The Sun.
London, England, 1861-04-15 00:00:00

THE STATISTIC'S OF THE INCOME TAX.

1815. 1843. 1860.
Middlesex .. X 5,765,374 .. £10,342,746 .. £13,677,213
York ...... 4,760,425 7,399,518 .. 9,088,315
Lancaster .. 3,139,043 .. 7,162,713 .. 9,889,485
Somerset.... 2,308,723 2,991,746 .. 2,996,605
Lincoln .... 2,096,611 .. 2,868,339 3,220,325
Kent ...... 1,687,443 .. 2,906,356 .. 3,488,828
Surrey .... 1,589,702 _ 2,748,050 .. 3,823,844
Stafford •• • . 1,200,325 .. 2,439,098 3,423,635
The counties in which the increase was most rapid
during the earlier period are—Lancashire, 128 per
cent.; Staffordshire, 103; Carnarvon, 99 ; Mon-
! mouth, 93 ; Glamorgan, 85 ; Sussex, 82 ; Middlesex,
79 ; Anglesea, the same ; Flint, 78 ; Surrey, 73 ;
Kent, 72. On the other hand, the increase was
slowest in the three counties of the northern group
(Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmoreland),
and in Rutland, Wilts, Essex, and in Huntingdon,
being in each of these counties under 25 per cent.
Passing to the later period, we have as the coun-
ties in which the increase has been most rapid
Glamorgan, which has already gained 94 per cent.
on the valuation of 1843; Carnarvon, 52; Mon-
mouth and Denbigh, 42; Surrey, 39; Lancashire,
38 ; Durham, 36 ; Middlesex, 32 ; Brecon, 31. In
no other county has the increase amounted to 30
per cent. In Somersetshire (which has been almost
stationary), Oxfordshire, Cornwall, and Hereford-
shire, it has been less than 5 ; in Huntingdon, Berks,
and Devon, 6 ; and in nine other counties less than
10. It will be observed that we have now at the
lower end of the list three south-western instead of
three northern counties. In six counties only
(Northumberland, Cumberland, Hamps hire, Brecon,
Denbigh, and Glamorgan) has the rate of increase
been more rapid during the later than during the
earlier period.
Passing next to the items of which the schedule
is composed, we have first agricultural land, the
annual value of which appears to have risen from
about £24,500,000 in 1803 to £39,405,703 in 1815.
These figures refer to Great Britain, but in those
which follow we take the returns for England only,
and it will be necessary to include tithes, inasmuch
as commutation rentcharge is entered as "land,"
and consequently, in order to make the comparison
a fair one, the amount assigned to the earlier years
to tithes, as separately taxed, must be added to
" land" in the accounts of those years. Making
the requisite deductions for the tithes of the city of
London, we shall get for the annual value of agri-
cultural land and tithes in England—
)Bls . • • • • • • • • • £37,043,855
1843 .. •
• • 42 094,630
1860 .• .• • • • • .. 42,954,204
The result is that in the last 17 years the annual
value of land and tithes has increased about
£850,000, that is to say, somewhat more than 2 per
cent.

