The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-11-13 00:00:00

THE WINDOW DUTIES.

IMPORTANT APPEAL.
On Wednesday a general meeting of the Commissioners
of Assessed and Land Taxes for the division of St. Maryle-
bone took place at the Court-house, Marylebone-lane.—
Thomas Fielden, Esq., in the chair.
In consequence of the new rating to the window duties
an extraordinary scene presented itself on the occasion.
The number of persons attending to appeal against this
species of rating not only completely occupied the spacious
vestry-room, but the waiting-rooms and lobbies of the
Court-house were literally blocked up by them. Some pre-
liminary business having been disposed of,
Mr. Hugh Biers, of No. 12, Dorset-place, one of the
commissioners, appealed against the increase in his window
duties (from 22 to 27 windows) under the 4th and sth of
William IV., cap. 54, sec. 7. This clause enacts that " all
persons who were duly assessed to or under composition for
window duties for the year ending the sth of April, 1835,
and who continued to reside in the same premises, are en-
titled to open, and keep open, free of duty, any additional
number of windows in the premises so assessed or com-
pounded for." Under this section of the act Mr. Biers
contended that be was exempt from any charge beyond the
22 windows assessed in 1835, and, to show that he was duly
assessed, he wished to call the attention of the board to the
difference in the mode of assessing these taxes. The as-
sessed taxes on horses, carriages, servants, &c. were re-
turned by the parties to be assessed under a declaration,
and subject to a penalty for an improper return, but not so
with respect to window duties. The window duties were
assessed by the assessor, assisted by the crown officer, who
was empowered under the act to enter into, to count, and
to make a return of the number of windows rateable to
each respective house, with which return the party assessed
had nothing whatever to do, and was seldom present when
the survey was made. The, number of windows taken by
the assessor was returned to the surveyor, subsequently by
the surveyor to the board of commissioners, who directed
the amount to be collected by their collectors, and another
return IA as then made to the board of taxes. Under these
circumstances, he (Mr. Biers) would maintain that after
five years' collection had been paid upon a charge made by
the parties themselves it was as unjust as illiberal to turn
round upon the ratepayers and say, "Notwithstanding it
was our own fault that in 1834 an aperture may have es-
caped our charge, yet the penalty shall be inflicted not only
for such windows as were then in existence, but also all
those that have been since opened upon the faith of that
act." He wished to impress upon the board the injustice
of this attempt, inasmuch as the assessors of 1834 might,
and no doubt did, exercise a discretion in taking the win-
dows, leaving out, perhaps, a lancet-light or loophole made
for the purpose of ventilating a water-closet or larder,
whilst the surveyors of 1840, having received from the Tax
Office the most stringent orders to keep up to the uttermost,
would count even a gimblet-hole in a door for the purpose
of increasing the duties. This, he contended, was not the
way in which the government intended that the taxpayers
should be treated ; but, even if so, he should still contend
that according to the definition of the word " duly," which
meant "properly," "regularly," he had been properly and
regularly assessed by the parties whose duty it was so to do;
and also that they could not amerce any ratepayer for any
laches of parties themselves. In fact, it would be most
unjust of the hoard of commissioners to amerce an appel-
lant by inflicting the additional charge of the whole of the
windows now found under the present squeezing system,
upon the ground that the surveyors of 1834 had either in-
advertently or liberally left out of the charge at that period
a pane of glass which they considered ought not to be
charged. He should, therefore, strenuously contend that
in 1834 he was duly assessed, and consequently not liable
to the additional cliarße now attempted to be enforced.
A long discussion upon the point raised ensued amongst
the board of commissioners, which was a very full one,
and the decision was ultimately postponed till the next
meeting.

Within the last fortnight three men have lost their lives at
the works of the Box Tunnel, and two others have had their
limbs dreadfully mangled.

PRICES OF SHARES, NOVEMBER 12.

