The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-02-15 00:00:00

NATIONAL TAXATION.

On Tuesday a conference was deli' at the rooms of the
Social Science Association, Adelphi, London, upon
questions connected with national and local taxation.
Lord Napier and Ettrick presided, and among those
present were Sir Baldwin Leighton, Mr. Hyde Clarke,
Mr, Edwin Chadwick, CB., Mr. G. Harris, Mr. U.
Moffatt, Mr. G. Hastings, Mr. E. Pears, Mr. E. G,
Davenport, and Captain Craigie.
Mr. F. S. Corranee, M.P., opened the conference by
reading a paper on "the Report of the New York and
American Commission for the Revision and Readjust-
ment of Rated 'faxes upon Realty and Personalty."
He drew attention to the fact that knowledge upon
these-subjects in this country was peculiarly
and called attention to the schemes which had at
various times been s rep quoted Thee were—l. A
national rate ; 2, the proposal ofathe Local Taxation
Association for an extension of Government subved
tion ; 3, the division of the rate between landlord and
tenant, with the remission of house duty ; 4, in
very faint awl uncertain outlines, schemes for re-
construction and revision. He dismissed all these
schemes as the result of incomplete and imperf. ct in.
quiry. and then directed attention to the American
Commission appointed in -tail) to inquire and report
upon Local Finance. It was not possible that such
an inquiry, conducted in another land, could be ac-
cepted as a parallel final or complete ; but there were
cirrumstances in this case which seemed to lend the
highest possible value to such collateral research.
First, there was a system foanded upon English laws,
the Act of Elizabeth probably furnishing matter for
each. And, secondly, there were not only examples
of finance and assessment of a novel and striking
character, but bringing actual experience to bear
upon points upon which our own practice threw
but little light. In America it seemed that
the local burdens fell upon a most extended
clams, including not only real property, but every
species of security and investment of money, and
not only this, but every item of personal property,
even to the rings upon each man's fingers and the
watch in his fob. Now, as it was the complaint of
ratepayers in this country that the local, ani a goodly
number of Imperial or national, burdens fell upon
them with undue weight owing to the exemption of
four-fifths of this very property which was so a-erased,
it became a matter of extraordinary interest to weer-
taint what in this instance had been the result. It had
been broadly stated that an aseeseinent of that charac-
ter could be carried out., and he thought it most sur-
prise some of them to find that in such a country, in
which accumalstion had not by any means reached
the level of England, returns to the assrssme,,t of this
kind of wealth were obtained. Mr. Corrance entered
at length into the Returns, showing the valuation
of personal property as compared with real property.
The results arrived at by the Commissioners were :
" First, they recommend the taxation of all real est Me
and buildings, at a full valuation. directly. Secondly,
all moneyed corporations, joint-stock companies, and
banks, less the value of their real estate, upon declared
dividends. Thirdly, as a substitute for a direct assess-
- ment of personal property, to tax all occupiers of
' houses, be they owners or tenants, and every building
used as a dwelling, or for other partook), on a valuation
of three times the rental of the premises occupied, not
, including under such assessment any land except such
the building stands on. In justification of this prin-
ciple of indirect assessment, they proceeded to show by
figures, illustrative of the operation of the Act,
that both in country as well as town this mode
of assessment would accurately represent the
known and actual proportions in which each
property would, if fairly assessed, contribute
to toe State- They further state that, acrording
to their judgment, and additional assessment of three
times the rent seems most equitable as a measure of
the occupier's personal property; for they hold that
no person can occupy such buildings without possess-
ing personal property to an amount equal to the pro-
posed assessment." The I 'ommiseionens quoted Adam
Smith and John Stuart Mill in support of their views,
and it was probable that the system of American tax-
ation would be upon this basis. Mr. Corrance, in com-
menting upon the principles, said that whatever opin-
ion they misht have formed as to the nature of the
scheme of taxation here revealed, he thought there was
one thing few would doubt—namely the value of such
an investigation. Upon such data he ventured to frame
a 113 pothemis upon some reforms which it might be
po-sible to introduce. In the first place, there was
One important alteration in the law of rating real
property which he should like to see—namely,
the asseorrient of all hereditaments upon the
gross value, instead of the net. Ten years'
experience as the chairman of an assessment
committee had convinced Mtn that a most needless and
unjuid complication hal occurred under this system.
Secondly, in consequence of this, it woul I be necesary
to revise the newton:lent of houses, irrespective of
ground rent, by assessing them upon a proportion of
' not more than two-thirds of the reek rent. If we
adopted the micupancy tax as an index of ability, there
must be another moat important deviation from the
present practice—i.e., that such an assessment must
in no degree represent more than the resident value
of the tenement, irrespective of profitable use, which
was now indirectly assessed upon shops, public-housa,
and the like. Ile was not inclined to think, political
reasons apart, that the occupancy tax c intd de- I
a-end below £.12 rent, unites the principle of
gra-luatiiin Was boldly introduce I. Under any circum-
stances, below cal rental, an asiserisment of two
rents (Laken as above) would represent ability derived
from personal effecia, and Cites, up to 4.300 from that
point. Beyond this the system of graduation might be
ju-tly carried wito perfect equity as a teat of increas-
ing personal wealth ; but it would require more precise
data than we p issesaed to arrive at this. In aid of
such reconstruction it would be desirable to convert
and remit some local taxes, such as the house-tax and
the hod-tax, the former naturally falling to the mem
piers of houses, who became subject to the occupancy
rate, and the latter (in its nature a local tax) becoming
subservient to local use, by which means its present
inequality and anomalous conditions would be greatly
reduced. Lastly, the application of Government
subvention night be armee strictly confined to
expenditure upon objects of general use; gaols,
highways, lunatic asylum., public justice, edu-
cation, and health---the last two confined to salaries
alone--were the fittest to come thus directly tinder the
supervision and direction of the State. With these
things, a total abolition of all exemptions from rates
wherever the annual value was visible as profit or rent.
Such, he thought, should be the general outline of the
reforms we were called upon to make as soon as ade-
quate information could be c diected under each head,
At present be did not believe that it existed; and,
deprecating hasty and crude legislation, he urged
strongly further and more complete information.
The meeting was addressed at length by many
gentlemen as to opinions on various points, and the
priceedings concluded with a tote of thanks to Mr.
Corrance and the chairman.

It I. stated that the repotts as to the rise in the price
of coal at ithellield exaggerate the real facts. It appears that
some tlrii,i Meting the emend ao gr.-at that the mere
acknowledgment of applications puts them to considerable
inconvenience, have ralaed their charge 10cL per ton to all
but tbe regular claimers, who will be oupplled on the same
term aa