The Sun.
London, England, 1866-03-17 00:00:00

Mileage Duties.—Deputation to the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer.

Yesterday afternoon a numerous and influentia
deputation from the proprietors of stage carriages
in England, Scotland, and Wales, had an interview
with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, at his official
residence in Dowding-street, to present a memorial
on the subject of mileage duties.
Mr. AYRTON, M.P., briefly introduced the depu-
tation.

Mr. BRADFIELD handed in a memorial setting
forth at length the grievances complained of. It
was shown, for instance, that the present mileage
duties took 9 per cent. of the receipts, or 9s. 7d.
out of every 20s. net profit, from the London Gene-
ral Omnibus Company ; and 9, 10, and 15 per cent.
from the gross receipts of other 'busses. It was sug-
gested, inter alia, that the mileage duty should be abo-
lished, and the annual licence remain alone, but at
an increased rate of 10s. per annum on each pas-
senger the conveyance is licensed to carry.
.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER asked if
they proposed to take the 9s. 7d. now paid by the
London General Omnibus Company to the Govern-
ment for themselves, or to give the public the bene-
fit of it.

Mr. BRADFIELD was glad that the question had
been put. Though the company had paid £51,000
as a tax; they had only received £B,OOO for traffic
other than passengers ; they had reduced 3d. fares
to 2d., 6d. fares to 4d. in a great many cases, and
if the duty were reduced, or an adjustment made in
some of the modes suggested, no doubt the public
would get the full benefit.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER did not
doubt that the reduction of the duties would in a
great many cases stimulate competition and reduce
the fares. But he should like to know whether
the deputation were prepared to make any definite
proposition on that point.
Mr. BRADFIELD said it 'would be impossible to
do so under the ever varying circumstances of the
trade.

Mr. MACKAY, as chairman of a large company in
the North of England, and as the first person who
introduced the large omnibuses in Glasgow and
Manchester, now so general throughout the country,
strongly urged the abandonment of the mileage
duty, and the substitution instead of 10s. additional
on the annual licence for carriages. Speaking on
behalf of the trade at large, he would say that they
did not so much object to pay the money as the way
in which it was raised. They knew that the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer must have money ; but they
objected to the system of espionage under which
their business was at present carried on, and the
constant interference which the system caused, not
only with the proprietor's use of his own property,
but the convenience and comfort of the public. A
change in the mode of levying the tax would enable
the authorities to dispense with the services of the
staff of officers who had to watch all con-
nected with stage and posting carriages. As to
fixing any definite fare, that he thought was impos-
sible. The price of provender varied continually,
the different seasons involved the carrying on of the
business under different conditions, and they had to
accommodate themselves to the wants of districts
widely different in almost all respects, so that he
did not see how they could fix even a maximum.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that if
the mileage duty was taken off, it would, in fact,
sweep away the greater portion of the revenue from
that source. The London General Omnibus Com-
pany paid £51,000 in duty, and only £3,000 for
licences.

Mr. BRADFORD suggested that the addition to the
licence, and the probability that many stage car-
riages would be started in the country where none
now existed, would be found in the long run to
compensate the revenue for the change.
Mr. BRIGHT, M.P., said he could quite under-
stand that it was impossible for the deputation to
make any specific statement as to the fares if the duty
were abolished or reduced, because it was evident
that the public carriages were run upon lines some
of which paid better than others, and the ultimate
price must be left to competition. Under the exist-
ing system, that competitionhad hitherto kept down
the profits in this particular trade to not more than
the ordinary returns from trade, if not below ; but
his opinion was, that many hundreds of stage car-