InAmericatheattempthasneverbeenmade;forhowwouldsuchaninvestigationbepossibleinacountrywheresocietyhasnotyetsettledintohabitsofregularityandtranquillity;wherethenationalGovernmentisnotassistedbyamultipleofagentswhoseexertionsitcancommandanddirecttoonesoleend;andwherestatisticsarenotstudied，becausenooneisabletocollectthenecessarydocuments，ortofindtimetoperusethem？
ThustheprimaryelementsofthecalculationswhichhavebeenmadeinFrancecannotbeobtainedintheUnion;therelativewealthofthetwocountriesisunknown;thepropertyoftheformerisnotaccuratelydetermined，andnomeansexistofcomputingthatofthelatter。
Iconsent，therefore，forthesakeofthediscussion，toabandonthisnecessarytermofthecomparison，andIconfinemyselftoacomputationoftheactualamountoftaxation，withoutinvestigatingtherelationwhichsubsistsbetweenthetaxationandtherevenue。ButthereaderwillperceivethatmytaskhasnotbeenfacilitatedbythelimitswhichIherelaydownformyresearches。
ItcannotbedoubtedthatthecentraladministrationofFrance，assistedbyallthepublicofficerswhoareatitsdisposal，mightdeterminewithexactitudetheamountofthedirectandindirecttaxeslevieduponthecitizens。Butthisinvestigation，whichnoprivateindividualcanundertake，hasnothithertobeencompletedbytheFrenchGovernment，or，atleast，itsresultshavenotbeenmadepublic。WeareacquaintedwiththesumtotalofthechargesoftheState;weknowtheamountofthedepartmentalexpenditure;buttheexpensesofthecommunaldivisionshavenotbeencomputed，andtheamountofthepublicexpensesofFranceisconsequentlyunknown。
IfwenowturntoAmerica，weshallperceivethatthedifficultiesaremultipliedandenhanced。TheUnionpublishesanexactreturnoftheamountofitsexpenditure;thebudgetsofthefourandtwentyStatesfurnishsimilarreturnsoftheirrevenues;