The Sun.
London, England, 1841-09-06 00:00:00

his debt, and the same shall be taxed by the Master, and
added to the debt.

48. That in the reports made by the Masters of t e
Court no part of any state of facts, charge, affidavit, deposi-
f on, examination, or answer brought in or used before them
shall be stated or recited, but such state of facts, charge,
affidavit, deposition, examination, or answer shall be
identified, specified, and referred to so as to inform the
Court what state of facts, charge, affidavit, deposition,
examination, or answer was so brought in or used.
49. That it shall not be necessary in any bill of revivor
or supplemental bill to set forth any of the statements in
the pleadings in the original suit, unless the circumstances
of the case may require it.
50. That in any petition of rehearing of any degree or
order made by any Judge of the Court it shall not be
necessary to state the proceedings anterior to the decree
or order appealed from or sought to be reheard.
51. That the foregoing orders shall take effect as to
all suits, whether now depending or hereafter commenced,
on the last day of Michaelmas, 1841.
F. R. BEDWELL, Registrar.

ALLEGED NECESSITY OF THE
CORN-LAW, TO COUNTERACT THE UN-
EQUAL PRESSURE OF TAXATION ON AGRI-
CULTURISTS.

(From the Spectator.)
Having in our paper the week before last reviewed the
general arguments in favour of a restrictive Corn-law,
we now proceed to those which have a special reference
to the actual condition of Great Britain. The argu-
ments of this secondary class are generally put some•
thing after this fashion—" Admitting, for argument's
sake, that the Free Trade doctrines are true in the ab-
stract, the trade in grain in this country is an exception-
able case."

It is asserted by the advocates of a restrictive Corn-
law, that there is a peculiarity in the condition of our
agricultural interest, when compared with the condition
of other classes of society, that would render it advis-
able to extend to them the protection of a law restricting
or prohibiting the importation of foreign grain, if such
a law did not already exist. And this peculiarity is said
to consist in that interest's bearing more than its due
proportion of national taxation. Even though it were
proved that it did, the question would still remain—ls a
restriction upon the importation of foreign grain the best
way of redressing the inequality of the pressure of taxa-
tion ? Would it not be better to revise our system
of taxation with a view to render its pressure more
equable, than to subject the whole population to scarcity
by Act of Parliament ? The agricultural interest consti-
tutes the majority in both Houses of Parliament : it, has
the power of adjusting the burden of taxation according
to its views of justice and expediency, or even its likings.
If the agricultural interest do indeed bear more than its
fair share of taxation, the remedy is in its own hands—
it can equalize the pressure of taxation. If the power of
taxing were in the hands of some other class, there
might be reason in putting up with a substitute for jus-
tice ; though, even in that case, the compensating power
of a law, which, by impoverishing all classes of the com-
munity (the agricultural class among the rest) rendered
them all more sensible of the burden of taxation, might
be questioned. But, waiving these considerations, we
proceed to the question—ls it true that in this country
the agricultural class bears a heavier burden of taxation
than the other classes of the community ? This part of
the subject cannot be passed over, though it has been
too often discussed to admit of any novelty, beyond a
passionless resume of exhausted statements.

Five classes of burdens are enumerated by those who
answer this question in the affirmative as bearing exclu-
sively, or with greater weight, upon the agricultural, in-
terest—Land-tax, Tithes, Highway-rates, Poor. rates, and
Church-rates. Let us see the bearing and amount of each
of these burdens separately.
1. The Land-tax. The Land-tax in England was fixed
during Queen Anne's reign, in round numbers at 4s. in
the pound ; the total rental of England being assumed
to be 10,000,0001.; and consequently , the total amount
of the tax being then 2,000,0004 per annum. Pitt gave
the landlords the option of redeeming this tax at the
same rate, notwithstanding the immense increase of
rental in a century ; and they have availed them-
selves of the advantage to an extent that has reduced
the amount brought annually into the national coffers to
something short of 1,200,0004 The rental of all Eng-
land is at present estimated at 40,000,0004 In Scotland
the amount of Land-tax was fixed in the reign of
Queen Anne likewise at 4s. in the pound ; the estimated
annual rental of that burden being then 200,0001. The
amount of Land-tax paid in Scotland is consequently
40,0001. ; the annual rental is now 4,000,0004 In Ire-
land there is no Land-tax. The pressure of the Land-
tax upon the agricultural interest may therefore be easily
estimated:—

Annual Rental. Land-tax.
Eng1and......... £40,000,000
Scotland 4,000,000
Ireland 13,000,000

