Note 343 — Chapter III · : THE PESSIMISTS

Ricardo wisely admits the possibility of confiscating this rent by means of taxation, the reason for this being that “a tax on rent would affect rent only, it would fall wholly on landlords and could not be shifted to any class of consumers.” (Principles, ed. Gonner, p. 154.) And the argument which he advances in proof of this, namely, that the tax could not be shifted, seems to indicate that this particular kind of revenue is not quite as intangible as that of some other classes in society. But his advocacy is somewhat restrained, for, as he points out, it would be unjust to put all the burden of taxation upon the shoulders of one class of the community. Rent is often the property of people who, after years of toil, have invested their earnings in land. The original injustice, if any, would thus be got rid of in the process of selling the land. This might be a sufficient reason for indemnifying the expropriated, but it is not enough to condemn expropriation altogether.