The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-07-26

for sporting dogs 1ss d. and for grey I hounds pounds 2s < -. l But in 1s52 Mir. Gladstone changed | the tax to 12s for any kind of dog. Even this was too high. Not one fourth Of the owners paid, and SO great oecass the numbers of dogs on the | public roads that something like a panic arose Throughout the country. m London tle parks were infested by stray dogs, and 1t was a common sight to see dozens of them foIlowina riders in the Row. barking at the So to prevent evasion the tax was reduced to 5s and afterward raised to the figure at which 1t now stands. Probably the worst taxes ever im- posed were those on paper, newspapers and advertisements~-the tax on knowi- edge. ss it has been called How much these taxes retarded the progress Of the country there is no calculating The paper duty. William III.'s invention. commenced in 1894 and lasted down to 1ss1--over a ceri- tury and half.
 It was at one time 2s pounds a ton and when Charles Knight published the Penny Enclclopedia (1s3o) he had to pay 10000 pounds duty on the paper.
 Only il.000 tons of paper were used in 1903 and only 2s,0o0 tons in 1881.
 
 on newspapers. penny per sheet, rais. ed to { pence by George III. and not abolished until 1855.
 To make matters worse an adver- tisement duty was imposed in 17i2, also by queen Anne. This amounted to the prohibitive sum of shillings and 6 pence for each advertisement.
 For some years shopkeepers were taxed by Pitt (1s75-ss.) It was not much. only pence in the pound up to 10 pounds rent and 9 shiIlings in the pound when the rent exceeded 2S pounds.
 But great outcry arose. Pitt said the shopkeeper could pass the tax on to the customer; the shopkeeper said he could not. and in the end the shop keeper was victorious.
 A curioue thing happened when auc- tioneera were taxed. At first s pounds year. the duty was raised to 10 pounds by Peel, but he relieved them of the necessity of taking out q H. cense for beer. spirits, etc. when they sold these articles at auction. The consequence was that auctioneers ev. anywhere carried on the sale of spir- ita, etc. for themselves until the abuse was stopped in 1884.
 To Pitt again and the war with France we owe the income tax. He put 1t on with q vengeance--3 shii- lings in the pound on all incomes over 200 pounds and varyingl rates on in- comes down to 50 pounds.
 1t commenced in l7ss and was abol- ished in 1878. Then for twenty-six years the people were free from this most unpopular inpost
 At first the possession Of large fam flies was taken into account. and abate- ments were made for children. four pounds sterling for each child over years. where the income did not exceed 400 pounds sterling year. and less for rich folk.
 The window tax. a very odd tax. commencing in the reign of William III, was not discontinued until Lord Halifax changed 1t to the house duty In 1851.
 It must have caused 6 great amount of consumption ,anaemia and other foul | air maladieH. for in 1850 there were only an average of six windows tn \ English houses. Indeed. our architects are not yet free from the bad influence I Of this tax.
 Tn many old houses one stun sees mock windows painted on the walls for symmatry--hideou things. Not only were glazed windows taxed, but any hole in the wall was included, Inc deed. in the early days only very rich people had glass windows, and 50 pre- cious were these that they were caP- rfeo from one house to another when | people removed.
 Curious dodees were practical to escape the tax. such as extending one window across two houses or making . very wide division between two panes Of glass. The loss to the nation must i have been hundredfold the revenues collected from this bad tax. 4i Toll was taken from the people in | many other curious ways Watches | (then usually slung from chain round | the neck) and clocks were taxed, los | Tor gold watch, 2s Sd for a silver | watch and 6s for a clock The tax ruined the trade.
 Raisina came to be taxed during the | Commonwealth because plum puddings were regarded with aversion by, the purftafs.
 Hats were taxed once and had to | bear a revenue starnps go were gloves. | nttteng, almanacss perfumes. tooth |