Thomas Paine, Letter Addressed to the Addressers on the Late Proclamation (June 1792)

Abstract

In this piece, Paine is more specific about what groups benefited from having privileged access to tax payers’ money, namely placemen, pensioners, and other members of the Civil List. He divides the country into two distinct classes—those who pay taxes and those who receive and live upon taxes—with the latter, whom he called “locusts,” benefiting from “perpetual corruption” within the government. Most taxpaying men were excluded from voting and those who did vote sought to become members of the “Ins” who controlled government expenditure and not to be members of the “Outs” who were temporarily out of favor.