LOCAL TAXES 91 



the same fifty years from 2s. lod. to 35. yd., 

 that is, for the whole of England and Wales, 

 and the rate has been rising since. 



Two results stand out clearly in this 

 general survey. The first result is that it 

 has been recognised by successive govern- 

 ments for the last sixty years that the rates 

 must be supplemented by subventions from 

 taxation. And the second result is that, in 

 spite of the increase in the amount of these 

 subventions to local expenditure, the amount 

 granted by Parliament has not been sufficient 

 to check the growth of the rates imposed for 

 onerous or national purposes. 



As I shall try to show later on, in dealing 

 with the question of the incidence of rates 

 and taxes, the agricultural interest, as a 

 whole, deserves to be still further relieved of 

 the burden of local rates. Relatively to 

 other industries during the last generation, 

 agriculture has been depressed whilst they 



