The Sun.
London, England, 1853-07-26 00:00:00

THE SUCCESSIONS DUTY BILL.

(From the Tines.)
Lord Derby's amendments had last night the fate
which he probably anticipated, the first being lost by a
division of 102 to 68, exactly three to two, and the rest
being negatived without a division. Nothing less
could be expected for proposals at variance with the
whole financial legislation of this country. Every mea-
sure of finance assumes things as they are, and makes
no attempt to spare those who may happen to come

more within its range than they would have done had

they seen it beforehand. It is the business of the Mi-
nisters and the Legislature, answerable for the main-
tenance of government and the credit of the country, to
procure what is wanted for that purpose without any
compunction for tho3e who are caught unawares. Lat-
terly, indeed, remissions have preponderated so much
over inflictions that the more usual inquiry on the ap-
pearance of a budget is the benefit which falls to each
man's share ; not the loss. If a man is fortunate, he is
congratulated ; if not, it cannot be helped, and there is
an end of it. The repeal of the corn laws touched, or

was supposed to touch, rather severely the holders of
leases. What of that ? They had to pay their fixed
rents with corn at a reduced price. In the last
century, when a man built a house, lie commonly
filled it with small windows, half for ornament
and half for use. Pitt had no mercy on archi-
tecture, and left the occupier of a house with a
hundred windows to get out of his scrape as well
as he could. The existing state of things, whether con-
tracts, or leases, or settlements, constitutes a great fact
for the operations of a Minister, and he takes it as he
finds it. Hardships, of course, there must always be,
but, if we once begin to recognise a vested interest in
any condition or arrangements that happens to be par-
ticularly affected by a new law, the path of legislation
will be so clogged and hindered that we,yuustcome to a
sand-still. But, after all, the grievance alleged for
Lord Derby's amendment is not that this or that person
has incurred extra damage for want of timely notice, but
that he has not been able to evade the coming tax—eva-
sions being so common, it seems, that Parliament is to
recognise the right of evasion, and to give a certain
scope, or " law,' for the purpose to all ingenious per-
sons averse to the payment of taxes.
Lord Derby's difficulty, however, is rather of a meta-
physical than a substantial nature. He evidently cannot
understand, or does not choose to understand, how the
extinction of a charge can be a positive accession of pro-
perty. Let an estate pass at the death of one man to
another, and Lord Derby admits the latter to be so
much the richer ; but if the latter has had to pay the
former 5001. a-year as long as he lived, and on the death
of the former has so much more to spend on his conti-

nental tour, his establishment, his horses, his pictures,
or what not, then Lord Derby will have it he has suc-
ceeded to no property ; he has only so much less to
pay to somebody else. In effect it is exactly
the same thing as if the annuitant had derived his 5006.
a year from the funds, and, on dying, had left it of his
own accord to the present possessor. The whole force
of the argument against taxing successions arising from
past dispositions of property consists in the apparent in-
justice done to the purchasers of reversions, who, after
taking all payments and all chances into account, give
for the reversion just as much as it is worth. The
chance of a succession tax never entered their minds,
and, according to Lord Derby, they think themselves
defrauded. But the purchaser of a reversion, who finds
himself relieved from the income tax thereon, partially
in three years, and entirely after seven years, does not
thank Mr. Gladstone or Parliament for the 2
boon • and

if the relief more than covers the new tax, he has no
right to pretend an injury in one case and no benefit in
another. He does not think he has more than his
fair right in the one case, and cannot pretend to have
less than his due in the other. If he is sensible, he
takes taxes, as they take him, just as they come.
It is evident that much misconception prevails on the
subject of the bill, chiefly, we suspect, from people not
giving themselves the trouble to understand it. To
ascertain the real working of a measure is one thing, to
make a clever speech against it another, and the second
course is all that it has been thought worth while to at-
tempt in this instance. Lord St. Leonards, for example,
made the simple mistake of Supposing that a widow would
pay duty on succeeding to her husband's interest by
virtue of a settlement made by her father, in which case,
as he alleges, the father would see his property, while
in the hands of his own descendants, paying succession
duty in his own life-time. But the fact is, the widow
would not pay duty at all, any more than under the
existing legacy duties. We conceive, too, that he
must make an equal blunder—for we can find no war-
rant for the assertion in the bill—when he says that it
will exact the larger rate of duty on each succession of a
property that has once passed to a stranger. The opi-
nion is so extraordinary, and so at variance with the
spirit of the bill, that we can hardly suppose it to be
serious. Certainly there is not one word in the bill to
justify or suggest such an interpretation. Each suc-
cession can only be by one death, and is rated according
to the relationship of the deceased. Lord Derby honestly
confesses he has not mastered the bill, and, that he may
be at liberty to throw out objectious without being an-
swerable for their soundness, quietly leans on the opinions
of nameless lawyers, with just a hint at his own utter
indifference to the subject. The truth is, it was impos-
sible to get up the steam. The objects for whom the
sympathy of the public was to be asked were unfortu-
nately just those who are usually more envied than
otherwise, and whose little disappointments we all bear
with wonderful equanimity. The worst case his lord-
ship could picture last night was that of a young
gentleman who at the age of twenty-five succeeds by
the death of a third cousin, or of an entire stranger, to
50,000/. a year. Before the unhappy youth has reco-
vered from the shock of this terrible disaster, the tax-
gatherer comes upon him for 85,0001., or about 19,0001.
a year for four years and a half. The result is, that for
that tedious period, at the most critical period of the
young man's career, his miserable pittance of 50,0001. a
year is reduced to 31,0001., unless he can sell one-
twentieth of his property to clear the rest. Another
hard case instanced by his lordship is that of the specu-
lator who has bought a reversion without any idea of
paying duty upon it. The great majority of such rever-
sions are those of sons, brothers, and nephews ; and the
duty will be accordingly one, three, or five per cent. on
the life interest of the original successor. But what
amount of commiseration are we to bestow on the He-
brew capitalist who has bought a reversion of 10,0001.,
and finds, on succeeding to it, that he has to pay rather
more than 401., or 101. a year for four years ? If we
must be indulgent and pitiful, pray let us have a more
ill-used and suffering object.
The division, it will be seen, was a decided muster of
the forces on both sides ; and the effects of the struggle
were as much out of doors as within, for as many were
kept away as were induced to attend and vote. Strange
faces were seen in the house. Our Foreign Ministers,
the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and noblemen who have
long retired from the public gaze, for one reason or an-
other, were there to assist at the triumph or downfall of
Government. The whippers-in themselves were baffled
in some instances by the unfamiliar aspect of the peers
they had evoked. A Ministerial majority was expected,
but neither side had calculated on one so conclusive.
The bill is now safe, and we have a fair prospect of see-
ing an end to the income tax, which the succession
duty will render superfluous as soon as it is in full rpe-
ration. •