The following view of the receipts and expendi tures of eleven of the state governments, in 1828, has been formed from the tables published in the American Almanac for 1830.
Receipts. Expenditures.
Maine, 144,185 137,351 New Hampshire, 78,058 80,890 Vermont, 31,178 51,683 Massachusetts, 240,026 304,471 Connecticut, 68,604 74,953 New York. 1,938,006 1,988,084 Pennsylvania, 547,370 497,546 Maryland, 221,036 267,002 North Carolina, 68,703 80,890 Georgia, 181,155 186,929 Missouri, 59,570 33,679 Amounts received on loan are not included in the statement here given of receipts : and the expendi tures of Pennsylvania are independent of those made with borrowed money in constructing canals and rail roads.
The revenues of the state governments are de rived, for the most part, from bank dividends, taxes on banks, taxes on auctions, licenses to retailers and tavern-keepers, in some instances a direct tax on property, and from sales of land.
The principal expenditures of the state govern ments are in payments of the expenses of the legis lature, the salaries of the chief officers of the state, and in the extension of roads and canals. The funds for the last mentioned object are usually obtained by borrowing.
The county, city, town, and township expenses, including the support of the poor, are in the aggre gate very considerable : but the amount we have not the means of ascertaining. These include many of the expenses of the administration of justice, and of keeping the common roads in order. Many of the expenses of litigation are defrayed by fees paid by the parties. Of the amount of these fees, no general statement is ever rendered.
An estimate was made a few years since, that the people of the city and county of Philadelphia paid annually between three and four millions of dol lars for the support of government. In this estimate
were included the duties paid to the United States government on foreign commodities consumed with in the city and county, the taxes paid to the state government, all the various municipal expenses, including the support of the poor, and the diversi fied fees paid to public officers. The inhabitants of the interior consuming a less amount of foreign commodities, pay fewer taxes : and the municipal expenses of but few districts are as great as those of Philadelphia.
In European governments, many of the items of our state and county disbursements, enter into the general statement of national expenditures. From not attending to this fact, some writers have given very incorrect views of the relative amount of taxes paid by the people of Europe and America : and have contrasted the amount expended by us princi pally in providing means of external defence, and in regulating foreign intercourse, with the expenses of general government in other countries. A cor rect estimate of the relative expenses of govern ment in different countries is a desideratum, which it is not easy to supply. All our expenditures, nation al, state, and municipal, may be esteemed moderate when compared with those of England : but perhaps it would be possible to reduce the total amount without diminishing the protection afforded to per sons and property. The art of governing well, is, not to govern too much, an art in which some ad vances have been made, but which is not yet brought to perfection. In proportion as this art advances the expenses of government will be lessened, with out its efficiency for good being in any degree dimin ished.