H2 RATES AND TAXES 



who spend the money must directly, or rather, as they say, 

 nominally contribute. But the whole of the expenditure of 

 the Army and Navy and the Civil Service is managed without 

 this idea. The proper test is which management (local or 

 imperial) is the most efficient or economical. We do not 

 secure these qualities simply by saddling the rates, especially 

 if it is done by " precepts." 



The same idea is at the basis of the half-and-half rule. 

 They think in no case should more than half the onerous 

 charge be given to the local authorities (pp. 131, 144). 



Similarly, the proposal to fix the grant for ten years is 

 founded on this idea of enforcing economy, and it is 

 assumed that if left to the rates it must be econon.ical. 



And yet the same authors have put the essence of the 

 matter in a sentence. 



It is a question, they say, not of real property against 

 personal, but of national services against heal services, and 

 the problem is how the onerous expenditure on these 

 national services which are locally administered can most 

 equitably be met (p. 144). " If the assistance, already 

 considerable, were made to cover the entire expenditure of 

 an onerous character locally, the problem of taxation for 

 local purposes would be solved "(p. 124). Each locality 

 would then provide its own benefits at its own cost 

 and risk. 



The point is, we must always compare the defects of the 

 present system with the possible defects of a new system. 

 Every tax has its faults. 



The gross inequality of the present system of rating is 



