The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-04-03 00:00:00

THE STOURBRIDGE OBSERVER.

taxed. This is not in the spirit of the Cheap Trains
Act, but is in the letter of the Act, which it would
now be impossible to carry out in its integrity; but
my principal objeet was to endeavour to convince the
Chancellor of the Exchequer of the extreme injustice
of this impost, as at present levied.
The Railway Passenger Duty was imposed, as shown
in our petition, in the infancy of the railway system,
and has grown up with it, as the Chancellor stated,
but he omitted to notice that the tax was imposed in
the interest of the other modes of locomotion, in
order that it might bear its fair share of taxation,
and not compete unfairly with the other and then
highly taxed modes of transit. I stated that at that
time the railroads paid only £6,000 a year to the re-
venue, and that stage coaches and other modes of con-
veyance paid about £75U,000. Last year, when we
waited on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to plead for
the remissiohof this oppressive tax, it only produced
about £500,000 a year. This was bad enough, but
since then, under a recent decision of the Court of
Exchequer, the Government has relentlessly levied
the tax (which they did not do before) on all trains
which do not stop at every station; and under this
decision the Government now enforce the tax accord-
ing to the literal wording of the now otherwise obso-
lete Cheap Trains Act, to the extent not of £500,000,
but -Of -2750,000 or thereabouts, while at the same time
they have remitted all taxation on all other modes of
locomotion. This is the injustice of which we railway
proprietors complain.
-r--
I rejoice it liai-fallen to the privilege ota. Con'sez-
vative-ehancelloi-of tile Exchequer to have been able
to remit all taxation on street cars' omnibuses, horses,
and other mode of conveyance. We now appeal to
him, as a simple measure of justice, rot to leave rail-
ways in the disadvantageous and unfair position of
being compelled to compete as they now do with their
rival untaxed modes of conveyance, with this incubus
about their necks. We claim in justice that the tax,
which was originally imposed on the ground that other-
wise untaxed railways would compete unfairly with
the highly-taxed coaches, should now be removed,
seeing that the Chancellor of the Exchequer has re-
versed the picture and remitted the duty on the rival
modes of conveyance. There is the additional reason
why we claim this measure of justice. Railways
are heavily taxed in many ways; they not only
have to make and keep in repair their own costly lines,
but, rightly for the sake of the public, have to attend
to all the costly requirements of the Board of Trade,
while in addition they have to pay enormous rates for
the maintenance and repair of roads, for which their
rivals pay nothing, and on which they now travel free.
This is not fair play. Can anything be more unfair or
injurious than maintaining the passenger tax under
such circumstances as these? Sir, I appeal, not only
to the sense of justice of the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer, but, as I trust, through your columns to the
verdict of public opinion.

I have the honfur to be, Sir, your most obedient
servanb, ANTONIO BRADY,
One of the Honorary Secretaries of the Railway
Passengers' Duty Repeal Association.
110, Cannon-street, London, E.C., March 29