The Sun.
London, England, 1815-11-04 00:00:00

PROPERTY TAX.

Ous.llvArlpNs'en,tinuf:,/: on the. pre.veat System of Taxidse
real Proprrty, and Profits on Professions and Trades, and
a View of the .Manner in those Taxes may br made
to bear more equitatity awl less perc!vilde to the Palk:, end
still more productive to the Re'rrnue.

[Contitard.'froTwouv Pope:: of Votcrdny.]
Connected with this syiem of taxation, is the
registering of ail „propett ye which if properly en-
forced; as often. as,it changes bawls, migh:t prove
a soitice of snitch profit to the revenue'. • Such
custom hod formerly been in use amongst. our
SaXon ancestors.- In the, comities of Middlesex
and ,Vork, the prectiee. is still -peesned, and in
Scotland, .every event rekatiye to the transfer .Pl-7
real, property, is regularly registered. I do not
say it is. necessary for tbis purpose, that the le-
gistry of all real property Shoilid showewhat
cumbrances are charged upon-estates, as a Means
of preventing ',or detecting waist ; though that
would be the .e&ct„ .and a very.desirable one;
but it would (Tit:tittle tend to show, 'whether or
not any insorances,ivere 'made by :persons Jes.ving
the actuat• interest. in --the property, and serve at.
the same time to show, whei-wee the patties
actually liable fo,"'and fuiying the Property Tax :
for which nio-nOse every Stuart- or occupier. of.
premises shoHLI re- cot to return annually
the' descriptiiio thereof -aid ti e o'iwers: orp..-o-
prietors names, -as •WasLiised tO• he' cle'ne-of, late,
thoneh imperfectly- in the Land Tax assessments
annuelly..signed 'Magistiares aml-others
au old mod: et registry, for CR"' t mitt of a due
'observance Of whiele, ninth confusion a td loss
rise to 'Many parishes of then. parochial
- rates, and dues ; -‘vl4re-otte tenant 'has occupied
lairds and preiniseS jidning together, but in two
separate parishes.
These numus-She-add he made i'aroci4icil returns,
and entered amitiallyin the parish register, and
afterwards returned as regularly- to the county
-registerepreparatoryiei.which, every parish should.
be •compelled to haVe a. survey taken of its acre-.
age mid boundaries,' distinguishing,- its tyt!iittg,
manor's, and proprietorships, which- ought re-
,spectively to he deposited among the archives of
the several pariShes and comities.
The only-seecies of real property which Ihave
now omitted to nienCoii, is that nicest grievous of
all'burthens on laud, the titheg. Barthensonie, as
every political economist complains, because,
tinder' that name, is now comprehended the tenth
of the whole prodiis:e of the land, including die
skill, labour, and expense of the tenant to obtain.
it,
.who must find money," servants, seed, cattle,
manure, and implements to till the ground, with-.
out be,ing allowed the straw, the waste, and ON
,of its produce, towards keeping it in condition.;
and though nine of calvese shccp, pigs, -poul-
try, and other animals, were to die in the rearing,'
lie must resign the tenth. Centuries ago, when,
out of a hundred acres over-run with wood and
heath and covered with hog, not a tenth of the
soil was capable of being cultivated, it might not
have been dee eel too extravagant to bestow a
tithe upon the church. The further evils of this
custom are, needless to be,enlarged upon here.—
. It is sufficient only to awaken the attention of
the Legislature: to them, whom, it has Fong been
wished, will seek- to redress them ; for they can-
not fail to observe, that the claims of the whole
Country and state on all real property in one
lia-
riSh, is not pretendedlohe' unite than one-'tr'uth
of the.net rent, yet it has frequently happened of
late, that fur the support of one individual therein,
a fourth, a third, and, in numerous instances,
evenehalf the, rent,.. has been exacted. litre we
have only to spew. how muchcOnsicleration is due to
both land-proprietor and huid*ohler, on whose
property. and-, industry, only, it falls to maintain
the Church. All funded, and all other.property,
and the' labour of all other claSSes,. being tx.enepted
therefrom. :" • . . , - •
It is not Merely, a tenth of the land that goeslo
thesiippUrt of
_the Oettreh,
,for it is evident by
ehisestat'ement, that if the tenant: was not slibicet
to the ,expenee,"ancl. labour , ~cultivating* that
feuthe would be able to.giveesigreater rent-for.
the r.eiriainingnineetenthseand his profits on them
would beemore,; by e.e3oion-of which, both love
Tess. means of contributing- to die revenues
State, than. they 'otlterwise, itvould. Tithes-111'e,
subject Co poor!s-rates ; but, in' some eases, the
tenants have been. shamefully made chargeable
with -them, s well as on their rents.
When theglehe is let to a tenant, or•occopied
by the-incoMbent, the landinust be subject to have
the _Property Tax asiessed upon.it, at d racl‘revt,.

