necessarily violate the just principles of taxation; and, secondly, that a uniform income-tax does so to a greater extent than there is any necessity for. Taking as the principles of taxation those laid down as such by Adam Smith, and adopted by Ricardo and John Stuart Mill, the writer undertook to prove that the least objectionable income-tax must needs infringe three of Adam Smith's four maxims. Instead of being levied at the time and in the manner most convenient to the contributor, an income-tax is levied at the most inconvenient time and in the most offensive manner. A man pays his customs or excise dues a little at a time, and chooses his own time for paying,-never, of course, volunteering to pay, except when he has wherewithal to pay. But the income-tax comes upon him both all at once and just at the very time when he is beset with his half-yearly bills, levying a pitiless percentage on his means of meeting them. It lays him, too, on the rack, endeavours to extort a confession from him, and leaves him no alternative but to criminate or to perjure himself. Then, the income-tax is levied most unequally. It is assessed, not, as Adam Smith says it should be, in proportion to a man's ability, but in proportion to his honesty. An income-tax must often be, to a certain extent, a matter of conscience.. Those who have no conscience may partially evade it by lying; and thus it acts as a bounty upon lying, and a tax upon truth. The honest man bears the full burden; the dishonest goes comparatively free. This is a vice inherent in and inseparable from every income-tax whatsoever. There must always be this to counterbalance any virtues it may possess. True, it has the merit of raising a revenue more effectually than any other expedient, but at what cost does it do so? The mere pecuniary cost of its collection may perhaps be moderate as compared with that of the customs or excise, but money is not the sole element of cost. The income-tax is collected at the expense of the national honesty. It offers a powerful temptation to every commercial and every professional man to tell one deliberate falsehood, to commit one gross act of fraud, every year, and it is certain that a large majority of commercial and professional men yield to the temptation; for, from the last returns, it appears that there are, in Great Britain, only 6066 persons in trades or professions honest enough to confess that they make more than £500 and less than £600 a year; only 6020 who confess to more than £1000 and less than £2000 a year; only 997 persons who confess to £5000 and less than £10,000. Since it cannot be supposed that people who cheat regularly once a year will cheat only once a year, or that, beginning with cheating government, they will end without cheating their customers, it is plain that the income-tax is undermining the national honesty, and consequently that commercial prosperity also of which national honesty is one of the bases. Although then an income-tax may possibly not take out of people's pockets a great deal more than is paid into the exchequer, it is calculated to keep out a great deal that would otherwise have

entered.

Considering it to be thus apparent that every income-tax must necessarily be at variance with just principles, Mr. Thornton proceeded to argue that a uniform income-tax violates them to a needless extent. It does so by superadding to the inequality and injustice inseparable from every income-tax an inequality and injustice peculiar to itself. This is implied by its very name-a uniform income-tax, i. e. a tax levied at the same rate on all incomes. But, says Adam Smith, every one should pay taxes in proportion to his ability. His ability to do what? Obviously in proportion to his ability to pay taxes. But such ability by no means corresponds with income. To illustrate this point, Mr. Thornton supposed two persons, each with £1000 a year, but the one a bachelor, and the other a man with a family. Both have the same income, but their ability to bear taxation is very different; or, to use Ricardo's application of Adam Smith's principle, equal taxation requires from them very unequal sacrifices. Consequently, a tax assessed at the same rate on all incomes, without reference to the varying amount of claims on those incomes, is not assessed "in proportion to the respective abilities of the several contributors." Moreover the income-tax is the only tax at present in use amongst us which does affect incomes without regard to other claims upon them. A prudent family man, by living in a cheaper situation, by keeping only female servants, by walking on foot or riding only in cabs or omnibuses, by eschewing cigars, and drinking beer or spirits instead of wine, may always manage

to

pay a smaller percentage on his income, in the shape of assessed taxes, customs, and excise duties, than an unencumbered bachelor of equal income. It is the income-tax alone which falls with indiscriminating weight upon both, and which, regarding not the ability to pay taxes, but simply the amount of income, makes the same deduction from the £1000 by which a dozen persons are to be supported, as from the £1000 appropriated to the exclusive use of a single individual.

