raises but two
by indirect taxation. This change has accompanied the transformation of
Switzerland from a nominal to a real democracy. By the use of direct
taxation, where every man knows just how much he pays, and by the use of
the Referendum, where the sense of justice of the entire public is
expressed as to how tax burdens should be distributed, Switzerland has
developed a system by which the division of society into the harmfully
rich and wretchedly poor has been checked, if not prevented. In the
most advanced cantons, as has been brought out by Professor Cohn in the
'Political Science Quarterly,' the taxes, both on incomes and on
property, are progressive. In each case a certain minimum is exempted.
In the case of incomes, the progression is such that the largest incomes
pay a rate five times as heavy as the very moderate ones; while in the
case of property, the largest fortunes pay twice as much as the
smallest. The tax upon inheritances has been most strongly developed. In
the last thirty years it has been increased sixfold. The larger the
amount of property, and the more distant the relative to whom it has
been bequeathed, the heavier the rate is made. It is sometimes as high
as 20 per cent. Speaking upon this point, the New York 'Evening Post'
correspondent says: 'Evidently there are few countries that do so much
to discourage the accumulation of vast fortunes; and, in fact,
Switzerland has few paupers and few millionaires.'"

Until 1848, each canton imposed cantonal tariff duties on imported
goods, and, as is yet the case in most continental countries, until a
few years ago the larger cities imposed local import duties (_octrois_).
But the _octroi_ is now a thing of the past, and save in one respect the
cantons have abolished cantonal tariffs. The mining of salt being under
federal control, and the retail price regulated by each canton for
itself, supervision of imports of salt into each canton becomes
necessary.

The "Statesmen's Year Book" (1891) gives the debts of all the cantons
of Switzerland as inconsiderable, while the federal debt, in 1890 but
eleven million dollars, is less than half the federal assets in stocks
and lands. In summing up at the close of his chapter on "State and Local
Finance," Prof. Vincent says: "On the whole, the expenditures of
Switzerland are much less than those of neighboring states. This may be
ascribed in part to the lighter military burden, in part to the fact
that no mona