LAND TAX 363 



Board of Inland Revenue (Sir Alfred Milner) and discussed 

 the matter fully with him, and the result of this interview 

 was given officially in the House of Commons by the Chan- 

 cellor on llth February. This statement explained how the 

 unexpected had happened, and announced that fresh instruc- 

 tions would be issued to the Land Tax authorities before the 

 next assessments were made. These " Instructions to 

 Assessors " were circulated in the following April, and on the 

 request of Mr. A. F. Jeffreys, M.P., the Board of Inland 

 Revenue gave permission for copies of this circular to be sent 

 to all local Chambers of Agriculture by the Central Chamber. 



The Budget of 1898 proposed a further remission of Land 

 Tax by exempting properties, the total income of whose 

 owners did not exceed 160 per annum, from liability to this 

 charge, and in May the Council expressed its approval of this 

 exemption. On 16th June Mr. Laurence Hardy moved an 

 amendment to the Finance Bill proposing the further exemp- 

 tion of one-half of the amount of Land Tax to owners whose 

 incomes do not exceed 400 ; this was agreed to by the 

 Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Finance Act of that 

 year (Section 12) gave effect to both the Budget proposal and 

 Mr. Hardy's amendment. 



On 19th December, 1905, it w r as decided in the House of 

 Lords, in the case of Curtis v. Old Monkland Conservative 

 Association, that the above exemption did not apply to cor- 

 porate bodies and legal persons. Since 1907, therefore, Land 

 Tax has been levied in such cases, regardless of the total 

 income of the corporate bodies or legal persons affected. In 

 the case of village charities arising from land held in trust 

 this decision has had the effect of inflicting considerable hard- 

 ship on the beneficiaries. Attention was called to the matter 

 by the Right Hon. Laurence Hardy, M.P., on 15th July, 

 1908, when he moved an amendment to the Finance Bill to 

 exempt these small charities, but this was negatived. 



Food Supply in Time of War. 



In June, 1896, the Council passed a resolution asking the 

 Government to institute an inquiry into the question of 