Total... 61,000,000 1,240,000
The Land-tax of Great Britain is a tax upon rent, paid
by a part only of the landowners of Great Britain ; and
the ratio borne by the amount of the tax to the rental
of the country is somewhere about sd. in the pound.
In return for this the landowners are exempted from the
Probate and Legacy duty. The annual value of all the
real property of Great Britain, under the assessment for
the Property-tax in 1814-15, was valued at about
60,000,000/. ; the annual value of all other property at
rather more than 116,000,0001. Assuming that the
proportions continue unaltered, it follows, the annual
amount of the Legacy-duty on personal property being
about 2,200,0001., that the annual amount on real estate,
if exigible, would be about 1,138,000/. The exemption,
thet efore, from the payment of Probate and Legacy-
duty enjoyed by the landowners, more than compensate
them fur the burdens of the Land-tax.
2. Tithes. Tithes are not a tax paid by the land-
owner. Tithes are as much the property of the person
to whom they are paid, as the rent is the property of
the landowner. All lands paying tithe have been held
from time immemorial, on the understanding that the
tithe of the annual produce does not belong to the
landowner. In buying and selling land, the tithe is
constantly excluded from the estimate of its value.
Doubts are entertained as to whether the right
to tithes is absolutely in the Church, or held
by it of the State upon certain conditions, the
right of property being in the State—but the land-
lords' they certainly are not. The landlords, however,
have contrived to acquire possession of the tithes in a good
many instances. In England and Wales one third part
of the land is tithe-free ; and of the remainder of the
tithes one-fourth belong to laymen ; in other words, one
half of the land pays no tithes. In Scotland a portion
of the tithes is held by laymen, frequently by the owners
of the land. When the tithe is paid to a lay impro-
priator, it is clearly of the same character as the fines or
quit-rents paid by copyholders to the lord of the manor ;
it is not a tax to the State. When tithe is paid to the
Church, the only difference consists in its being paid to
a corporation instead of an individual. The landowner
has no more title to reckon his tithes among his public
burdens, than the farmer his rents, or the merchant the
interest he pays upon the borrowed money he trades
with.

Highway-rates. All the great lines of road in the
kingdom are maintained chiefly by the money levied at
the turnpikes from those who use them. There are many
exemptions from the payment of tolls in favour of the
agricultural interest ; none in favour of other classes.
The farmer or farming landlord pays no toll for manure,
or for horses going to the farrier, or for cattle going
to pasture. For a circle of considerable radius round
all our towns—along all the great lines of mercantile
traffic—the chief burden of supporting the highways
is borne by the non-agricultural classes. On all turn-
pike roads the agricultural class pays for the use of
them at a lower rate than other classes. If parish-roads
are made and maintained at the expense of parishes,
streets are paved, watered, lighted, and kept clean, at
the expense of the townsmen. In both cases, the road
is made and kept up by the parties who make the most
use of it. And this consideration leads us to the true
view of the questior. :if Highway-rates are paid for
making and repairing roads, full value is given for the
money paid. The gain which those who pay the rates
derive from the diminished expense of conveying their
goods to market in consequence of the roads being kept
in good travelling condition, is at least worth what they
pay. If these highway-rates were not paid, the wear
and tear of the agriculturist's horses, and the loss of
time—incurred in struggling to market along unmade
tracks, would take more out of his pocket than the High-
way-rates do. Highway-rates, paving, and lighting-
rates, and turnpike-dues, are the means that have been
fallen upon for the purpose of apportioning as nearly as
possible the share of the expense of maintaining roads
paid by each individual to the use -he makes of. thorn.
If a great number of our road-trusts have run in debt,
and if our landowners and their tenants be responsible
for these debts, they incurred that responsibility by
taking upon themselves the sole management and
bungling it.
4. Poor-rates. This is an unlucky topic for those who
maintain that the heavier burdens borne by the landed
interest entitle them to a monopoly of the grain-market
at home. The new Poor-law was stoutly supported by
the landlords, and the new Poor-law has materially di-
minished the amount of their assessment to the poor.
They ought to abate proportionally the amount of pro-
tection they claim in the shape of a restricted duty on
imported grain : are they prepared to do this ? But
let us examine their allegations more narrowly. It is
not agricultural property alone, but every kind of im-
moveable property, that is liable to the Poor-rates. Thf. t
the expense of supporting the poor under the old law was
greater in agricultural parishes than in towns, was owing
in no small degree to the worse management which pre-
vailed in the former, and the vicious principles upon
which relief was administered. No one is entitled to
claim relief for expenses incurred by his own misma-
nagement. Again, were it not for the constant drain
of population from the agricultural districts to
supply the demands of the great manufacturing
towns for labour, the Poor-rates of the rural
parishes would be much heavier. A considerable pro-
portion of the employed labourers of our manufactur-
ing towns would, but for these marts of industry, have
been rural paupers ; and few if any of these immigrants
from the agricultural districts are sent back as burdens
to their native places when they become unfit for labour
or unable to obtain it. Allowance must be made by the
agriculturists for the large number of paupers taken off
their hands by the manufacturers. Lastly, the Scotch
agriculturists pay literally no Poor-rates, and the Irish
agriculturists have only paid for a year or two a trifle
not worth naming. The estimated annual rental of
Scotland and Ireland is about 17,000,000--within a
trifle of half of the estimated annual rental of England.
The annual amount of Poor-rate paid by the 'holders of
one-third of the annual rental of the empire is less than
a farthing in the pound. The discrepancy between the
amount of Poor-rate paid by the owners of the remaining
two-thirds And the other classes of society has been ma-
terially diminished by the operation of the new Poor-
law ; and from the apparent excess which still remains,