Taxation on Land. 
25 
estimate; at least it was not so in the more flourishing times. 
A farmer, therefore, who pays a rent of 300/. a year, may be 
supposed to earn an income, or a profit, of 150Z. a year. What 
does he contribute to the poor rate ? He would be rated (if 
fairly dealt with) at the amount of his rent, less the tithe (if 
any), and the statutory deductions for repairs, &c., which total up 
usually to about 10 per cent. If the tithe was redeemed he 
would not be so fortunate ; but presuming that this is not the 
case, the net rateable value of the farm would be about 200/. 
The rate in the pound naturally varies according to locality, and 
an estimate of 2s. 6d. for the year is a low average. A farmer, 
therefore, earning 150/. a year, would contribute 25 /. a year to 
the poor rate. 
Let us contrast this with the case of persons of independent 
means, and with village tradesmen of various kinds, innkeepers 
and others, earning incomes of 150/. a year, numerous examples 
of which will occur to anyone. Such persons would occupy 
houses and premises rented at, say, from 20/. to 35/. a year, or 
on the average 28/., and be rated at about 24/., which sum at 
2s. 6cZ. in the pound would give 3/. as their annual contribution 
to the rate. Under the existing law, therefore, a farmer pays 
to the poor rate about eight times as much as private residents 
or tradesmen earning similar incomes. 
Other examples might be given by comparing the incomes of 
larger farmers with those of professional men, or smaller ones with 
artisans, with a like result ; but the one adduced is sufficient 
to illustrate the present system. There is, however, a curious 
result in the case of the assessment of clergymen’s incomes, as 
compared with those of other professional men. If a rector, 
whose income is derived from tithe, receives 400/. a year as his 
earnings from that source, he would be assessed to the poor rate 
upon this sum, less statutory deductions, which would, in ordinary 
cases, reduce it to a rateable value of about 320/. This figure at 
2s. 6eZ. in the pound would give 40/. a year as the rector’s con- 
tribution to the rate, and if he occupied a house rated at 40/., 
the amount of the burden would be 45/. a year. But a doctor, 
veterinary surgeon, or land agent, earning an income of 400/. a 
year, would escape with a payment to the rate of 5/. only in 
respect of the occupation of the house he lived in. 
The Land Tax. 
Let us next consider the nature and incidence of the Land 
Tax : a few words will suffice. It appears to have had its 
origin in the reign of Henry II., and was subsequently, at one 
time, levied at 4s. in the pound on land, and at 2s. 8 d. on 
