Revelation

3976

Revenue

of the Gulf of Finland. The upper town or
Domberg still possesses a mediaeval aspect
with its thirteenth-century Danish Castle,
long the governor's residence and the Cathe-
dral, founded in the thirteenth century. Rev-
el was founded in 1219-28 as a Danish town,
and from 1238 it was a Hanseatic trade cen-
tre. In 1346 it was sold by Denmark to the
Teutonic Knights; in 1651 it became Swed-
ish; in 1710 it was captured by Peter the
Great, and definitely became Russian in 1721.
When Estonia became a republic in 1920, the
harbor of Tallinn was greatly improved. Dur-
ing the World War the town was attacked by
Germans; p. 130,000.

Revelation is a familiar theological ex-
pression, commonly applied to the knowledge
of Himself which God has given to man in
Holy Scripture. In itself, however, the word
is properly used not merely of the divine
knowledge communicated to us in Scripture,
but of all divine knowledge communicated
through whatever source.

Revelation, Book of, or The Apoca-
lypse, purports to have been written by
John, presumably the Apostle, and is a rec-
ord of the visions seen by him in Patmos. It
belongs to the order of prophetic writings
known as apocalyptic. The book has been
the subject of many vigorous controversies,
not yet closed, principally in regard to its
authorship, its integrity, and its interpreta-
tion.

Revels, Master of the, a former English
state official whose chief function was that of
censor and licenser of plays and kindred rep-
resentations. See CENSORSHIP OF THE DRAMA,

Revenue, Public. The revenues of the
modern state may be classified according to
the government by which they are raised. In
the United States, public revenues fall into
three classes—National, State, and local—and
this is true, in general, of all federal states.
In centralized states like France, only two
forms, national and local, are of significance.
On the basis of their economic character, the
public revenues may be classified as gratui-
tous, contractual, and compulsory. Of the
compulsory revenues, taxes are by far the
most important. In the United States, the
Federal tax revenue consists of customs rev-
enue, excise taxes, and taxes on incomes and
inheritances. The State and local revenues
of the United States are based upon the gen-
eral property tax. In some States, income,
inheritance and business taxes are also em-
ployed.

In the most recent Revenue Acts, additions

weie made to rates of taxation and exemp-
tions were greatly lessened, thus broadening
the tax base so that those in the lower
brackets should bear a share of the tax bur-
den while the rates in the higher brackets
were enormously increased. The principle of
progression was applied; in other words, the
rate increased as the amount of income in-
creased. Exemptions were made in order that
the tax might not encroach upon the income
necessary for support.

While it is comparatively simple to deter-
mine the tax to be paid when income is, for
example, received from one source, the han-
dling of income tax returns for large corpora-
tions and wealthy individuals has become a
difficult matter involving careful training
and a detailed knowledge not only of the pro-
visions of the Act but various administrative
rulings interpreting the Act. 'Gross income'
includes gains, profits, and income derived
from salaries, wages, or compensation for
personal service, also from interest, rent, divi-
dends or the transaction of any business car-
ried on for gain or profit. Certain items
such as life insurance paid by reason of the
death of the insured, annuities and so forth
need not be included in gross income. The
Federal Revenue Act of 1938 effected consid-
erable changes in income taxes as applied
to capital gains and losses. The normal tax
on individuals is 4% with a surtax of from
4% to 75%, applied to incomes exceeding
$4,000, after allowing ^ certain credits and
exemptions. The law provides for personal
exemptions, as to both normal and surtaxes,
of $1,000 for a single person, $2,500 for a
married person and $400 for each dependent.
There is also an earned income credit which
applies at rate of ro% against normal tax
on earned incomes up to $14,000. A mini-
mum credit of $3,000 earned income is al-
lowed in all cases. The 1939 Act contains
noted changes from the previous Act in the
income tax of corporations, especially with
relation to tax on undistributed profits. A
corporation having income not exceeding
$25,000 is subject to a rate ranging progres-
sively from i2*/2%> to 16%. A corporation
having income exceeding $25,000 is subject
to a rate of 19% and the tax is reduced by
^A% of all dividends paid from taxable
income. The Act also continues the capital
stock tax and provides whereby corporations
may redeclare capital stock value every 3
years. This Act requires a great deal of
study if the details are to be thoroughly un-
derstood. Al?o complicated are ru^es about