The following list includes all counties which
furnished returns exceeding one million in 1815,
and gives the corresponding figures for the later
years. The figures are as follows :-
1815. 1843. 1860.
York
Lincoln .
Somerset.
Lancaster
Devon. ......... 1,494,403 .. 1,671,690 .. 1,581,414
Essex .......... 1,293,700 .. 1,396,439 .. 1,440,702
Norfolk 1,266,818 .. 1,715,411 .. 1,831,978
Northumberland. 1,071,347 .. 894,722 .. 906,526
Glocester .. . 1,028,940 .. 1,161,115 .. 1,170,948
Kent
Wilts 1,055,582 .. 1,100,536 .. 1,097,808
It will be seen that in the last-named county there
was a considerable decline. The same was the case
in Middlesex and Surrey.
During the last 17 years (1843 to 1860) the annual
value of land and tithe together had risen 19 per
cent, in Radnorshire, 12 in Hefts, 11 in Cumber-
land and Lincoln. In no other case has the
increase amounted to 10 per cent.; and there has
been a decline of 1 per cent, in Somersetshire, 2
in Berkshire and Derbyshire, 3 in Westmoreland
and Sussex, 4 in Lancashire and Staffordshire, 5 in
Devonshire, 15 in Cornwall, and 16 in Middlesex.
The counties in this list are somewhat singularly
grouped. As might be expected from what has
been said, we have three' belonging to the South-
western division; but it is more surprising to meet
with Middlesex, Lancashire, Stafford, and Derby,
although, no doubt, the constant encroachments of
tire regice moles have left year after year fewer
acres for the plough in those districts.
The rental of houses in Great Britain assessed to
the income-tax was in 1806 somewhat under
£12,000,000 and in 1815 about £16,250,000. In
1843 it had risen to £38,475,739, and in 1860 to
£53,767,916—m0re than four times the amount of
1806. The comparative statement which follows
comprises all counties, the returns from which in
1860 exceeded £1,000,000:
1843. 1860.
Middlesex.... £5,082,367 £9,213,476 £12,224,380
Lancaster .... 1,488,6,55 4,777,536 701998
York 822,859 2,707,514 4,044,586
Surrey 1,065,736 2,158,726 3,078,631
Somerset
Kent 546,502
Warwick
Stafford 246,495 818,994 1,287,749
Chester
Sussex
The rental of the City of London appears to have
risen from £1,068,775 in 1815 to £1,369,515 in
1843, and £1,592,538 in 1860; and that of West-
minster from £1,309,969 to £2,176,516 and
£2,517,004. The return from Paddington was
£236,263 in 1843 and £705,216 in 1860 ; that of
Islington £307,000 in the earlier year and £717,000
in the latter.
The counties in Which the increase since 1843
has been most rapid are—Flint, 168 per cent. ;
Brecon, 145 ; Carnaryon and Glamorgan, 134;
Anglesea, 128; Carmarthen and Monmouth, 88 ;
Durham, 71 ; Stafford, 57 ; Derby, 54 ; Sussex,
53 ; and Bedfordshire, 51. No other county
has increased as much as 50 per cent. ; but York-
shire (49) and Lancashire (47) follow immediately.
As to the Welsh counties, it is difficult not to sup-
pose that there has been either a change of prin-
ciple or a more careful assessment in the later year.
At the same time ;t must be stated that we also find
three Welsh counties at the lower end of the list.
In Merioneth the reported decrease is 27 per cent.,
in Radnor 6, in Montgomery 5. It is observable
that these three are (with Wiltshire) the only coun-
ties in which population declined between 1841. and
1851. In no English eounty has the aggregate
value of houses decreased; but the increase has been
only 6 per cent. in Cornwall, 7 in Somerset, and 8
in Herts.
With reference to the other items of Schedule A,
it is only necessary to say that the profits of rail-
ways in England, which were entered as £2,417,610
in 1842, appear as £10,732,838 in 1860 ; that mines
are stated at £616,203 in 1815, at £1,903,794 in
1843, and at £3,658,517 in 1860, and that iron-
works (not separately stated in 1815) contribute
£412,022 in 1843, and £1,134,012 in 1860. The
ironworks of Staffordshire alone in the later year
are nearly equal to the whole return of the earlier,
while those of Glamorganshire have increased from
£19,848 in 1843 to £163,560 in 1860. It is right
here to mention that Schedule D (which is fairly
entitled to all these items) is understood to have
gained credit for portions of some of them by mis-

The Chancellor of the Exchequer observed, in the
course of his last financial statement, that " the best
mode of making an estimate of the rate of increase
in the wealth of the country is to resort to the in-
come tax. No other criterion," he added, "is com-
parable to it ; for, though it may not be an exact
index of the truth in this matter, yet, as be-
tween one period and another, I believe it to
be an index on which we may safely rely." It
happens that a return very recently printed gives
in detail the amount charged under Schedules A,
B, and D of the act upon each parish in Great
Britain for the year ended the sth of April, 1860.
For the year 1842-3 we have a return nearly simi-
lar, and for 1814-15 we have accounts not as full,
but sufficiently so to enable us to institute compa-
risons which at the present time are more than
usually interesting.
We begin with Schedule A, which has been
called, with no great propriety, " the Landlord's
Schedule," and which, in fact, charges not only
agricultural land and tithes, but also houses and
buildings not occupied in conjunction with land,
as well as the profits of railways, mines, quarries,
ironworks, &c.
In 1803, the first year in which the tax was
levied upon the plan now adopted, the amount of
Schedule A was about £38,500,000 ; in 1810 it had
risen to £52,000,000; and in 1815 to £60,297,166.
For 1842-3 (the first year of the present tax), its
amount was £95,284,498 ; and for 1860 no less
than £126,056,829, more than three times as much
as in 1303, and more than twice as much as in 1815.
Before showing the amount of increase in different
descriptions of property, we will give the figures
for some of the larger English counties, including
all which contributed above £2,000,000 in 1815, or
more than £3,000,000 in 1860. In this comparison,
however, it will be proper to exclude the amounts
contributed by railways, which, being assessed at
the head offices of the several companies, give to
particular counties an advantage not properly be-
longing to them. The figures so corrected are as
follows :