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[1345b]
[7]
Right administration of a household demands in the first place familiarity
with the sphere of one's action1; in the second Place, good natural
endowments; and in the third, an uprights and industrious way of life. For the
lack of any one of these qualifications will involve many a failure in the task
one takes in hand.Of such administrations there
are four main types, under which all others may be classified. We have the
administration of a king; of the governors under him; of a free state; and of a
private citizen. Of these, that of a king is the most extensive, yet at
the same time the simplest. A governor's office is also very extensive, but
divided into a great variety of departments. The administration of a free state
is again very varied, but it is the easiest to conduct; while that, of a private
individual presents the like variety, but within limits which are narrowest of
all. For the most part, all four will of necessity cover the same ground; we
will, however, take them in turn, and see what is especially characteristic of
each.Taking first the royal administration,
we see that while theoretically its power is unlimited,
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it is in practice concerned with four departments,
namely currency, exports, imports, and expenditure. Taking these severally, I
assign to that of currency the seasonable regulation of prices; to imports and
exports, the profitable disposition, at any given time, of the dues received
from provincial governors; and to expenditure, the reduction of outgoings as
occasion may serve, and the question of meeting expenses by currency or by
commodities. The second kind of administration, that of the governor,
is concerned with six different classes of revenue; those, namely, arising from
agriculture, from the special products of the country, from markets, from taxes,
from cattle, and from other sources.Taking these
in turn, the first and most important of them is revenue from agriculture, which
some call tithe and some produce-tax.2 The second is that from special products; in
one place gold, in another silver, in another copper, and so on. Third in
importance is revenue from markets,
Aristotle. Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 18, translated by G.C. Armstrong. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1935.
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