.•
having no tithes to Itay:theveon : and-when the
tithe is. taken in kind'hVilielocumhent, or let to
any person not the tenant, either Of diem sliduld
pay 'the Property Tax on the net, proceeds thereof,
dear of all expendes of labonr and cultivation,
and therefore the collector's_ profits on his tenth
exceetls in proportiOn the tenant's gains on hi's'
nine;..tentlis, pro tanto the expenCe of the Cultiva--
tion, or he must he subject to flu: stone anode' of
being assessed on his profits_ by a stamped bill on
'the sale of hiS tithes, as 4irailesnian or fartner, in
the same manoer as. shall hereafter be pointed. tint
NVb treating on their cases. A- gain is certaip to
the incumbent, while the tenant frequently suf-
fers a loss.
When the tenant pays a Mathis or composition
in lieu of tithes, he should return. the amount
thereof to the assessor, and pay the 'tenth thereof
to the tax-gatherer, as the iuctinabeftes.share
profits on the property.,
Of all the Taxes which are levied on any por.,
tine of the subjects of the British ,Realms, there
is not.one.more irreconcilable to the feelings of
those, on whom it attaches, 'than,what is derived'
from the profits on professions and trades; not
that nit,' of them can deny,- nor Avould it be ad-
mitted, that the State have. not a right to their
support by: their contributions to .the expences of
it, exactlyin the same proportion, which rhc other
portions of the community are made to pay. 'Die
objection arises more flout the mode which is used
to get at the truth of-what they ought to pay, than
from any general or well founded complaint that it
bears too-hard upon them ; and Ifear, however
considerate the manners and behaviour of the
Commissioners of the Property Tax nosy he, as
long as there.is any necessity for appellants to
appear before their inquisitorial table to give an
account of the profits of their trades and pro-
fessions, When the return they m.ake is not cre-
dited., they never will he reconciled to it.
There is something revolting to human nature,
-sorepugaant to the feelings of Briton's in particu-
lar, to be subjected to an'inquisition, which .can-
not be gone into without obliging the appellants,.
before they can obtain relief, to givis:a detail of
all their private deallug4 and .cOncerns, and to
account for their cal:unities and lo!--;stYS'; that it
need not be wOndcred et if they sometimQs submit
to the injtistice of their assessments; to avoid the
irksomenes of being interrogated.
I am fully persuaded, front much that I know,
and nil. that I have heard, that every possible de-
liCacy anti tenderness is evinced by the-C'ornmis-
sinners for the situation of the appellants, even
to that of the most captions, whose tt mper, and
sometimes abuse, might often provoke a contrary
behaviour. The dread of their secrets being re-
vealed, bv which their credit may be affected, is
more often. a pretence for silence and sullenness,
than anv real cause of abrm. 11' is not to lie
credited that Gentlemen, filling those ourable
sit cations of CommisFioncrS Without fee or re-
warq, and having nothH; to (It) with the tasseSs-
moils that Are put upon them, but /acting in a
judicial capacity between the Government and the
People, can have arty motive for revealing those
secrets, or being biassed iii.their decisions II poti
questions relative to parties, with whom they
neither have, or ought to hive, any deaFtws.
Many persons, it., is known, and may be
easily credited, take every opportimity of evading
the Tax, and by a detettnitEtcd hostility to the
measure, on the plea of poverty, misfortune,.ig-
tun-duce, or ineapacity, or some frivolous pre-
tence's, preclude the possibility, hr any scrutiny,
of arriving at the troth of their circintanceS,
and thus tiOt only defeat the Legislature of
_that
portion of their coutribtition, whiit they have
the most ondoubted right to claim.; ,hut cause the
Tax to fall heavier on those of a more liberal and
.lust disp,:stion, who deem it right to do their
utmost, and nho often, through indo-
lence, or false shame, return or Cow:cot to pay
more than they ought, or than the,LtgisLture
desire of them,

While such dispositions prevail, Its there: ever
will; it must he adinitted, that the Tax to that
description of prrsons is merely a voluntary Tax,
some paying. 10:per .cent. m anv less, more
no-
Very few just whet they ought.
The Legislattn:e are fully
,sensihle, that they do
not-obtain from every. one exactly' what was in-
tended, and they are equally well aware.(desirous
as they are, that the Tax should operate with jus-
tice on ail parties) of the tliftienlty of devising
other means to effectuate their purposes with
greater facility and accuracy-than- those • now in
use ; and, as I have never heard of tiny, I much
question if tile united sense of the whole body
who decun themselves aggrieved by them, could
deviseibetter.
Some there are who reprobate the Tax, as- one
upon industry, and decry as likely to produce
rellxation in' their labours, a;ul likely to check,
and diseouragetheir commercial pursuits. I have
no apprchensiOns on that head. A Titan's tteces-
sit ies will urge him to exercise', f or the support of
hintseli and family, in the moss] uncivilized -na-
tions ; but where civil zation extends its • in-
fluence, there is always 3 sufficient stimulus to
aim'at obtaining something more than his mere
wants, especially hy an enterprising and active
people like the British and who is there amongst
them that would not rather pay a proportion of
that something more' to the support of the State.
in which they life amid are protected Whilst Stri.;.t-
ing for', themselves and fainilies, and are in the
(iniet.possession. of those pulditiland dotnestic en-
joyments., the fruits of thcii' iloittdahle_indtstry;
ratherthab • be -'without the power of- obtaining
them..
... I cannot admit that. 'eeteris'i)ctribtis iminStry is
not to be taxed, but it roust be imposed with a
bartd,. and 'sO dint the
industrious may .be oersoted, that the qu'ati.':-
t:ity they are.called upon to -contribute is not to.
enrich oth.6rs, but is determined on as ti equita-
bie share of ci;iumOit bitrYlit'is:of the State:
'r hey Must be made. to see,, (-hat Of hint by `t horn
little is: f;:tiiied, litttic Ss requiredi• and *hen their
entleavimys innxessfol, there can-
not ally jetst •pretence for Necting to an aug-
mentation ortrilinte:..

1 wohhl aSk..the greatest sceptic to this. axiom,
IVhat are those•retits of lamlo.anti houses, those
41ividetuts the Li•gisiature anti
the COtnitry guarantee to the proprietors the on-
disturbedpoots-sion of, and for which they itow.