Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III TAXATION, ECONOMICS AND ETHICS I. Taxation I. The Nature of a Tax. In the preceding chapter we have learned that the state is an organization of persons effected for the realization of a common end, a common " good "—a good that is " common " because it is the good of every member of the state; that this " good " is from one point of view the attainment of right and justice, while ultimately it is the fullest realization of the personalities of the individuals who in their organized totality constitute the state; that primarily necessary for carrying out the ends of the state is the establishment of government—an organization within the state—charged with the general purpose of acting as the executive agent of the collective will of the state. Thus we find that a government, as the agent of the state in the realization of right and justice and in the maintenance of conditions for the highest possible human development, is a fundamental collective need indispensable to every individual, to every person. Now such a government is not a mere subjective idea; it is also an objective fact, consisting as it does of a body of persons selected for the performance of its functions, for executing the will of the people—the state. But that these persons may perform the functions of government, certain material conditions, or means, are neces sary. Hence the need of a government, and so the needs of government, involve two classes of needs: personal service 379] 43 and material goods. But since the persons who act as the government retain their individuality—therefore their personal wants satisfied by means of economic goods—demand for their services resolves itself into a demand for economic goods, or the means for their procurement. Thus, directly or indirectly, the ... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.