The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-05-07 00:00:00

May 7, 1844.

CORRESPONDENCE.

MR. COLVILLE'S MEASURE AND THE

LIVERPOOL BUILDERS.

To Tr:
---E EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.
my last I endeavoured to show the unjust and
nncanstitutional character of this measure. I shall now
confine myself to its effects.
There are two points of view from which this measure,
in its effects, must be considered—the first is as it relates
to the landlord only—assuming that he could not be able,
by ally means, to reimburse himself of the rate imposed
11Pon him as owner. The other point of view is, as it
_e'uld operate upon the cottage tenant in case the owner
should raise the rent to cover the projected deduction
..„Ten his profits. I shall now apply myself to the first
this is
the question. I would, by the way, observe, that
"t 6 is the only point of view in which the legislature can
consider this measure. 1 should suppose that Mr. Colville
dyes not
even think of the possibility of the landlord °b-
rining the rate from the tenant in any way, for that would
be fatal to the enactment, inasmuch as it would amount
to a declaration, that a rate upon the owner instead of the
occupier, would be inoperative, the legislature will there-
fore proceed upon the assumption thz.t the landlord only
pill be affected by the impost.
The most singular feature of this measure, as regards
its operation, is its inequality. I would illustrate it thus,
A is a shopkeeper deriving from his business, say £3OO per
annual, he occupies a house which is assessed at £95, and
be
he Pays in poor rates upon the said house (calculating at
t present rate) £3 15s. 10d. ; B is a builder, receiving
annually £3OO in rents from cottage property, and upon
which he lives, he also occupies a house.. assessed at £35,
but h •
—"log to pay poor rates upon his income, as well as
thennut
the house he occupies, he contributes annually to
Poor fund £36 odd, but the income of B is, to a great
extent, nominal, he has a mortgage upon his property.
the annual interest of which is £lOO, which, deducted
from th
, e gross rent, leaves him only £2OO income. A and
tnen would stand thus—A with £3OO per annum to live
upon. would pay £3 15s. 10d. poor rates, while B, with
that
200 income, would have to pay £36 odd. I protest
j7a
law
ep
per
would
uul 1
Cent,dd e
I do not intend any invidious comparisons; all I wish
'etaos demonstrate the obnoxious inequality which this
effect.
.7', 11,e test and principle of the poor
a __t is ability to pay • yet here is one class that would
incomePon his income, while another, with less
12 ' be compelled to contribute to the tune of
per cent. I maintain that any enactment operating so
Unequally among individuals of equal means, as would
this, must be radically bad. It would be a disgrace to the
statute book of England, unjust! intolerable !! But its
effects upon cottage buildings would be synonimous with
a prohibition upon that class of builders. Cottage build-
erg in this town are, to a great extent, without capital—
their ownership is almost nominal. The mortgagee is in
many cases the Lona fide owner. There are scores of
houses which, if brought to the hammer, would not realize
more than the mortgage money and expenses of sale, yet
the mortgagee, the wealthy man, would be exempt from
this rate, and the
cottage builder would be the care-worn
toil-worn slave, paying a roor rate upon a portion of the
mortgagee's income,and also the taxes of his tenant.
There are peculiar burdens upon, and difficulties belong-
ing to, small property which many entirely overlook. As
for instance, the great wear and tear, losses from rents
and empty houses to an extent unknown to the owners of
larger property. Well, take this into account, and add to
It the mortgagee's interest at 5 per cent., and a property
tax, and there will be no difficulty in at once concluding,
that if to all this there be superadded a poor rate UPON
THE FULL ity.NT&e, the days of cottage building, in this
town at least, are numbered ; in fact, the sooner the
bwill uilder quiz his trade the better will it he for him, and he
then be divested, or rather robbed, of his means of
existence. But the effects of this measure would be, in
Ina
wair,ocases, a species of refined cruelty. Take the case of
w with four or five children living upon the surplus
rental of property left to them by a hard-working, indus-
trious hus'eind and father; a tax such as the one under
consideration would be to them, not only oppressive but
ruinous. It has been said, that property has its duties as
wit ell as its rights. The converse, however, is equally true,
has its rights as well as its duties—the one equally as
sacred as the other. I denounce Mr. Colville's measure,
assaaninvasion of those rights—the poor rate being a per-
foerr onobes
per-
1, not a property tax. The occupier is the pro-
pJect for a parochial assessment. The owner, there-
in
r may be holding ten cottages, would have to pay
distributed
an amount that should, by law and equity. be
althro ibuted
-n its imposition amongst ten individuals,
ng
not ”, in pecuniary circumstances, it may be that he is
one shilling better than any one of his tenants. I
Bed
t— _Ii."BIY abstain from declamation, as I really dare not
~,01)'"se" to
a
description of the measure. Is it pos-
the e • at
Mr. Colville sees as other men see? What is
and be for which the cottage builder is to do penance
is it u.tfhuadltlehparived of his only means of sustentation ? Why
should be singled out for legislative oppres-
,e_ highroad prod yoaads useful and as deserving as any other class of
th s? I see no reason why he should be thrust from
of industry. He has a right—a God-given
of which
live and to thrive by the sweat of his brow ; but
mgr Mr. Colville would, it appears, (unknowingly it
build
theyr
iure?oodeprive him. I cannot, however, trespass fur-
Your space. 1 must reserve the subject of
publiea.os.?ieties and the cottage tenant to your next
aLudivienrpteollo;;"
should 1')
e beZtsiCoterrnetswpoi
if the insertion of another letter frOm me
4 h May, 1 tnE3hdtlie.u.ostt3i.ce to your other numerous
ILLAUDATUS.