362 MISCELLANEOUS 



houses the statutory one-sixth, should be entitled to recover 

 the tax on that excess up to and not exceeding a further one- 

 eighth or one-twelfth. This reduction applied to any land or 

 buildings the assessment on which was reduced under Sec. 35 

 of the Finance Act, 1894, and to any houses not exceeding 8 

 in annual value. 



The Finance Act of 1914 (Section 8) removed the limit 

 imposed by the Act of 1909-10, except that the abatement 

 is not to apply to houses the annual value of which exceeds 

 12. 



Land Tax. 



In introducing his Budget in 1896, the Chancellor of the 

 Exchequer (Sir M. Hicks-Beach) announced his intention of 

 adopting the recommendation of the Royal Commission on 

 Agriculture and remitting any unredeemed Land Tax in excess 

 of one shilling in the pound on the rateable value of any 

 parish. This he estimated would cost 100,000 per annum. 

 At their May meeting the Council unanimously approved 

 this proposal, and Sections 31-35 of the Finance Act, 1896, 

 gave it permanent effect. 



The immediate result was that in order to obtain as near 

 the amount as in previous years the Land Tax Assessors were 

 most zealous in assessing all new properties and in consider- 

 ably raising the assessment on others. This aroused an outcry, 

 and at the February meeting in 1897 the Council strongly 

 protested against the new method of assessing this tax, while 

 indignation meetings were held in various parts of the country, 

 the National Agricultural Union being especially active in 

 the matter. The cause of an increase in some parishes, 

 instead of the expected decrease, was due to the fact that in 

 1798 a certain fixed quota was levied on every parish ; but 

 between 1798 and 1896 the annual rateable value of many 

 parishes had greatly altered, and whereas so little as one penny 

 in the pound, or even less, would suffice to raise the quota 

 in some parishes, it was not infrequently found that it took 

 as much as four shillings in the pound to raise it in others. 



At the March meeting the Parliamentary Committee 

 reported that they had interviewed the Chairman of the 



