INHAMBANE 156 INITIATIVE INHAMBANE, a Portuguese station, capital of a district on the E, coast of Africa; just S. of the tropic of Capri- corn, is beautifully situated on its bay, but unhealthy. INHERITANCE, in biology, trans- mission in generation by descent. Dar- win considers the inheritance of every character to be the rule, and non-inheri- tance the anomaly. In law, a perpetual or continuing right to an estate invested in a person and his heirs. There ai-e nine "canons of inheritance"; three may be quoted: (1) That inheritance shall, in the first place, descend to the issue of the last purchaser in infinihim; (2) That the male issue shall be admitted before the female; (3) That where two or more of the male sex are in equal de- gree of consanguinity to the purchaser, the eldest only shall inherit, but the fe- males all together. INHERITANCE TAX, a certain per- centage of the estate of a deceased per- son taken by the State in its transmis- sion to his heirs. Taxes of this sort, known as "death duties," were imposed in Rome, two thousand years ago. It is only within recent times, however, since the increasing tendency toward the con- centration of wealth in the hands of a few persons has become an economic problem, that the taxation of inheritances has assumed special significance. It is now one of the measures proposed by all progressive and radical parties to coun- teract the accumulation of vast, un- earned fortunes from generation to gen- eration. The right of wealthy persons to hand on their fortunes to heirs who have done nothing to earn them is be- coming more and more questioned in all advanced countries. This is especially true of industrial countries, where vast wealth is produced through commercial enterprise and where invested capital plays a large part in economic develop- ment. It is therefore, not surprising to find Great Britain, her colonies, and the United States prominent among those countries where the taxation of inheri- tances has become an established princi- ple. Inheritance taxes are especially heavy in Australia, where the labor ele- ments are a powerful influence in poli- tics. In England the inheritance tax ranges from one to ten per cent., depend- ing on the closeness of relationship be- tween the deceased and his heirs. In the United States an inheritance tax was imposed first during the Civil War, but this was entirely for the pur- pose of raising revenues for the prose- cution of warfare, and ceased after the war. Within recent years a large num- ber of separate States have imposed in- heritance taxation. There has, of course, been much opposition on the part of the wealthy classes, but generally such laws have been upheld as constitutional by the various courts in which they have been tested, holding that taxes of this sort were not confiscatory. In all States, as well as in all foreign countries, the rate of inheritance taxa- tion increases in two directions. First of all, there is an increase in proportion to the amount of the estate inherited, no tax at all being imposed on trifling amounts, while, as is the case in the State of Georgia, the rate may rise above 21 per cent, where over half a million dollars are involved. Also, the rate of taxation will usually be less in a case where the heirs are the children of the deceased, and greater where the heirs are distant relatives, or perhaps not relatives at all. Exception, of course, is usually made where the estate is left to religious, or philanthropic institutions^ The most recent States in this country to pass inheritance tax legislation are Kan- sas, New Hampshire, Georgia and New Mexico, all of which imposed direct in- heritance taxes during 1919. In the majority of other States where such taxes are already part of the State laws there is a continuous tendency to in- crease the rate. INIA, a toothed fresh water Ceta- cean, not unlike a dolphin, but with cer- tain anatomical peculiarities which keep it outside that family. It is found in some of the upper tributaries of the Amazon, and in the lakes near the Cor- dilleras. It feeds chiefly on fish, and is hunted for the sake of the oil which it yields. INITIATIVE, a plan which originated first in Switzerland which permits pri- vate citizens to draw up a legislative bill, and, if a certain percentage of the voters sign the measure, to have it submitted directly to the whole body of citizens. If the bill secures a majority it becomes a law. Many of the States of the United States have adopted the initiative, feel- ing that the State Legislatures were not sufficiently responsive to popular feel- ing. South Dakota was the first State to adopt the plan, which it did in 1898. In the next 15 years the following States took similar action : Oregon, Nevada, Montana, Oklahoma, Michigan, Maine, Arkansas, Colorado, Arizona, New Mex- ico, California, Ohio, Nebraska, Wash- ington, Idaho, and North Dakota. About the same time some 300 cities adopted the plan for the making of local ordinances. Since 1915 the plan has not
