Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-05-15
Especial correspondenee.1

otNI'o-N, May 0---EIngl1Sn land
lords are getting worried, par,
ticularly those holding vast es.
tates in London. The govern
ment Is said to be about to put a tan
on all landed property and London
property holders are trying to see how
they can avoid their burdens. One OF
the most worried mon in the British
| metropolis today is the Duke Of Bed
ford, who owns $50 acres of the richest
city lands on earth. His annual in
come has been estimated at more than
1 Sl,OOOO0p. To the ordinary mortal there
should be no cause for monetary anxie-
/ " With such 81 revenue. And yet tho
duke is worried. He has sent out no.
tices to many of his tenants that lenses
are not to be renewed save under eX-
| ceptional circumstances.
| The duke owns Covent Garden market
and most OF the surrounding district,
to say nothing Of S6,424 acres of land
| outside the metropolis. He recently
offered his big estate known as Thorney
| to the government at the modest sum
| or 600; but, as the tax imposed by
| the government VIII knock the specll-
latlve value out Of real estate for the
time being, the government wisely de-
J.
OF all the property owned by the
duke, however, Covent Garden is tho
most interesting. 1t is the largest mar
ket in the world, and the most fam
Gus, Convent Garden supplies practi-
caily the whole Of London with vege-
tables; and is the distributing point for
gargant uan supplies which include an
average Of 5000 tons OF potatoes a day,
100000 cfLbbages and 10000 pecls of peas
and beans.
TAX ON. PRODUCE,
Every pound of this produce brings a
big revenue to the personal estate of the
Duke of Bedford, because the market,
with all its .'metes and bounds belongs
absolutely to him, in fee simple His
agents have an office within the pre-
eincts of the market and they levy a
tax Of from J. cent up to cents on
every crate box, barrel, or truckload OF
fruit or vegetables which pass through
the gea;est clearing house for farm
produce IN the world. The dukes in
come from these potlntiage tolls /
amounts to the neat sum of $4,000 IL |
Year; to say nothing OF the rents which |
lie chargese for stalls and Offices within |
the market itself: and for the ground |
rent on which the buildings stand
These rents have been estimated at
another 100000 which includes certain
property m the immediate
vicinity of the market
Considering that the ancestors of the
duke paid the small sum of a little over
9 pounds i'll English monay--about $50
for all the property on which the mar
ket stands, including seven acres OF
land nearby known as Long Acre the
purchase of the market has not been a
bad Investment for the noble dukes
family, and he has reason to congratu-
late himself on the wisdom of his pro-
Just how the Bedfords orig
inaliy obtained these valuable tracts or
land has been described by Edmund
Burke.
The Duke of Bedford" said Burke. /
lis the !eviathan of all the creatures OF
the crown. The grants to the House or
Bedford Were 50 enormous as not only |
20 outrage economy, but TO stagger Z
,re3ibility. The grants of land to the |
'ounder OF the family We're from the /
aggregated and consolidated funds or
iniauitously Legal. and from
possessions voluntarily surrendered BY
heir lawful proprietors with the gibbet
i the door {
OF course the present duke has moth /
ng to do with the acts of his land 1
ancestors. He only collects r
he revenue from the estates so ac- /
ttired: and very naturally resents the /
lea that the present government should c
tep in and attempt 10 tax property :
which for SO many years has remained