e
land for which no rent is paid, he concluded that all taxes on the land,
whether they were laid on the land itself in the form of land-tax or
tithes, or on the produce of the land, or were taken from the profits of
the farmer, were all invariably paid by the landlord, and that he was in
all cases the real contributor, although the tax was in general,
nominally advanced by the tenant. "Taxes upon the produce of the land,"
he says, "are in reality taxes upon the rent; and though they may be
originally advanced by the farmer, are finally paid by the landlord.
When a certain portion of the produce is to be paid away for a tax, the
farmer computes as well as he can, what the value of this portion is,
one year with another, likely to amount to, and he makes a
proportionable abatement in the rent which he agrees to pay to the
landlord. There is no farmer who does not compute before hand what the
church tithe, which is a land-tax of this kind, is, one year with
another, likely to amount to." It is undoubtedly true, that the farmer
does calculate his probable outgoings of all descriptions, when
agreeing with his landlord concerning the rent of his farm; and if for
the tithe paid to the church, or for the tax on the produce of the land,
he were not compensated by a rise in the relative value of the produce
of his farm, he would naturally deduct them from his rent. But this is
precisely the question in dispute: whether he will eventually deduct
them from his rent, or be compensated by a higher price of produce. For
the reasons which have been already given, I cannot have the least doubt
but that they would raise the price of produce, and consequently that
Adam Smith has taken an incorrect view of this important question.

Dr. Smith's view of this subject is probably the reason why he has
described "the tithe, and every other land-tax of this kind, under the
appearance of perfect equality, as very unequal taxes; a certain portion
of the produce being in different situations, equivalent to a very
different portion of the rent." I have endeavoured to shew that such
taxes do not fall with unequal weight on the different classes of
farmers or landlords, as they are both compensated by the rise of raw
produce, and only contribute to the tax in proportion as they are
consumers of raw produce. Inasmuch indeed as wages, and through wages,
the rate of profits are affected, landlords, instead of contributing
their full share to such a tax,