Michael Faraday Quotes
Why, sir, there is every probability that you will soon be able to tax it.
Michael Faraday, 1791-1867, Scientist and Early Experimenter with Electricity, Response to then Chancellor of the Exchequer, William Gladstone, who had asked him the use of this new thing—electricity
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The original constitution allowed federal taxes on the states or on the people to be levied only proportional to the number of people in the state—a so called “head tax” of “poll tax.” This was a very regressive form of taxation since the rich could only be taxed the same amount as the poor even though they could afford much more and the poor could hardly afford anything at all. This amendment paved the way for the income tax where a percentage of income could now be taxed.
This is opposite to the view that the power to tax is the power to destroy. See Oliver Wendell Holmes {603715}, Daniel Webster {37299} and John Marshall {320000}.
Michael Faraday FRS was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism and electrolysis.
