TOGETHER WITH A COMPILATION OF THE STATE TAX SYSTEMS NEW YORK & LONDON The Knickerbocker Press 1888 INTRODUCTION. THE author of this treatise kindly sent me a copy of it in the year 1882. I had become interested in his work, through his "Guide to the Study of Political Economy," introduced to English readers by the late Professor Jevons. I, accordingly, had a translation of the Scienza delle Finanze made for my own use, but without any fixed intention of publishing it. The admirable brevity and comprehensiveness of Professor Cossa's statement of the principles of taxation, and the light thrown on the evolution of the science of public finance, and the want of any short treatise of similar scope in the English language, led me to believe that it would find an appreciative audience in this country. the time did not then appear to be favorable. But During the past three or four years there has been a marked revival of interest in economic discussion, as is shown by the number of new works by American writers that have come from the press in that interval, and by the formation and regular meetings of two distinctively economic societies. Notwithstanding the shaking up that Political Economy has received in recent years, which |