In the days of Danish supremacy over England, King Canute divided his kingdom into four parts.
Each of these divisions was headed by an Earl, who governed the people directly in his geographical domain.
These Earls ruled as completely as any despot, the King himself reserving one of the four governments as his own personal kingdom.
The towns selected for the sites of governmental headquarters were inevitably the first to
feel the yoke of complete oppression.
The farther away from such a town a person lived in those days, the freer he was from
governmental regulation, control and taxation.
Of course, this was before modern means of communication and transportation.
Today government control can be imposed over a large territory very rapidly indeed.
A quarter of a century before the arrival of William the Conqueror in England, the ruler
of one of these governments in England was Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and his government
was centered in the well-known town of Coventry. The records indicate that Leofric was much
older than his wife, but they made a handsome couple and were generally admired. Even back
Back in those early years in England, taxes were the ever-present problem of existence,
and Earl Leofric was responsible to no one having neither king nor parliament to tell
him nay.
Leofric instituted a system of taxation, rule and regulation which limited the production
of the merchants and manufacturers of coventry.
We in this modern age have little realization of the amount of manufacturing that went on
on as far back as a thousand years ago. We live in a machine age, and we see everything
manufactured by machines. But back in those olden days, manufacturing occurred too, although
the process was more tedious and inefficient, and prices were universally higher.
Everything even then bore a tax. All goods were taxed. All incomes were taxed. The roads
were divided into sections with toll gates marking arbitrary divisions. A traveler frequently
had to stop and pay toll not once but many times, even during a short journey. And then
even his horse was taxed. High taxes and widespread poverty go hand in hand. And the people of
Coventry were suffering privation. Gradually a resistance movement developed which opposed
Leo Frick was not an evil man, but like so many who have held governmental posts, and
perhaps still do, he concluded that his welfare and the welfare of his office were of more
importance than the condition of the people he taxed.
And having in his power the exclusive use of force, he proceeded to grind the citizens
into still greater poverty, believing that the public good and the good of the public
official are identical. So he legally stripped his subjects while lining his own pockets
and all with a kindly smile on his face.
Leo Frick's wife was a very beautiful, kindly and generous woman named Lady Godiva. And
when, through her maids and ladies-in-waiting, she learned of the condition of the taxpayers
of Coventry. She was heartsick and indignant, and took the complaints before her husband.
The year is 1042, and Leo Frick, Earl of Mercia, is seated at the head of a table groaning
under the weight of tempting veons. Lady Godiva is seated opposite her lord, and they are
alone at their meal. Alone? Well, hardly lonely, for in those days in England, when Earldom
The meal is finally ended, and as Leo Frick leans back in his gilded chair and raises
As the final goblet to his lips, his lady speaks, timorously but sincerely.
Across a half of venison and a demolished goose, she tells the story of oppression that,
unbeknownst to him, has come into her husband's realm.
Milord, the town people dine on bread and water, while we have only the best to please
our fancy.
I am ashamed to go out among the people.
They are in rags, whilst I am clad in costly raiment.
Begrudgingly, for, after all,
Leo Frick listens to his wife's story.
As she feels his attention, she becomes more confident.
He is not the villain, she explains, but he has a lack of understanding of the problems of those from whom he collects taxes.
Taxation itself is the evil, and there are many taxes which are inequitable, unfair, exorbitant.
Look, she cries in the climax of her appeal.
If it would do any good, I would take my jewels and pawn them, leaving my arms and throat bare of any adornment, so that the money raised thereby could be returned to those poor unfortunates who own the Lord and who have been taxed beyond all bounds.
Leo Frick is grudgingly impressed. He had not known of his wife's hitherto unrevealed gift of oratory, her interest in politics, or her knowledge of taxation. They came as a complete surprise. With a half-smile of admiration, and half-teasingly, Leo Frick nods in some portion of agreement.
My lady, thou hast a silver tongue, and thou hast argued thy case fairly and wisely, yet with temperance and judgment. But thinkest thou that these problems can be solved so readily? Men must be taxed, else they grow unruly. Tribute is always paid, for how else will the people in the distant realms, who never see their earl, know that they are ruled, and have respect for law and order?
No, my love, tribute and taxation are good. But perhaps I have been more careless about
taxes in certain specific instances than is my want. But surely thou knowest this comfort
we enjoy comes from this same tax money. Wouldst thou go without this meal? Thou sayest thou
wouldst put aside thy jewels, but come now, that is no sacrifice for thee. Thou carest
Leo Frick pushes back his chair and stands. The men-at-arms snap to attention. He is about to stride from the room in complete dismissal of his wife's tender plea, but suddenly he pauses and turns back to face her.
Madam, if thou art sincere, and if thou dost really have the welfare of my subjects in thy heart, prove it thus. Mount thy horse naked, and pass through the market of the village from one end to the other. Do this, and upon thy return I will repeal the onerous and unpleasant laws thou namest, and grant thine every wish in alleviating the excessive burdens borne by my people.
It was said partially in jest, for the modesty and decorum of English ladies were a byword, and as Leo Frick strides from the court where he had lately dined, little did he know that his last instructions to his wife are the most famous of his entire life, and will cause him to live in history and to be remembered for generations yet to come.
to Come. We may actually hear little of Leo Frick in modern times, but all the world remembers
the beautiful Lady Godiva who took her husband at his word. The following day, mounted on
a milk-white steed, and, history tells us, clad only in her golden tresses, she rode
the length and breadth of Market Street without a stitch on. And Leo Frick, humbled and ashamed,
accept his word to the letter. Taxes were repealed, and immediately good fortune descended
on coventry. A lowering of the tax burden inevitably provides incentives and a spurt
in business activity. Good times usually follow.
Lady Godiva's public protest of high taxation through nudity is not necessarily recommended
today except as a last resort. As taxes go up, we may find that we will all be taxed
to the raw anyway, and in that case a parade of both men and women stripped to the buff
may become inevitable.
Perhaps it would be more decorous to have such a parade with the participants clad in
barrels to emphasize the point.
Whether we come to such a pass or not, there are two things to keep in mind if one truly
desires to limit the government's tax forays against the public.
Governments will always seek to increase taxes whenever we ask government to perform any
more services or to provide any more goods. Every new plea for government help of any
kind will be followed inevitably by a new round of taxation. Additionally, governments
always expand in the face of any threat, real or fancied, levelled against government. Recent
And overt actions, sired by left-of-center enthusiasts, have had a single result, the
enlargement of government enforcement agencies to deal with the problem.
Perhaps this is what the radical elements wanted, a rapidly enlarging government.
If this was their purpose, then the riots, the violent demonstrations, the bank burnings
and so on, which have darkened American skies, were admirably designed to bring about the
results sought.
However, if these same persons harbored the illusion that by shaking fists they would
get the government to shrink, they were woefully misinformed. All governments will tend to
enlarge as each new dependent is added, and all governments will also enlarge in the face
of threats, whether the threat is made internally or externally.
Now if we are sincerely anxious to see the size of government reduced, then it follows
In short, a mature
The mature civilization does not require government. Self-control is the perfect substitute for
government control. The mature civilization is one composed of mature persons who solve
their own problems without recourse to threats or to social dependency.