he man whose
situation leads to extensive inquiry and information less likely to be
a competent judge of their nature, extent, and foundation than one
whose observation does not travel beyond the circle of his neighbors and
acquaintances? Is it not natural that a man who is a candidate for
the favor of the people, and who is dependent on the suffrages of his
fellow-citizens for the continuance of his public honors, should take
care to inform himself of their dispositions and inclinations, and
should be willing to allow them their proper degree of influence upon
his conduct? This dependence, and the necessity of being bound himself,
and his posterity, by the laws to which he gives his assent, are
the true, and they are the strong chords of sympathy between the
representative and the constituent.

There is no part of the administration of government that requires
extensive information and a thorough knowledge of the principles of
political economy, so much as the business of taxation. The man who
understands those principles best will be least likely to resort to
oppressive expedients, or sacrifice any particular class of citizens
to the procurement of revenue. It might be demonstrated that the most
productive system of finance will always be the least burdensome. There
can be no doubt that in order to a judicious exercise of the power of
taxation, it is necessary that the person in whose hands it should be
acquainted with the general genius, habits, and modes of thinking of the
people at large, and with the resources of the country. And this is
all that can be reasonably meant by a knowledge of the interests and
feelings of the people. In any other sense the proposition has either
no meaning, or an absurd one. And in that sense let every considerate
citizen judge for himself where the requisite qualification is most
likely to be found.

PUBLIUS

FEDERALIST No. 36

The Same Subject Continued (Concerning the General Power of Taxation)

From the New York Packet. Tuesday, January 8, 1788.

HAMILTON

To the People of the State of New York:

WE HAVE seen that the result of the observations, to which the foregoing
number has been principally devoted, is, that from the natural operation
of the different interests and views of the various classes of the
community, whether the representation of the people be more or less
numerous, it will consist almost entirely of proprietors of land, of
merchants, and of members