The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1878-09-12

OF el5,0Oo, the Archbishop Of York, with
salary Of $4,000, and twenty-six bishops
with salaries If from 60 900 to 10000.
This immense and some what costly institu-
ton is by Nv supported by all the people of
the kingdom, though more than half OF them
are dissenters, and in addition support their
own churches and clergy.
In this country, where we have neither
royalty, aristocracy nor hierarchy, we think
we have heard some complaint of the ex
cessve taxation of some articles and of a
protective tariff, yet it appears that the Brit
ish duties add Is. Cd. to every shlling's
worth OF spirits and As. 1ad. to every shil-
ling's worth of tobacco, while land, he great
er bulk of which is held by few of the no.
bility, pays tax of four shillngs in the
pound on the vazuation Of 1892, by which, in
many parts of the Kingdom, it amounts to
less than farthing on the pound of the
present value. Our Southern friends object
to paying 9Oc tax per gallon on whiskey,
but the British excise tax is los. on spirits,
ard on malt Is Sd. per busllel and five per
cent. additional. License taxes are too nu-
merous to mention and yield about TWEEN
ty-five million pounds, more than our
whole internal revenue, while stamps, ETC.,
| and income taxes, which we have abolished,
pay nearly ten millions Of pounds each.
We have heard something said of our
enormous debt, but we find that of Great
Britain to be nearly seventy five per cent.
greater, being e775,34S, 1856, or $3.50, 741,.
$50 in 1875, when ours was $2,237, sI3.04s.
We think, too, that we have heard Congress
sional reformers talk loudly Of the extray--
agance of maintaining non-paying custom
houses along our frontiers where smuggling
has to be prevented, yet sc British custom
houses Including nine where nothing was
collected) cost more than 1S4 per cent. of the
of collecting the customs was nearly four per
cent. of the duties, and at Liverpool it ex-
ceeded that
Turning to the legislature we find that of
the 4G6 members OF the House Of Lords, POI
received salaries, pensions, ETC., from the
public treasury, amounting to e460,9l3 per
annum, and 2O4 of the GAO members of the
House of Commons received 100000 more.
Does this foster disinterested, impartial leg
islatioD? Our congressional representation
is equally based on population, but in Great
Britain forty beroughs contain less than
1000 Inhabitants each, ZONE of them with but
1873 electeD while Marelebone and Glasgow,
with over All, 900 population have each but
two menbers, and BIG towns Of over 10000
population Gncluding Crowdon with 1000
and Horton with 6e,00W have no direct
representation. Are the days of rotten bor-
oughs over?
Omitting many other points Of interest,we
will conclude by showing few points of the
superiority of British. administ: alton, point
ed out by Herbert Spencer.
ssNow the complaint is of the crumbfiEs
walls OF the Houses OF Parliament, which,
built of stone chosen by a commission, new
ertheless begin to decay in parts first built
before other parts are completed. Now the
scandal is about new fort at Seaford, based
on the shingle so close to the sea that storm
washes great part Of it away. Now there
comes the account of million and half
opOA1 III DulutuS bhO aluCihCJ A%I oouls
which, being found worse than useless,
threatens to entail further cost for its des-
truction. And then there is an astonishing
disclosure about financial irregularities in
the Post-cf1ice and Telegraph departments
"a disclosure showing that, in 1901, two
thirds of a million having been spent by Of
ficials without authority, and the offence
having been condoned by Parliament, there
again occurs, in Is7I2,a like unwarrantea
expenditure OF four-tifths OF a milion-a dis
closure showing that while the Audit-de-
partment disputes charge of sixpence for
postage in small bill, it lets millions slip
through its fingers without check
Verify, we have notes in our own eyes,
but shall we cross the Atlantic for their ex-
traction? F. j. B.
abingdon, Va., Sept. Sd. 1878.