[74]
The administration should also put forth every effort1
to prevent the levying of a property tax, and to this
end precautions should be taken long in advance.
Such a tax was often levied in the times of our forefathers on account of the depleted state of their
treasury and their incessant wars. But, if any state
(I say “any,” for I would rather speak in general
terms than forebode evils to our own; however, I
am not discussing our own state but states in general)
—if any state ever has to face a crisis requiring the
[p. 251]
imposition of such a burden, every effort must be
made to let all the people realize that they must
bow to the inevitable, if they wish to be saved. And2
it will also be the duty of those who direct the affairs
of the state to take measures that there shall be an
abundance of the necessities of life. It is needless
to discuss the ordinary ways and means; for the
duty is self-evident; it is necessary only to mention
the matter.
M. Tullius Cicero. De Officiis. With An English Translation. Walter Miller. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1913.
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