Here is one inequality incidental to a uniform income-tax. Another arises from the equal assessment of permanent and precarious incomes. Two persons, each of £1000 a year, but derived in the one case from landed, funded, or otherwise realized property, and in the other, from the profits of trade, the gains of a profession, or the salary of an office, have not the same means of paying taxes. The one may spend his £1000 a year for fifty years together, and at the end of that period his means of spending £1000 a year will be found undiminished. But if a merchant, or tradesman, or doctor, or lawyer, or railway secretary be silly enough. to spend the whole of his £1000 a year, then if health fail, or business fail, he may suddenly find himself without a penny. Accordingly, he commonly puts by part of his income, and spends only the remainder; and the amount of that remainder is the measure of his ability to pay taxes, the amount therefore on which he ought to be taxed. In support of his view on this point, the writer quoted an expression of Adam Smith, to the effect that "every subject of a state should contribute to the support of the government in proportion to the revenue which he enjoys under the protection of the state;" from which he inferred that Smith intended to distinguish between the income which a man possesses and enjoys and that which he possesses and does not enjoy, remarking that a man enjoys only that part of his income which he spends, and that he no more enjoys what he saves for the benefit of his heirs than he enjoys the wine which is ripening in his cellar, and which may not be fit to drink till he is gathered to his fathers, or which may be kept till it spoils and may never be drank at all, just as money that is invested may not be accumulating for the benefit of the actual owner, and perhaps may not be accumulating at all, but may be dwindling away to nothing in the shape of railway shares. Mr. Thornton proceeded to remark that, among the many faults of an income-tax, there is only one which can be remedied. The tax is in most respects incurably bad. Nothing can prevent its being a discouragement to honesty and a bounty upon fraud, or from being collected at the expense of national probity, or from pressing with equal weight on single and married men of the same income, notwithstanding their unequal ability to bear the weight. One of its iniquities, however, is partially remediable. It might be prevented from (pressing equally on permanent and precarious incomes, in the manner proposed by Mr. Mill, viz. by exempting from taxation that proportion of a precarious income which, taking the average of cases, its recipient would be bound in prudence to save.

The remainder of the paper was occupied with an examination of objections to Mr. Mill's suggestion. It has been urged that there is often a great difference between what a man ought to save and what he does save; and it has been asked, what could be more monstrous than to extend exemption to a spendthrift, who, being bound in prudence to lay by, say, a fourth of his income, thinks proper to spend all, and to save nothing? What could be more monstrous than to confer the reward assigned for the performance of a particular duty to one who had culpably neglected to perform that duty? In Mr. Thornton's opinion it is more monstrous still to withhold the reward from those who have performed the duty. In a country in which economists must be to spendthrifts as 100 to 1, it would, he thinks, be better that one spendthrift should obtain an exemption which he does not deserve, rather than that a hundred economists should be denied the exemption they do deserve.

Again, it has been urged that to assess precarious at a lower rate than permanent incomes, on the avowed ground, too, that the former belong to a poorer class of men, would be to tax the poor at a lower rate than the rich-a measure subversive of security of property. If, however, a reduced rate has been proposed for precarious incomes, it has been on the supposition that whatever rate were adopted would be assessed on the whole income. But to assess the whole of a precarious and the whole of a permanent income at the same rate would be to disregard their relative ability to bear taxation. If only that part of an income be taxed on which 1862.

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depends ability to pay, no one will object to the same rate being applied to all incomes. It is only because injustice is committed by taxing the whole income, that an attempt is made to repair the injustice by demanding that a lower rate be imposed than would be proper if only part were taxed.

A third objection to Mr. Mill's suggestion is the opposite of the second. It has been said that to exempt savings would be to favour the rich at the expense of the poor, inasmuch as it is by the comparatively rich that the greater part of savings are made. To this Mr. Thornton answers, that if the rich pay on all they spend, and are exempted only on what they save, they obtain the exemption only on that part of their income with respect to which they abdicate the advantage of riches, not consuming it themselves, but making it over to be consumed by the poor. Moreover, if they pay on all they spend, they pay on all they enjoy; and the principle that every man should pay on what he enjoys, whether the sum be great or small, is fully carried out.

On Expectation of Life.

By CHARLES M. WILLICH, Actuary, University Life Assurance Society. The author showed that the following hypothesis agrees very nearly with Dr. Farr's English Life Table, which was obtained from Returns made by every parish in England and Wales.

If a = age in years,

then (80-a) = expectation.

Also, that by an extension of the hypothesis we obtain the expectation of life closely agreeing with the result of the laborious investigation made by the late Mr. Finlaison as to the duration of the lives of female Government annuitants.

