Chapter LVIII: Conclusion

The expense of defending the society, and that of supporting the dignity
of the chief magistrate, are both laid out for the general benefit of the
whole society. It is reasonable, therefore, that they should be defrayed
by the general contribution of the whole society; all the different
members contributing, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their
respective abilities.

The expense of the administration of justice, too, may no doubt be
considered as laid out for the benefit of the whole society. There is no
impropriety, therefore, in its being defrayed by the general contribution
of the whole society. The persons, however, who give occasion to this
expense, are those who, by their injustice in one way or another, make it
necessary to seek redress or protection from the courts of justice. The
persons, again, most immediately benefited by this expense, are those whom
the courts of justice either restore to their rights, or maintain in their
rights. The expense of the administration of justice, therefore, may very
properly be defrayed by the particular contribution of one or other, or
both, of those two different sets of persons, according as different
occasions may require, that is, by the fees of court. It cannot be
necessary to have recourse to the general contribution of the whole
society, except for the conviction of those criminals who have not
themselves any estate or fund sufficient for paying those fees.

Those local or provincial expenses, of which the benefit is local or
provincial (what is laid out, for example, upon the police of a particular
town or district), ought to be defrayed by a local or provincial revenue,
and ought to be no burden upon the general revenue of the society. It is
unjust that the whole society should contribute towards an expense, of
which the benefit is confined to a part of the society.

The expense of maintaining good roads and communications is, no doubt,
beneficial to the whole society, and may, therefore, without any
injustice, be defrayed by the general contributions of the whole society.
This expense, however, is most immediately and directly beneficial to
those who travel or carry goods from one place to another, and to those
who consume such goods. The turnpike tolls in England, and the duties
called peages in other countries, lay it altogether upon those two
different sets of people, and thereby discharge the general revenue of the
society from a very considerable burden.

The expense of the institutions for education and religious instruction,
is likewise, no doubt, beneficial to the whole society, and may,
therefore, without injustice, be defrayed by the general contribution of
the whole society. This expense, however, might, perhaps, with equal
propriety, and even with some advantage, be defrayed altogether by those
who receive the immediate benefit of such education and instruction, or by
the voluntary contribution of those who think they have occasion for
either the one or the other.

When the institutions, or public works, which are beneficial to the whole
society, either cannot be maintained altogether, or are not maintained
altogether, by the contribution of such particular members of the society
as are most immediately benefited by them; the deficiency must, in most
cases, be made up by the general contribution of the whole society. The
general revenue of the society, over and above defraying the expense of
defending the society, and of supporting the dignity of the chief
magistrate, must make up for the deficiency of many particular branches of
revenue. The sources of this general or public revenue, I shall endeavour
to explain in the following chapter.