2»4 



Low Profit on small Houses. 



[April 1, 



turu, within slglit of shore, and in the 

 presence of his mistress. Her senses 

 desert her, and slie wanders about, an 

 objeet ofpity to all, but to the father 

 wliose ferocious zeal exults in the idea 

 that he has saeriiiced his daughter to 

 his faith. The stoiy is well told, and 

 bears the impress of a heart stored with 

 the better aftections of our nature. 

 Amongst these, we are glad to see that 

 tlie love of freedom is not wanting, of 

 wliich we select an instance, in con- 

 clusion, from the miscellaneous poems 

 at the end of the volume. 



Ol) the SPANISH REVOLUTION. 



" O uow may I depart in peace ! for, lo ! 

 Spain, the priest-riddeu and enslav'd, 

 hath riveu 

 Her chaius asunder ; and no rage, no flow 

 Of blood, save what the despot, phrcnzy- 

 drivcu 

 Wantonly shed.— Did they not crush him ? 

 No— 

 All with magnanimous mercy was for- 

 given — 

 Tyrants ! the hour is coming, sure, the' 

 slow, 

 When ye no more can outrage earth and 

 heaven. 

 As 1 would joy to see the assassin foil'd 



By his own gun's explosion, so do I 

 Joy that the oppressor's armies have re- 

 coil'd 

 Back on themselves ; for so shall they 

 rely 

 On love, not fear, leaving the world, o'er- 

 toil'd 

 With war and chains, to peace and li- 

 berty." 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 

 SIR, 



THE proprietors of small houses in 

 Birmingham have distributcMl the 

 following statement. 



From the best information we can 

 collect, we find the greatest number of 

 lots, or parcels of laud, let for the pur- 

 pose of building, are those of 11 yards 

 wide, by 40 yards long, and the average 

 ground rent 2^d. per yard, and there 

 are commonly built thereon six houses, 

 (viz. 2 front and 4 back houses.) We 

 also find there are by far a greater 

 number of houses let at about three 

 shillings per week, or £7 16s. per an- 

 num, than of any ether description. 

 These we know will cost eiglity pounds 

 each house in building; or £480 for 

 six houses, and the ground lease will 

 cost about £14. making the total cost 

 price £494. 

 The gross annual rental of six houses at 



three shillings per week is £46 16 



Deduct the annual expences, viz. 

 Ground rent, 440 yards at ijd. 

 peryuvd - - 4 11 8 



Land tax l^d. in the pound, on the 



rental - - 4 10 



Insurance, say on £250 - 12 6 



Repairs, 10 per cent on the rental 4 1.3 7 

 Collecting rents, 5 per cent 2 6 9 



Loss of Rents, one quarter in 3 

 years, viz. the 12th part of the 

 rental - - 3 18 



Principal, depreciating 1 per cent 

 each year, on a lease for 100 

 years - - 4 18 10 



The profit has been about 5 per 



cent. 

 Tliirty poor's levies, at Is. 3id 

 each single levy, or 7s. 9d. for 

 tlie six houses, as now rated by 

 the overseers of Birmingham, 11 12 6 



The profit will be only 2] per 



cent - - £13 17 4 



From the above statement it will be 

 discovered, that the property called 

 small houses, has in reality paid only 

 five per cent hitherto — instead of 8 or 

 10 per cent, as was erroneously sup- 

 posed ; and that in future the nett an- 

 nual rental, arising from the above 

 property of six houses, will be only 

 £13 IJs. 4d. or 2^ percent. 



The assessment of the poor's rates 

 iipon the landlord operates as an in- 

 come tax. 



Suppose a man's income to be 20 

 times the amount of his establishment 

 as to rent ; or in other words his rent 

 to be 5 per cent on his income. Then 

 to a man whose income was £2000 per 

 annum, the rent of his premises asses- 

 sable to the poor's rates, would be £100, 

 or according to the following table. 



But a man who eanis £00 per year, 

 requires a hou.se of £6 per year ; so 

 that his rent would amount to one 

 tenth of his income, or 10 per cent 

 thereon ; therefore, to establish an equa- 

 lity of assessment in relation to income, 

 the assessment on houses iiuder £20 

 per year rent might be rated at only 

 one half of the rates on per ceutage of 

 houses above £20. 



Then when the poor's rates amounted 

 to 20 shillings in the pound, it would 

 not exceed 5 per cent upon the income 

 of any occupier ; whereas if the assess- 

 ment be transferred from the occupier 

 to the proprietor, wliose income arose 



from 



