PROTECTION AND TITHES 175 



This calcalation shows the important bearing of rates 

 upon the question of tithe redemption, and indicates the 

 -direction in which, if anywhere, landlords and tenants must 

 look to gain by the State collection of the tithe rent-charge. 

 Redemption may be compulsory and immediate, in which 

 case landlords would borrow from the State at 5 per cent, 

 the sum required for redemption, and in less than fifty 

 years would have paid off principal and interest and extin- 

 guished the charge. But the terms would be necessarily 

 governed by the miserable state of the present market. 

 Church and State must be content not only to make a 

 wretched bargain, but to see the value of the property rise 

 for the benefit of individuals rather than of the community. 

 Suppose, on the other hand, as has been suggested through- 

 out, that the State undertakes the collection of the tithe, 

 and, protected against possible loss by a considerable 

 margin, waits for better times, and that redemption is 

 voluntary and gradual. What then? It is in the highest 

 degree improbable that land, which is limited in quantity, 

 should permanently lose its value in the midst of a growing 

 population, and the selling value of the rent-charge will 

 benefit by any rise in the value of the property out of 

 which it issues. If, again, agricultural depression should 

 prove in some degree a question of currency, a readjust- 

 ment of our financial conditions by depreciation of gold or 

 appreciation of silver would restore agricultural industries 

 to health and advance the value of the tithe. If, again, 

 the country were to embark on a policy of Protection, the 

 value of the charge would rise immediately, if not perma- 

 nently. If, again, as the populations of foreign countries 



A, B and C, respectively, the capitalised outgoings are 7501., 500Z., and 

 2501., and the respective prices paid are in A 1,250Z + 7501. = 2,0001. ; in B 

 1,500Z. + 500Z. = 2,000Z. ; in C 1,750Z. + 2501. = 2,000Z. 