If a age in years,

then (86a) = expectation.

MECHANICAL SCIENCE.

Address of WILLIAM FAIRBAIRN, Esq., LL.D., F.R.S., President of the Section. EVERY succeeding year presents to our notice some new feature of construction, or some new application of science to the useful arts. Last year we had to record several new discoveries in chemical as well as mechanical science; and this year is fruitful of machinery and the industrial developments, as exhibited in the courts of the International Exhibition. It is not my intention to occupy your time with a history of these Exhibitions, but I may be permitted to notice some of the most interesting objects, and some of the ingenious contrivances which we are called upon to witness, and which do honour to the age in which we live. Before I venture on a description of these objects, I must, however, crave your indulgence whilst I endeavour to notice some of the more important improvements which have taken place in mechanical science during some of the past years.

It may be stated that there is no period of the past history of science so fruitful in discoveries as the present century. Within the last fifty years we are enabled to enumerate the application of steam as a motive power to every description of manufacture, as also to navigation, locomotion, and agriculture. At the close of the eighteenth century the power of steam and its now almost universal application was, with the exception of a few engines by Boulton and Watt, comparatively unknown. Now it is the handmaid of all work, from our domestic requirements to the ocean-steamer of a thousand horses' power. This we may consider as the present state of steam and the steam-engine, and we have only to compare the small but beautiful construction of engines for private and domestic use, as seen in the Exhibition of this year, with those which propel our fleets, drain our mines, and move with clockwork precision the innumerable machines of our manufactories. To these we may add the use of steam to locomotion, and we realize the law of heat reciprocally convertible into mechanical force, or the dynamic theory of

work done, in the energy of nearly a thousand horses' power, at fifty miles an hour. How wonderful and yet how effective are the powers of this comparatively small machine! It is perfectly docile, and obeys the hand of its director with almost mathematical precision, and by the touch of a simple lever it regulates its movements to the nicety of an inch, or it bounds forward with a momentum, regardless of time or distance, and careers on its iron track like a dream of the Arabian Nights. In fact, we may almost regard them as realized, when we consider the smallness of the space and the organisms by which these wonderful results are attained. Apart from the flight of fancy, we arrive at the conclusion that these are facts already accomplished with a degree of certainty that ceases to be wonderful, except only to the uninitiated, who stares at what he is unable to comprehend. The general principles of the steam-engine and the locomotive are, however, easily acquired; and in this age of steam it should, in my opinion, form a separate branch of education for the benefit of both sexes, to whom it would be highly advantageous. It is a branch of knowledge of deep importance to the present and rising generation; and as steam and its application to the varied purposes of civilized life becomes every day more apparent, a knowledge of its powers and properties is much wanted, and ought not to be neglected.

I am the more desirous that instruction of this kind should be imparted to the rising generation in our public schools, as it would lead to practical acquaintance with instruments and machines in daily use, and would familiarize the more intelligent classes with objects on which, at the present day, we almost exclusively depend for the comforts and enjoyments of life. I do not mean that we should make scholars engineers; but they ought to be taught the general principles of the arts, in order to appreciate their value and to apply them to the useful purposes by which we are surrounded. It is by the acquisition of this knowledge that we shall overcome ignorance, so often fatal in the use of steam, and not unfrequently attended with danger to life and property. We might quote numerous examples of fatal boiler explosions and other casualties arising from this cause; and this want of knowledge is not only productive of danger, but it leaves important matters to be directed by the hands of incompetency, instead of being guided by the arm of intelligence. The introduction of steam and its application to such a variety of purposes was shortly followed by that of gas, and this brilliant discovery we owe to the untutored mind of one of our first working mechanics, William Murdock of Soho, the assistant and contemporary of Watt. Mr. Murdock lighted up his own house and Soho about the year 1802 or 1803, and in 1804 gas was first applied to light Messrs. Philip and Lee's cotton-mills at Manchester. For some years it made little or no progress, but it was, in 1814, employed for lighting the streets of towns; and we are, therefore, indebted to William Murdock and carburetted hydrogen for the enjoyment of a pure and brilliant light in our streets and public buildings, and in almost every house and town in the empire.

