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
t, THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.
'3llt,—ln my last I endeavoured to show the unjust and
tinconstitutional character of this measure. I shall now
Confine myself to its effects.
There are two points of view from which this measure,
ty,ln i 4,, effects, must be considered—the first is as it relates
1.,--„ the landlord only—assuming that he could nit be able,
vs:: /): means, to reimhurse hie-tself of the rate iinp ,sed
UPon him as owner. The other point of view is, as it
operate upon the cottage tenant in c ise the owner
pould raise the rent to cover the projeeted dedu tion
~rnal his profits. I shall now apply myself to the first
ITa'nf the question. I would, by the way, observe, that
' la is the only point of view in which the legislatnre can
consider this measure. I should suppose that Mr. Colville
,4°,es not even think of the possibility of the landlord ob-
rni" the rate from the tenant in any way, for hat would
e fatal to the enactment, inasmuch as it would renount
to a declaration, that a rate upon the owner instead of the
°ccaltier, would be 'inoperative, the legislatuie will there-
fore Proceed upon the assumption that the landlord only
will be affected by the impost.
its• 'The niost singular feature of this measure, as regards
oPeration, is its inequality. I would illustrate it thus,
Ate a shopkeeper deriving from his business, say .£3OO per
annum, he occupies a house which is assessed at £35, and
! PaYs ill poor rates upon the said house (calculating at
the Present rate) £3 15s. 10d.; B is a builder, receiving
annually £3OO in rents from cot•age property, and upon
bWhich he lives, he also occup
ies a house assessed at £35,
nut having to pay poor rates upon his income, as well as
IK'n the house he occupies, he contributes annually to
the 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
'ue
rrom th
„_ e gross rent, leaves•him only £2OO income. A and
ian would stand thus- .A with £3OO per annum to live
II."' w"ld pay £3 15s. 10d. poor rates, while B, with
that £2OO income, would have to pay £36 odd. I protest
is V'd° not intend arty invidious comparisons; all I wish
MeasCemonstrate the obnoxious inequality which this
law acre would effect. The test and principle of the poor
Pay 1; is ability,. to pay ; yet here is one class that would
men Pe' Pcnt• uPen his in-ome, while another, with less
12Met would be compelled to cont-ibute to the tune of
un per cent. I
maintain that any enactment operating so
thisequsit among individuals of equal means, as would
, must be radically bad. It would be a disgrace to the
statute book of England, unjust! intolerable 1! But its
effects upon cottage buildings would be synonimous with
a prohibition upon that class of builders.
icottace bu i!d-
ers'in this town are, _
rnnstoat great
Theten!
, w
mthort u,tagee
is in
capital—
their ownership is_ a 1
Thany cases the bona fide nwn-r. There are scores of
houses which, if brought to the hammer, would not re,dize
More than the mortgage money and expenses of sale,. yet
the mortgagee, the wealthy man, would be exempt from
this rate, and the
a cottage builder a o Id be the care. worn
toil-worn slave, paying tour rate noon a portion of the
mortgagee'srtgagee's income, arni also the taxes of his tenant.
There are peculiar burdens upon, arid d fficulties belong-
Ing,to, small property which man; 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 acc.out.t. and add to
it the mortgagee's interest at 5 per cent., and a property
tax; and there will be no difficulty i t at once concluling,
Tug yux.s.
that if to all this there be superadded a poor rate UPON
Itstisseke, the days i.f cottage building, in this
toven at least, are numbered; iii fart, the sooner the
•tteltilecne.be divested,
builderii quit his trade the better will it he fir him, and lie
exis or rather robked, of his means of
man
a widow But the effects of this measure would be. in
y cases, a species of refined erne]ty. Take the ease of
with four or' five childten living upon time surplus
rental c
trious h°. property left to them by a hard-working. indus-
triousd and father ; a tax such as the one under
copSideration would be to them, not only oppress.ve but
It has its
;unions. It has been said, that property has its duties as
ell as its rights. The converse, howev, r, is equhll v true,
rights 'as will as its cubes—the one equally as
sacred as the other. I denounce Mr Colville's measure,
aznobjaencti
aani invasion of those rights—the poor rate being a per-
pernot a property tax. The occupier is the pro-
fore hc for a parochial a-sessment. The owner, there-
in rates ° may be holding ten cottages, would have to pay
;
distributed a amount that should, by law and equity. he
altho in its imposition amongst ten individuals,
not ugh, in pecuniary circumstances, it may be that he is
trust
sedul)ne shilling better than any one of his tenants. I
able tTi"eit
onslY abstain from declamation, as I really dare riot
to a description of the measure. Is it post
the
be de -or.
tbe trim"' fMr• Colville sees as other men see? What is
which the cottage buider is to do penance
• • "rived fh• i .of sustentation ? Why
is it that he 0 is on y m ans . . . .
sicm f lly as
should be singled out for legislative oppres-
prod II
useful and as deserving as any other &ass of
the ir! s ? I see no reason why he sheuld be thrust from
righter hi of industry. He has a right—a God-given
,i..to live and to thrive by the sweat of his brow ; but
rou'a 12iiiiech Mr. Colville would, it appears, (unknowingly it
r
n
the/ ) deprive him. I cannot, however. trespa4s tor-
build "ur space. 1 must reserve the subject of
shoutda
public g. societies and the cottage tenant to your next
t°n• if the insertion of anether letter from me
and I•nteli'i consiAent wi•h justice to your other numerous
gent correspondents.
LiverP°°4 4th May, 1814. ILLAUDATUS.