The Sun.
London, England, 1851-02-21 00:00:00

COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE NEW HOUSE

SlR,—Will you be kind enough to allow me to call
public attention, through the medium of your powerful
journal, to the following injustice connected with the
new arrangement of the window duty?
For the house I live in I pay rent 401., and window-
tax about 6/. per annum. Directly opposite my house
there are seven new ones, nearly fit for occupation;
they are to be let at 401. a year each; therefore, accord-
ing to the Budget, each oflthese houses will pay 40s. per
annum house-tax, while I shall have to pay 41., viz., two-
thirds of the present window-tax.
Will the Chancellor of the Exchequer he good enough
to point out the consistency or justice of this arrange
meat? I am, Sir, &c.,
6, Clyde-terrace, Caledonian-road,
Idingtoa, Feb. 19.

H. LAW,

Sin,—l an quite st a loss for a reason why the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer should want to tax old houses
so much more heavily than new ones.
I am an old hcu•:e, built long before the present win-
dow-tax was thought of, and, though I contain not more
windows than necessary, I doubtless have many more
than it is agreeable for a man with a moderate income.
to be taxed for at anything like the present rate.
There is now a black-mail levied on me of 20 per cent.
on the.: rental for window-tax alone, and it is proposed to
saddle me in future with two-thirds of the present
amount, or nearly 13 per cent of my value. Why should
I have to pay that, and a new house only pay 5 per cent.?
Pray take up the cudgels f)r us, and save us from this
mitigated iniquity.

I sn, Sir, your obedient servant,
THE OLD HOUSE AT HOME.
Hackney, Feb. 18.

Sun,—Will you allow me to point out one case of the
unfair operation of Sir Charles Wood's proposed scheme
of a house-tax as a substitute for the obnoxious window
duty ?

The rent of the house which I occupy is 1051. per an-
num; the window duty is 151. If Sir C. Wood's scheme
should receive the sanction of the House of Commons
I am condemned to pay a permanent tax of 101. per an-
num, being two-thirds of the existing window duty; and
this, because my house is an old one.
But a f:•iend who is about to occupy a house in course
of erection, and charged with a like rent, will pay only
Si. ss. per annum for house-!ax; and this because his
house is a new one.
Can you explain the principle of this arrangement?
I am, Sir, your very obedient servant,
Feb. 12. A CONSTANT READER.

Six,—With a view to illustrate the working of Sir
Charles Wood's insidious scheme of increased taxation,
we beg to lay before you its result in our own particular
case. Our present window-tax on the house in which
we carry on our business amounts to 1/. 105. 8d per an-
num, and the proposed house-tax of ninopenee in the
pound on two-thirds of the rental will amount to 31. 1.55.
It is needless to say that we are strongly adverse to a
proposal which we feel convinced would raise a con-
siderable larger sum that the existing tax, and, in
our own case, considerably more than double our pay-
ment.—We inclose our card, and remain, Sir,
YOUR CONSTANT SUBSCRIBERS.
Aldo% Feb. 20.

SIR, I
live in a house practically my own fcir life,
which is assessed at 2 IL, and for which I pay 51. 4s.
9d. window duty. On Sir Charles Wood's new sliding
scale (if it become law, unmodified) I shall pay as
house-tax 3/. 9s. 10d., while my next door neighbour,
assessed at 20t, will pay nothing, and the tenant of a
house about to be built, precisely like mine, will pay
1/. Is. a year. What is the equity of this? Why the
exemption up to 20/.? Most exemptions stop at cot.
tagos. And why not charge old houses a shilling in
the pound as well as new ones, when two-thirds of their
present window-tax would exceed that rate?—Yours,
YORKSHIRE.

Mr. Best paired off against Mr. Locke King's Bill
for the extension of the franchise with Mr. Pigott.
Mr.ltaikes Currie paired (till ten o'clock) in favour
of Mr. Locke King's motion with Mr. Baring.
We are requested to state that the name of the gen-
tleman who so admirably delivers the Descriptive Lecture
accompanying Mr. Charles Marshall's Diorama of the Tour
of EnroPe. now exhibiting at her Majesty's Concert Room
in
oualy stated the Pe
arket, is Woodin, and not Woody, as was erro-
ne in our notice of the Diorama.
THE GREAT FIRI3 IN TOOLEY-STREET.—The fire
at Messrs. Wigan's premises,
in Tooley-street, continued to
smoulder throughout tile *hole of Wednesday night, and,
notwithstanding the.labours of the brigade men were conti-
nued without intermission, at daybreak yesterday morning
the appearance of the Barnes was very— alarming. In the
course of the day Messrs. Wigan succeeded in extricating an
iron chest, containing an enormous amount of valuable pro-.
tertymploy of Mr. Cubitt, in bills and other securittheicontractes. A large body of men, in
he eor, are to commence
pulling down the shattered walls this morning. No further
clue as to the origin of the fire has been arrived at.
ANOTHER GREAr FIRE IN THE CITY.
night, at a few—. Last
minutes before eleven o,clock, another eten.
sive conflagration broke out in a large warehouse, NoxB4 . ,
East-cheap. The lower part was occupied by Mr. Joseph
Prime, a cheese-factor, and the upper part was in the tenure
of Mr. John Roberts, wholesale spice merchant. Owing to
the combined exertions of all present,
extinguished,
the lire by one o'clock
was so far
this morning, although not wholly
got under a.s to allay the fears of the inhabitants as to any
further extension. The total damage must reach some
thousand rounds. The building is not what is usually termed
gutted; but every floor from the ground story has been on
tire, and the goods therein must have been partially, if not
wholly destroyed.
THE P °NY ,or STEAM.—The explosive power of
steam is forcibly illustrated in the case
of the explosion of
the steamer Anglo-Norman, when the boilers of that boat,
30 feet long and about 30 tons weight, were hurled to the
distance of three hundred feet, and landed on the Levee. An
iron safe was also projected from the boat in like manner.—
.i: tuffalo Advertiser.
MANCHESTER MARKET, TEIIIRMAY.--The business
dons at
al price Manche
And extentster to-day. was of
au improved character
WO t 9

TAX.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SIFI,—" Facts are stubborn things," and the following
true statement will show you how I shall be affected if
the Chancellor of the Exchequer carries his house•tax
motion:—l live in a court where there is but little air,
and for the light which is shown in at my windows, I
have, in fifteen years., paid 150/. window duty. Through
living in my old house', I shall have to pay 81 per cent.
more than those who live in a new one as the same
rent, or 10 per cent. more than my neighbour who is a
shopkeeper. There is also another evil—l shall have to
pay, as at present, for my workshop, which forms part
of my dwelling. I believe such a measure was never be-
fore proposed, and that thousands like myself feel indig-
nant at the injustice.—l am, Sir, &c.,
J. AKED, Bookbinder.
1, Palagrave-place, Strand, Feb. 20, 1851.