The Sun.
London, England, 1853-05-26 00:00:00

SUCCESSION DUTY BILL.

The Succession Duty Bill, as prepared and brought in
by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord John Russell,
and the Solicitor-General, has just been printed under
an order of the House of Commons. It is intituled " A
bill for granting to her Majesty duties on succession to
property, and for altering certain provisions of the acts
char-ing duties on legacies and shares of personal
estal

:es.

it or interpretation clause provides that, for the

note all freehold, copyhold, customaryy leasehold, an
other hereditaments, whether corporeal or incorporeal,
in Great Britain and Ireland, not comprised in the defi-
nition of " personal property," which term is not to in-
clude leaseholds, but shall include money payable under
any engagement, and all other property ordinarly de-
noted by the words " personal property," and all such
shares of any public company as are accounted real estate
and personal annuities of inheritance.
By clause 2 it is enacted that every past or future dis-
position of property, by reason whereof, upon the death
of any person dying after the time appointed for the
commencement, of the act, any other person is or shall
become entitled to any beneficial interest in any pro-
perty, either immediately or after any interval, certainly,
or contingently, and either originally or by way of sub-
stitutive limitation, and every devolution by descent,
reverter, or act of law of any beneficial interest in real
property, either in possession or expectancy upon the
death of any person dying after the commencement of
the act, to any other person, shall be deemed to confer
on the person entitled by reason of any such disposition
or devolution a "succession ;" and the term " successor"
shall mean the person so entitled, and the term " pre-
decessor" the settlor, testator, obligor, ancestor, or other
person from whom the interest of the successor is or
shall be derived. _

Clause 3 provides that where any person, shall, at or
after the passing of the act, have any property vested in
them jointly, by any title not conferring on them a suc-
cession, any beneficial interest in such property accruing
to any of them by survivorship shall be deemed to be a
succession ; and every person to whom any such inte-
rest shall accrue shall be held to be the successor ; and
the person upon whose death such accruer shall take
place shall be accounted the predecessor ; and where any
person shall take any succession jointly, they shall pay
the duty, if any, chargeable theron by this bill, in pro-
portion to their respective interests in the succession ;
and any beneficial interest in such succession, accruing
to any of them by survivorship, shall be deemed to be a
new succession derived from the predecessor from whom
the joint title shall have been derived.
It is provided by section 4 that
" Where, by reason of any past or future disposition of
property taking effect upon the death of any person dying
after the time appointed for the commencement of this
act, any other person shall have a power of appointment
over property exereiseable for his own benefit, he shall, in
the event of his making any appointment for his own
benefit, be deemed to be entitled at the time of his exer-
cising such power to the property or interest thereby
appointed as a succession, and the person by whom such
power shall have been created shall be deemed to be the
predecessor ; but in all other cases the person taking a suc-
cession by the exercise of any power of appointment shall
jo
be deemed to have derived his su • sion from the person
creating the power as predecess
1 Again, it is enacted by cla • that

" Whve any property shall at or after the time appointed
fOr the commencement of this act be object to any charge,
estate, or interest, determinable by t'M death of any per-
son, or at any period ascertainable only by reference to
death, the increase of benefit accruing to any person or
persons upon the extinction or determination of such charge,
estate, or interest shall be deemed to be a succession accru-
ing to the pefson, or the persons if more than one, then
entitled beneficially in possession to the property, accord-
ing
to his or their respective estates or interests therein, or
beneficial enjoyment thereof; and the person or persons
from whom such successor or successors respectively shall
have derived title to the property so charged shall be
deemed to be the predecessor or predecessors, as the case
may be."
By section 6, -
-

"Where any disposition of property, not being a bond
fide sale, and not conferring an interest expectant on death
on the person in whose favour the same shall be made, shall
be accompanied by the reservation or assurance of or con-
tract for any benefit to the grantor, or any other person,
for any term of life or for any period ascertainable only by
reference to death, such disposition shall be deemed to con-
fer at the determination of such benefit an increase of bone-
ficial interest in such property, as a succession equal in
annual value to the yearly amount or yearly value of the
benefit so reserved, assured, or contracted for, on the per-
son in whose favour such disposition shall be made."
Clause 7 enacts that
"Where any disposition of property shall be made to take
effect at a period ascertainable only by reference to the date
of the death of any person dying after the time appointed for
the commencement of this act, such disposition shall be
deemed to confer a succession on the person in whose favour
the same shall be made ; and where any disposition of pro-
perty shall purport to take effect presently, or under such
circumstances as not to confer a succession, but by the
effect or in consequence of any engagement, secret trust, or
arrangement, the beneficial ownership of such property
shall not bona fide pass according to such disposition, but
shall. in fact, devolve to any person on death, or at some
period ascertainable only by reference to death, then such
last-mentioned person shall be deemed to acquire a succes-
sion derived from the person making the disposition as the
predecessor ; and where any court of competent jurisdic-
tion shall declare any other disposition to have been frau-
dulently made for evading the duty imposed by this act, it
shall be lawful for such court to declare a succession to
have been conferred on such person at such time and to
such an extent as such court shall think just ; and such
last-mentioned person shall be deemed to have taken a
succession accordingly derived from the person making
such a disposition as predecessor."
So far with respect to the description of successions
to be chargeable with duty under the act. The bill pro-
ceeds to state that the duties imposed under it shall be
considered as stamp duties, and shall be under the care
and management of the Commissioners of Inland Re-
venue.

