Chap. II.] THE FISH-TAX. 149 



creased supply ; the price would have fallen to the consumer at 

 least in proportion to the fall of the duty ; and the revenue 

 would have benefited by the greater quantity brought to sale. But 

 the Committee overlooked the several passages in which I had 

 stated that the very reverse had occurred in each particular, and 

 that the price of the article had doubled after the i-eduction of 

 the tax. 



In 1833, under the old system, the duty of 25 per cent, 

 yielded an income of 7389/. on a gross value of 29,556/., which 

 at one penny -per pound showed a quantity equal to 7,093,440 

 pounds weight of fish as the ordinary supjjly under the fish-tax. 

 But in 1837, when the duty was reduced to I6f per cent., the 

 price rose 50 per cent., so that the duty then received f6694/.) 

 represented a gross value of 40,164/., which at three halfpence 

 per pound, theii the price in the market, shows that the quantity 

 caught had fallen to 6,426,240 pounds. Again, in the last 

 stage, in which the tax was reduced to 10 per cent, in 1840, the 

 price had risen to two pence and upwards, and the duty there- 

 fore (4821/.) represents, on a gross value of 48,210/., only 

 5,785,200 pounds of fish taken. In other words, had not the 

 price risen after the fii'st reduction of the tax in 1833, the sum 

 expended by the public in 1837 ought to have given 9,639,360 

 pounds instead of 6,426,240 pounds, and in 1840, 11,570,400 

 pounds instead of 5,785,200 pounds. {See Parliamentary 

 Papers 1848, Report on the Finance and Commerce of Cei/lon, 

 p. 15,51.) 



In the early part of the last century, a tax on the fishermen at 

 Lisbon produced a considerable annual sum to the Portuguese 

 ti'easury ; and it is a cm-ious coincidence that the effect of its 

 abolition was in every respect similar to that produced by the 

 repeal of the fish-tax in Ceylon. The Eegency issued a decree 

 in November, 1830, abolishing all dues on fishing. It came into 

 operation in 1833, and continued in force for ten years. By this 

 measure a tax equivalent to 30 per cent, was taken off fish, but so 

 far from increasing, the supply diminished, and the price rose in 

 consequence. A duty of 6 per cent, was restored in 1843, together 

 with the former regulations established for protecting and aiding 

 the fishermen ; and I ascertained at Lisbon, that since the last 

 change the improvement in the market has been striking, the 

 supply has become regular and abundant, and the price has fallen 

 in consequence. 



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