Prices. This day Last
Per Share. Prices

RAILWAYS, &c.
Bolton and Leigh lOO paid
Bristol and Exeter 6o ....
Birmingham and Gloucester
Ditto and Derby lOO ....
Birkenhead and Chester
Ditto, new l5
Dublin and Drogheda
Eastern Counties
Ditto, Debentures
Edinburgh and Glasgow
Ditto Leigh and Newhaven 9 paid
Glasgow, Paisley, & Greenock 20 paid
Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmar 1 30 paid
Greenock, and Ayr
Grand Junction lOO
Ditto half shares 4O ....
Ditto quarter shares (late
Chester and Crewe) 25 .... 52 0 0 ....
Quarter 29 15 0 ....
Great Western 65 . 83 10 0 ....
Ditto new shares 4O .... 48 10 0 .... 48 5 0
Ditto Fifth Shares 4 .... 7 :7 6 .. 8 5 0
Hull and Selby
Leicester and Swannington 5O .... 53 15 0 ....
Lancaster and Preston 42 10 0 32 15 0 ....
Ditto, new
Liverpool and Manchester
Ditto quarter shares
Ditto half shares
London and Birmingham go 164 0 0 .... 16s 10 0
Ditto new shares
Ditto quarter shares
Ditto and Southampton 39 .... 51 10 0 ...
Ditto & Brighton
Manchester and Leeds 7O .... 85 0 0 ....
Ditto half shares l5 ... 39 15 0 ....
Manchester, Bolton, & Bury .. 83 .... 28 15 0 ....
Manchester and Birmingham.. 35 .... 22 0 0 ....
Ditto and Ditto Extension .. 7 .... 5 2 6 ....
Midland Counties
Ditto, quarter
Newcastle and Carlisle lOO .... 92 10 0 ....
Ditto quarter shares
North Midland
New North Midland..
Paris and Rouen 2 .... 276 .. .
..
South Eastern and Dover
North Union
York and North Midland 5O paid 67 10 0 ....
BANKS.
Bank of Liverpool ..........el2 lOs paid 18 17 6ex div.
Borough Bank lO .... 13 17 6 ..••
Commercial of Liverpool 12 10.. 16 17 0 ....
Commercial of England. 5 .... 32 6 ... •
East of England lO .... 7 2 6 ••••
—of Manchester lO .... 816 3 with div.
M'chester & L'pool Dsct. 15 .... 976 • • •
Northern and Central
North and South Wales lO .... 5 2 6 '• • •
Phoenix lO . .
Royal of Liverpool 500 ... „ 735 0 oex div
South Lancashire
Albion
Liverpool Union lO .... 11 15 0 ....
Liverpool Banking Co lO .... 810 0 ...
Wilts and Dorset 7 ins. ••

27 0 0 ....

82 10 0

89 0 0 ~
34 15 0 .
10 15 0
0 0 0
8 12 6.
4 5 0 . ,

4 7 6

28 5 0 ..

19 15 0 .... 19 15 0

32 10 0 ....

214 0 0 ....213 0 0
89 0 0 ....

GAS, WATER WORKS, &c.
Exchange Buildings .4100 paid 158 0 0 ...
L'pool and Harrington Water } 350
•477 10 0 .
Works
Bootle Ditto Stock.... 325 0 0
L'pool Coal Gas Company Stock.... 380 0 0 ... •
L'pool New Gas & Coke Co. £lOO .... 187 0 0 ....
Ditto new shares are now paid up.
ASSURANCE COMPANIES.
Liverpool Marine Assurance l ~5 paid 3 2 6..
Company
Ocean Assurance Company.... 0 .... 0 13 9..
Liverpool Fire and Life 2 10s. 118 0
DOCKS, FERRIES, NEW COMPANIES, &c.
Rock Ferry
Monk's Ferry - • •
Steam Tug Company lO . . 7 0 0 ... •
Harrington Docks 100 .... 57 0 • •
Apothecaries' Company
* Exclusive of new %hares.