The next important feature of the measure is the
scale of duties to be levied and paid under it in respect
.of every succession, according to its value. The follow-
ing are the duties, namely :
"IWhere the successor shall be the lineal issue, or
lineal aneestor of the predecessor, a duty of 11. per centum
upon such value.
" 2. Where the successor shall be a brother or sister, or
a descendant of a brother or sister of the predecessor, a
duty at the rate of 3/. per centum upon such value.

"(3. Where the successor shall be a brother or sister of
the father or mother, or a descendent of a brother or sister
of the father or mother of the predecessor, a duty at the
rate of W. per centum upon such value.
" 4. Where the successor shall be a brother or sister of
the grandfather or grandmother, or a descendant of the
brother or sister of the grandfather or grandmother of the
predecessor, a duty at the rate of 61. per centum upon
such value.
" 5. Where the successor shall be in any other degree of
collateral consanguinity to the predecessor than is herein-
before described, or shall be a stranger in blood to him, a
duty at the rate of 10/. per centum on such value."
The bill (inter alia) makes a succession, subject to
trusts for charitable or public purposes, chargeable with
duty ; provides that leasehold estates are not to be
charged with legacy duty as personal estate ; that the
interest of a successor in real property is to be con-
sidered as an annuity ; that real property directed to be
sold shall be considered as personalty ; and that no duty
shall be payable on any succession which shall be of less
value than 201. in the whole, or upon any moneys ap-
plied to the payment of the duty on any succession ac-
cording to any trust for that purpose, or by any person
in respect of a succession, who, if taking the same as a
legacy, would be exempted from the payment of duty
uner the Legacy Duty Acts.
These are the principal provisions of the bill ; but it also
contains elaborate rules for valuing lands, houses, timber,
advowsons, manors mines, and every conceivable descrip-
tion of property which can be the subject of succession ;
states under what circumstances allowances can be made
for ineumbrances ; gives a power to the commissioners
to receive the duty in advance, and to commute that
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TERMS OP THE NEW AUSTRALIAN CONTRAOT.—Ac
cording to the conditions of the new Australian mai
contract the contractors must state at which of the three
ports, Melbourne, Sydney, or Adelaide they propose to
sail, and they will be bound accordingly. but they will
time
ofe
be at liberty to touch at either, or both of the other two
ports, as may suit their convenience. If the contractors
cannot touch at all the three ports they must provide
e days
for the delivery of mails at the ports at which they do '
not touch. If they land all the mails at Adelaide a
willelbbeOumrnade
made a
deduction for the im
allowed them for the performance of the whole mail ser-
seven days will be made.
vdiecdeu,catni deduction
if otfh efyo fourteen
them at M

HONORARY M.A.
Lord Muneaster, Trinity College.
B.D.
John Fenwick, Co]

John Baillie, Trinity.
R. V. Blaytliwayt, Trinity.
W. B. Bliss, Trinity.

R. S. Oubbius, St. John's.
F. P. B. N. Hutton, ditto.
LICENTIATE
William Ogl©, SI

pus Christi College.
.A.

D. Hubbard, Cad
T. Brotherton, Corp. Christi.
J. E. Lance, corpus Christi.
James Beechens, Queen's.

IN MEDICINE.
t. Catherine Ilan.

A. K. Cornwall, Trinity.
Albert Marietta, Trinity.
Riehd. M. King, Trinity.
John Rutson, Trinity.
E. O. Tyler, Trini
Thos. Brooks, St. John's.
Henry Casson, St. John's.
H. H. Moseley, St. John's.
H. J. Walker, St. John's.
Fookes, Cain&

J. H. Lea, Corpus Christi.
H. J. Phelps, Corpus Christi.
J. B. Crowther, Queen's.
N. K. Donne, Queen's.
J. W. Clarke, Cath. Hall.
W. H. Seggins, Cath.
J. S. Taylor, Cath. Hall.
Edward King, Jesus.
E. S. C. Wilson, Christ's.
H. R. Cred, Christ's.
Thos. Richards, 'Christ's
Wm. .TellieoliloM,-i-gaten.
E. Gordon, Corpus Christi. I B. W. Kenyon, Magdalen.
At the same Congregation the following graces were
offered to the Senate :

