FINANCE', a French word incorporated with our language, means the art of man aging money matters, the person who professes this art being called a financier. Fi nance, in the plural, is often used for money itself, but still with a reference to the purpose to which it is to be applied, as where.the finances of a country are said to have improved or fallen off—that is to say, have become abundant or scanty according to the expenditure of the country. Sometimes the word is applied to private wealth, but it is properly applicable to public funds. We use it in this country rather in a political and economic sense than officially, but in France there have been, froth time to time, comp trollers-general of finance, councils of finance, bureaus of finance. etc. Many k tates• men have been spoken of as great financiers, from the talent which they have shown for adjusting national revenue and expenditure, as Colbert, Turgot, and Necker in France, and Godolphin and Peel in Britain. As a branch of statesmanship, finance is intimately connected with other branches. Iu questions of national policy—such as, whether a state can go to war or not—the financier is the person who is expected to count the cost, and say how the necessary funds are to be obtained. In the question, whether an unpopular or oppressive tax is to be abolished, the financier is an authority on the question, whether the government can do without it Hence, there is a special connection between finance and taxation, which has become closer and stronger since the progress of political economy has shown that the taxes which are the most produc tive, and even the most easily collected, are not always the nest, looking at the gain or loss of a nation in the long-run. Turgot said that finance was the art of plucking
the fowl without making it cry. On this notion, the principle of indirect taxation achieved its popularity. For instance, customs duties seem to fall on no one. The importer and the retailer add them to the price of the article, and the ultimate pur chaser only knows that the article is dear without experiencing the sense of hard ship felt by one who pays out money directly in the shape of a tax. But many indirect taxes have, on the other hand, been found to affect the trade and the wealth of com munities to an extent which has made them very deleterious in comparison with direct taxes. See further on matters connected with finance the heads CUSTOMS; DEBT, NATIONAL; CORN LAWS; EXCISE; FREE TRADE; TAXATION; REVENUE.