Next to gas came steam-navigation, railways, and locomotion, and subsequently the electric telegraph. I will not, however, tire you with any detailed notice of these discoveries, however important they may be in a scientific point of view, but simply advert to those departments of science with which the members of this Section are more immediately interested. In taking even a cursory view of the machinery of the two annexes of the International Exhibition, we cannot be otherwise than struck with the multiplicity of the objects, the perfection of the execution, and the accuracy of the tools, together with the numerous devices by which these are attained. A very casual glance at this Exhibition when compared with that of 1851, and that of Paris in 1855, shows with what intensity and alacrity the public mind has been at work since the people of all nations were first called upon to compete with each other in the peaceful rivalry of mechanical art.

Taking the Exhibition as a whole, there is no very great nor very important discovery in mechanical science; but there is a great deal to be seen of a character both interesting and instructive. In land steam-engines there is nothing particularly attractive, if we except the growing importance of the horizontal, which is rapidly supplanting that of the beam or vertical engine. To the horizontal system may be applied economy in the first cost, and nearly equal efficiency in its application to mills and for manufacturing purposes. Another important feature in these engines

is their smooth and noiseless motion, their compact form, and the facility with which they can be applied as helps or assistants to those of larger dimensions. They are, moreover, executed with a degree of finish and accuracy of workmanship which cannot easily be surpassed.

In the agricultural department the same observations apply to this description of engine, where it is extensively used on a smaller scale. They are equally well made, and the country at large are chiefly indebted to our agricultural engineers for many ingenious contrivances, and for their successful application, not exclusively to the farm, but to many other useful purposes in the economy of rural life.

From the motive power employed in our manufactories and its adaptation to agriculture let us glance at the beautiful execution, compact form, and colossal dimensions of our marine engines, and we shall find, in combination, simplicity of form, concentration of power, and precision of action never before equalled in this or any other country. In this department of construction we are without rivals, and it is a source of pride that this country, as the first maritime nation in the world, should stand preeminently first as the leader of naval propulsion.

In locomotive as in marine constructions we are not behind, if we are not in advance of other nations, although it must be admitted that several splendid specimens of engines from France and Germany are exhibited by some of the best makers of those countries. There is, however, this distinction between the Continental locomotives and those of home manufacture, and that is, in this country there is greater simplicity and design, greater compactness of form, and clearer conceptions in working out the details of the parts. These operations, when carefully executed to standard gauges, render each part of an engine a facsimile of its fellow; and hence follows the perfection of a system where every part is a repetition of a whole series of parts, and, in so far as accuracy is concerned, it is a great improvement on the old system of construction.

The other parts of the Exhibition are well entitled to a careful inspection. In minerals and raw material the collections are numerous and valuable to an extent never before witnessed in any Exhibition; and the articles, fuel and ores, will be found highly instructive. The machinery for pumping, winding, and crushing is upon a scale sufficiently large and comprehensive to engage the attention of the mechanic and miner, and it is only to be regretted that in every case competent persons are not in attendance fully prepared to explain and initiate the inexperienced student in the principles of the workings, and the cases of instruments so neatly classified and spread before him for instruction.

In the machinery department, although there is nothing that strikes the observer at first sight as new, yet there are many useful improvements calculated to economize labour and facilitate the operations of spinning and weaving; and in toolmaking there never was at any former period so many hands and heads at work as on the occasion pending the opening of the Exhibition. Some of the tools, such as the turning-, boring-, planing-, and slotting-machines, are of a very high order; and the tool-machinery for the manufacture of fire-arms, shells, rockets, &c., is of that character as to render the whole operations, however minute, perfectly automaton or self-acting, with an accuracy of repetition that leaves the article, when finished, identical with every other article from the same machine. Such, in fact, is the perfection of the tool-system as it now exists, that in almost every case we may calculate on a degree of exactitude that admits of no deviation beyond a thousandth part of an inch.

Amongst the many interesting mechanical objects exhibited in the two annexes may be noticed as original, the spool-machine, for the winding of sewing-thread on bobbins, the machine for making paper bags (invented by a pupil of my own), the saw-riband machine, and others of great merit as regards ingenuity of contrivance and adaptation of design. In manufactures, in design, and in constructive art, there is everything that could be desired in the shape of competitive skill; and, without viewing the success of the Great Exhibition of this year in a pecuniary point of view, we may safely attribute its great success to the interesting and instructive character of the objects submitted to public inspection.

Irrespective of the Exhibition, with its invaluable and highly finished specimens,