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The Estate of the Debtor, resident in this Province, is by the Bill
to be rated to the full Amount, without any Deduction for what may
be due from him; which, in our Apprehension, would be Oppressive,
if he were not allowed Liberty of Retaining the Tax apportioned to
the Debt his Estate was encumbered with, as it would be laying an
Imposition on him for that Property, which he held in Appearance
only, and which, in Reality, belonged to another. The Mode is agree-
able to the Act for granting a Subsidy to his Majesty in the 22d and
23d Car. 2d. and tho' the Non-Resident may have no Connexions in
this Province, but in Respect of Debts, yet those Debts, by any
Attempts or Success of the Enemy, will be rendered equally pre-
carious with those due to the Inhabitants; and in Justice they should
be equally assessed for their Defence and Security. It may, however,
be provided in the Bill, that any Tax imposed on such Debts, and
paid by Virtue of this Act, may be Refunded by the Public, upon
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L. H. J.
Liber No. 50
April 26
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proper Certificates being produced, that a Tax had been paid for
them in the Mother Country, or any of the Colonies. The Goods,
Wares, and Merchandizes, belonging to Non-Residents, or the In-
habitants of this Province, are also exposed to similar Dangers, and
they should be burthened with the same Imposition for their Preser-
vation; but the Non-Resident may, on producing a Certificate as
above, be entitled to the same Repayment; and as the Imposition of
the Tax will not, in our Apprehension, in the least diminish the
Importation of the Commodities of the Mother Country into this
Province, or interfere with her Trade, we hope we shall not be
liable to the Imputation of acting in a Manner either inconsistent
with her Interest, or with the Intent and Spirit of our Charter. The
Imposing a Tax on the Gains of Mechanics by their Occupations,
in this Infant Colony, must, in our Opinion, be extremely Impolitic,
as it would Discourage so useful a Set of Men, and who are much,
wanted, from coming into it; but the same Reason does not subsist
with us for exempting those Officers from the Tax, whose annual
Incomes or Salaries do not exceed £100 nor shall we recede from
the Tax on the Officers or Clergy, as we are justified in it by the
Example of our Mother Country, in the Acts for Imposing a Land
Tax. The Tax on the Incomes of Lawyers and Physicians from
their Professions, in Consideration that they depend entirely on their
Study, Application and Industry, stands in the Bill at one Third
less than that on Offices, Benefices and Employments, which we think
to be the full reasonable Abatement. Tho' the Assessors are to rate
Lands in Proportion to the Sum the Fee Simple would sell for,
they will, we presume, be guided in their Estimation, by the annual
Value or Profit that the Lands produce, or might, in their Judgment,
produce, if Cultivated; and we believe, that in general, Tenants in
Dower, and by the Curtesy, and other Tenants and Annuitants for
Life, reap as great annual Profit from their Lands they so hold,
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p. 113
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