PREFACE It will be accepted by the nation as literally true, that of the many millions of Taxpayers, comparatively few really know, except by the punctual visits of the tax-gatherer, from what sources the Revenues of England are derived; and the same absence of knowledge may be fully applied as regards the expenditure of the large sums which in past and present times have been realised under the sanction of the Legislature. To remedy this want of general information on these allimportant subjects, this treatise is presented to the public in a concise and popular form, freed from the intricacies of Parliamentary returns, which few have the time or inclination to pursue, and with the view also of directing the attention of Electors, and the Legislature, to the necessity of a complete revision of our system of taxation, Imperial and Local, and to the establishment of a more perfect organisation of the resources of the State for the public advantage; and specially so as regards the more equal distribution of the Income Tax, and the institution of a permanent fund for the gradual reduction of the National Debt. 1 |