[25]
Further, with regard to the
alleged poverty of the Exchequer, you must reflect that you will not be a whit
the better off if you abolish these exemptions, for the expenditure on these
services has nothing to do with the revenues or the surplus of the State. And
apart from all this, of two possible advantages—wealth and credit with
the rest of the world—our State today enjoys the latter. But if anyone
imagines that because we have no money we need not also keep our honor bright,
his judgement is at fault. For myself indeed, I pray Heaven that, if so it may
be, our wealth also may increase, but if not, then at least that our reputation
for good faith and constancy may remain sure.
Demosthenes. Demosthenes with an English translation by C. A. Vince, M. A. and J. H. Vince, M.A. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
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