by an analysis of the total wages bill, the revenue from property, industrial and agricultural profits and earnings. It is also possible to check these estimates by various statistics, as, for instance, the total national savings (i.e. net investments in shares, debentures, securities, etc.), long-term savings, import figures, and the currency in circulation. It is, for example, estimated that the national income before the War in France was one-fifth of the imports, and from this it is assumed that the figures represent the same proportion to-day as they did before the War. Similarly with circulation which is known it is assumed that circulation bears to the income the same proportion now as it did before the War. These, however, are very rough checks and are not to be relied on in view of other scientific and more accurate estimates that are available. In regard to Germany, if Central Budget figures only are given, it must be remembered that the Central Budget since 1918 carries sums formerly paid by the separate states of the Empire.

The results in Table No. XXII. are summarised in the table below, which shows the tax revenue (not total revenue) in proportion to the total national income including and excluding local taxation. One lesson from the data is that Great Britain is not the only nation that is burdened with heavy taxation. Taxation, it will be seen, in Great Britain, Germany, Australia, and Canada is at the moment considerably higher than in other countries. The figure for France is, in view of its wealth, comparatively low. The figure for India in the neighbourhood of 5 per cent will not surprise those who have studied in detail the productive capacity of the country at the present time. The burden of taxation, as

1 The Wealth and Income of the People of the United States, 1922 (Macmillan, New York).

2 La Fortune publique de la France, Paris, 1911.

has been shown, depends also on the standard of living or the productive capacity of a country's inhabitants, the method by which taxation is levied, the purpose for which taxation is used, and also the mentality of the people taxed. It should be remembered that over 70 per cent of the population in India and 60 per cent in Japan are engaged in agriculture. Agricultural countries cannot, and do not, produce the wealth of countries predominantly industrial. Progressive taxation is less burdensome to the lower income groups than proportionate taxation on all incomes whatever their size. Interest charges paid within the country are a mere transference of funds, and therefore do not constitute a heavy burden on the country as a whole. In an hour of patriotism more may be subscribed than in a generation of lethargy, and with less real effect on the population of the country.

When one country's taxation is compared with another or one portion of a country with that of another, there are some factors which may account for a higher burden of taxation. Among these may be mentioned area, density of population, cost of living, and the rate of wages. The cost of collection of land taxation may be high on account of the area covered by the staff collecting that revenue. Police expenditure and the administration of justice depend, among other things, on the density of population. One part of a country may be more expensive to

live in than another. Expenditure will be higher and so the taxation to meet that expenditure. Where there are, as in a centre of industry, other employments available, wages may be high, with the result that expenditure and taxation on the part of the State may also be high.

CHAPTER XXX

NON-TAX REVENUE

1. THE revenue of States includes, in addition to the revenue from taxation, income from public property and public undertakings. In most countries, as will be seen from the following table, this is as follows:

The percentages do not include Government monopolies, such as those in France, Italy, India, and Japan.

† Federal or Central and State or Provincial.

Federal only.

In the revenue accounts or exchequer receipts of Great Britain the non-tax revenue includes receipts from the postal, telegraph, and telephone services, from crown lands, from interest on Suez Canal shares, etc., and administrative receipts by civil departments. The receipts are either ordinary or special. The special receipts cannot continue indefinitely, being mainly from the sale of War assets and reparations. Thus in 1922-23 the Disposals and Liquidation Commission paid to the Exchequer nearly £17 millions for the sale of surplus Government property and

£10 millions for the sale of raw material. The Treasury also realised £14 millions, which included £6 millions for repayments connected with advances in respect of premoratorium bills, £1,388,400 of gold salved from the Laurentic, £4 millions for receipts under the German Reparation (Recovery) Act 1921, and £2,300,000 received in cash from the Reparation Commission. In 1923-24, it is interesting to note, the Budget estimates were £837,000,000 of revenue, of which £718,000,000 was tax, and £119,000,000, or 14.1 per cent, non-tax revenue. In India two-thirds of the Central and Provincial receipts combined are tax revenue, and the remainder is income from Government undertakings, such as railways, irrigation, other public works, posts and telegraphs, forests, the mints at Calcutta and Bombay, receipts in connection with civil departments, and interest on loans. The revenue from these heads is given in the following table :

In the United States ordinary Federal receipts in 1924 were budgeted as $3362 millions, of which $512 millions or 15.2 per cent were non-tax. Postal revenues are excluded from these ordinary receipts. The French Budget amounted in 1922 to Fr.23,381 millions, of which State domains yielded Fr. 183 millions, posts Fr.1086 millions, and miscellaneous non-tax Fr.5307 millions. The Italian Budget estimates for 1923 show, out of a revenue of over 12 thousand million lire, only 15 millions as receipts from real State property, and 550 millions from postal, telegraph, and telephone services. The Swedish Budget includes as non-tax revenue receipts from posts and telegraphs, waterfall works, railways, domains, interest on shares in certain companies,