1. To accept the sum of 5001., Three per Cent. Con-
sols, offered to the University by the Rev. Wm. Carus,
M.A., canon of Winchester, and late a senior fellow of
Trinity College, to augment the fund for founding the
Greek Testament prizes.
2. To confirm the report of the Syndicate appointel
February 2, 1853, to draw up a scheme of regulations
for the institution of the above prizes.
The report (which has been previously printed) pro-
vides that there shall be two yearly prizes, to be called
" The Carus Greek Testament Prizes," and that one of
the prizes shall be open for competition to all students
who, having been admitted ad respondendum qwestioni,
are not of sufficient standing to be created Masters of
Arts, and to students in civil law or medicine, of not
more than seven years' standing, who shall be required,
before they are admitted to become candidates, to-pro-
duce certificates from their 'respective professors that
they have kept exercises necessary for the degree of
Bachelor of Law or Physic. That the other prize shall
be open to all students who are not of sufficient standing
to be admitted ad respondendula qutestioni. The report
then suggests regulations for the appointment of ex-
aminers, and the dates of examination for the Bachelors'
and Undergraduates' prizes, with subjects of examina-
tion, and other statutory regulations. A copy of the
report, which has regard to the further offer of Mr.
Carus, above alluded to, was laid on the registrar's
table.

3. To confirm the report of the Syndicate appointed
February 23, 1853, "to consider the steps which it
may be desirable for the University to take, in conjunc-
tion with the Regius Professor of Physic, for granting a
lease of the house and premises in Market-street, now
constituting the Regius Professor's endowment under
the gift of Mr. Crane, and to confer with the Regius
Professor thereon ;" and to authorise the Syndicate,
with the advice of counsel, to take such steps as may be
necessary and proper for making application to the
Court of Chancery, in conjunction with the Regius Pro-
fessor of Physic, for the appointment of the chancellor,
masters, and scholars of the University, •r such persons
as the court may think fit, as new trustees of Mr. Crane's
endowment, and for vesting in such trustees the legal
estate therein, and for obtaining authority to grant such
lease to Mr. Lilley, as is mentioned in the report, with
such variations or alterations (if any) as may be directed
by the Court of Chancery.
The report states that a friendly schemp, has been
agreed to between the present lessee, the Regius Profcti-
sor, and the University authorities for the future manage-
ment of the property, and all parties arc willing to make
application to the Court of Chancery, in accordance with
the above grace, for the affixation of the seal to which
the 4th grace provided.
5.,11heA University governors 9fi.EfoffSon's Charity
having made a repot t to the Senate, dated'May 19, 1853.
to confirm the said report, a copy of the report was laid
on the registrars' table. It set forth the approval of the
Court of Chancery of the scheme for the future manage.
ment of Hobson's Trust, as agreed to between the Uni-
versity and town, with the division of the Spining-house
property, and the concurrence of the Inpector of Prisons
therein, and sundry alterations in the portion remaining
to the University for the confinement of prisoners, and
the appointment of salaried officers for the governance
of the inmates.

On the recommendation of the Observatory Syndi

cafe

6. (1). To raise the salary of Mr. Charles Todd, the
junior assistant observer, from 801. to 901. a year ; the
new salary to commence from the 7th of August, 1853,
when he will have completed five and a half years of
service.

7. (2). To grant from the University chest a sum not
exceeding 501., to be expended in paying an additional
computor at the observatory during the ensuihg year,
Professor Challis having reported that the services of
such additional computor will still be required.
8. To continue the powers of the Syndicate, appointed
Feb. 2, 1853, " to consider whether any and what steps
should be taken for appropriating to the use of the
University the site of the old botanic garden, and for
erecting additional lecture rooms and museums, and to
report on the subjects to the senate," until the end of
the Easter Term, 1854.
9. To continue the Syndicate appointed Feb. 2, 1853,
" to consider whether it is expedient to adopt any mea
sures, and if so, what, for augmenting the existing
means of teaching the students of the University by
public professors and public lecturers, and for regulat-
ing and encouraging the studies so taught ; and to
report thereon to the Senate from time to time," until
the end of the Easter Term, 1854, for the same purpose,
10. To accept New 21. 10s. per Cent. Annuities, in
lieu of the 90,0001. New South Sea Annuities, be-
queathed by Viscount Fitzwilliam, and to affix the
seal to the notice of assent of the Chancellor, masters,
and scholars to receive the said new stock.

11. To appoint Mr. W. H. Brown, of Pembroke
College, Deputy Proctor, in the absence of the Junior
Proctor, Mr. Ferguson.
Graces 5 and 10 were thrown out in the Black Hood
House. No. sby 15 non-placets to 11 placets ; No. 10
by 9 placets to 4 non-placets. No. 9 was opposed in
the White Hood House—but carried by 29 placets to
14 non-placets, and the others passed nem,. con.
THE FITZWILLIAM MUSEUM.

The Syndicate appointed to consider whether or not
it might be desirable to make any change in the organi-
sation of this establishment in consequence of the death
of the late curator, have reported that it is advisable to
appoint, as keeper of the museum, a graduate of the
University at a salary of 2001. a year. The report
defines his proposed duties, and proposes sundry other
minor changes in the management.