, 1873-01-02

:. Mr.. Loclo King, O member Of tue British Par- |
Lament, hns discovered IN ingenious way for DO
tormining tho several degrees Of prosperity |
among tho people wAo mny DO classed Us we'll |
to-lo, or comfortable in this worlds goods. Ho
has induced Parliament to giyo him n list Of tho
assessed rental OF I'LL houaea in tho Kingdom,
county by county, mud borough by borough. 1t
is not always true that mans condition can DO
determined on tho basis of the rent ho pays, for
moro ront than they can afford. But, while
it would be impraoticable to establish tho nd-
vidual prosperity Of every man according to tho
rent l1o pays or carries, 1t has beon reasonably
concluded that those pooplo occupying houses,
tho rental value OF which is assessed at E100
year or more, belong to c]uas who may DO called
Comfortable, that is, class Of people who arc
always able to pay their grocors' aud butchors'
bills, clotho themselves decently, and arc mover
in tho habit Of staring hunger in tho face. It is
estimated that housc-rcnt at this rate implios
IN income Of $500 lu tho city
and EG00 in the country. Thia income
represents o family entirely comfortable
i'll life, in T. condition to indulge themselves in
reasonable amnsonents, tako their daily papors,
educate their children, and maintain poaition
in aoctoty Of creator or losa protonaona. There
are less than G0,000 Of these Comfortable Poo
plo In all England, or less than ~ per cent of
tho entiro population Of tho United Kingdom,
whose incomes equal or e1coed this amount.
Many Of these, Of courao, have lmmcasurably
larger incomes than are represented by E10o
rontn1, but the groat majority arc people who
can baroly come up to tho estilnnto Of tho Com
Portable.
The classcs which aro ranked as "Respecta.
blo," in tho sonso Of beirs superior to paupers,
but not yot possessing tho adequate moans to
accuro tho constant enjoyment OF what is ro-
| quircd, are much moro numerous. About 150,-
| 600 families pay louao-ront Of from GEO to
G100; 250,000 moro pay from G30 to eco; and
300, QUO moro are in moro embarrassed condition,
but atll pay moro than G20 annual ront. Counting
lvo persons to family, it is found that thoro
aro about 9,55o,o00 people in the Kingdom, or
about onc.oightl of tho ontiro population, who
can bo ranked as respectable in this Bonso Of the
word. It Is apparent. then, III tho aenso
Of political economy, that tho ta1a!lon
of tho country, rich as it is,
falls upon people, aoyon.olghtha
Of whom live in houses worth loss than G20 a
year; or upon tho nasseB who 1ud it difficult to
make both ends moot, and 10 whom aoyorolgn
is very largo sum Of money. ILo aasoaaod
rental of Es00 q year aud upwards Ia made upon
only 8,123 buildings; there aso only 750 build
ings Which have GIL assessed rental Of E1 Geo
and r,oro; 80 that tho number OF families who
may DO regarded as rich is exceedingly small.
oyen among poople where wealth has been the
chief aim in llfo tor worry many yoars.
Tho resources thai tho English people have
bud for a1nassng fortunes muat force tho ad.
mission that tho proportion of wealthy people
In Groat Britain ia much lasgcr than In America
In applying this test Of the Comfortable and TO-
spcctable claasos to tho pooplo Of our own coun'
try, however, VIC should not DO willing to admit
that the number Of theae ia proporttonasc1y &c
small. Tho moagro roturnB for labor, tho oTor
crowded condition Of tho population, ind th'
concentration OF largo lnndsd estates, do mo-
| afYord thn fniffdta otnBsna Of Grant Britain thl