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Show 204 OF THE RENT OF LAND. ( CH. III. Tho~ugh it is by no n1eans true, as stated by the }~cono1nists, that all taxes fall on the neat rents of the 1andloros, yet it is certainly true that they have little po'tver of .relieving the1nselves. It js also true that they possess a fund more disposable, and better adapted for taxation than any other. 1'hey are in consequence tnore frequently taxed, both directly and indirectly. .lind if they pay, as they certainly do, n1any of the taxes "'rhich fall on the capital of the fanner and the \\rages of the labourer, as \veil as those directly inlposed on then1sel ves, they must necessarily feel it in the din1inution of that portion of the whole produce, "vhich under other circumstances \Vould have fallen to their share. SECTION VIII. On the strict aud necessa1:1J Counex£on of tlte Int erests (!f' t!te Landlord and (!f the State in a Countr.IJ 'l~)h iclt supports its O'l~Yn lJopulation. It has been stated by Adatn Sn1ith, that the interest of the landholder is closely connected \vith that of the sta.te ;~; and that the prosperity or adversity of the one involves the prosperity or adversity of the other. 1'he theory of rent, as laid down in tlie present chapter, seen1s strongly to confinn * 'Vealth of Nations, Book I. c. xi. p. 394. 6th edit. SEC. VIIi.] OF THE REN'l' OF LAND ~ 205 this staten1ent. If under any given natural re-. sources in land, the n1ain causes which conduce to . the interest of the landholder are increase of capital, increase of population, in1proven1ents in agriculture, and an increasing demand for ra\v produce occasioned by the prosperity of co1nn1erce, it seems scarcely possible to consider the interests of the landlord as separated fro1n those of the state and people. Yet it has been said by lVIr. Ricardo that, " the interest of the landlord is al \tvays opposed to that of the consumer and the manufacturer,"* that is; to all the other orders in the state. · 'fo this opinion he has been led, very consistently, by the peculiar view he has taken of rent, \vhich n1akes hin1 st~te, that it is for the interest of the landlord that the cost attending the production of corn should be increased, t and that in1proven1ents in agriculture tend rather to lo'vver than to raise rents. If this view of the theory of rent 'vere just, and it \~ere really true, that the inco1ne of the landlord is increased by increasing the· clifficul ty, and diIninished by di1ninishing the facility, of production, the opinion 'vvould unquestioNably be \ivell founded. But if, on the contrary, the landlord's incon1e is practically found to depend upon natural fertility of soil, in1proven1ents in agriculture, and inventions to save labour, \!Ve n1ay still think, 'vvith Adan1 Sn1ith, that the landlord's interest is not opposed to that of the country. · • Prine. of Polit. E.con. c. xxiv. p. 423. 2 c1 t•dit. t !bid. |
