CHANCELLOR OE THE EXCHEQUER. 
 
 $ Iwlrtpf tm % 
 
 INCOME TAX. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 EFFINGHAM WILSON, ROYAL EXCHANGE. 
 
LONDON: 
 
 THOMAS HARRIET), PIUTiTER, SALISBURY SQUARE) PI.EET STREET, 
 
 SeWv, ^v\ 
 
 \^SO £ 
 
A DIALOGUE ON THE INCOME TAX. 
 
 SCENE— An Apartment in Downing Street, with blue boohs, 
 writing materials, papers, and red tape. Tiie Chancellor oe 
 the Exchequer is discovered, absorbed in anxious thought. 
 
 Enters, rising from the ground, the Spirit oe Cocker. 
 
 Spirit of Cocker. What meddlesome medium has summoned me 
 from my resting-place ? 
 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer. Eorgive, illustrious shade, the 
 unwarrantable intrusion upon your- 
 
 Sp. Speak, I pray you, with brevity—my time is short, at cock¬ 
 crow I depart; speak also with sincerity, we deal not in soft 
 sawder in the spirit-world. Who are you ? What do you want 
 with me P 
 
 Ch. of Ex. I am the Chancellor of Her Majesty’s Exchequer, 
 an office of peculiar difficulty and- 
 
 Sp. (aside, and interjectively). Bosh! 
 
 Ch. of Ex. And, knowing well the kindness of your heart- 
 
 Sp. (impatiently). Spirits have no hearts ; confine yourself to 
 facts, and avoid metaphor. Feelings I possess—do not trifle with 
 them. 
 
 Oh. of Ex. I humbly crave pardon. I was about to say 
 that, being aware of the kindliness of your disposition, I thought 
 you might be willing to assist me in a difficulty which oppresses 
 me greatly, and I took the liberty of calling you from the region 
 of shades to solicit a word of your invaluable counsel. 
 
 Sp. Tou have my works ; I left them for the guidance of such 
 as you. 
 
 Ch. of Ex. I think I have a copy in my library of your in¬ 
 valuable work on the Science of Figures. 
 
 Sp. Don’t attempt any deception. You may possess a copy of 
 my great work, but it is clear you have never consulted it. It 
 would have been more respectful had you done so before disturb¬ 
 ing my repose. What is it you want ? 
 
 Ch. of Ex. I was desirous, sir, of consulting you respecting the 
 “ unreasoning impatience of taxation” on the part of many who 
 
| have raised an outcry against the continuance of the Property 
 J and Income Tax. 
 
 Sp. [angrily). No such tax exists. 
 
 Ch. of Ex. Pardon me, respected shade of departed arithmetical 
 accuracy, if I presume to question- 
 
 Sp. Bead me the title of the Act of Parliament. 
 
 , Ch. of Ex. {taking up Act from table, reads). “An Act for 
 j granting to Her Majesty Duties on PnoriTS arising from Pro- 
 I perty, Professions, Trades, and Offices, until,” etc. # 
 
 * Sp. A tax is granted to Her Majesty upon certain profits; 
 i certainly not upon property, as you very well know. 
 
 Ch.ofEx. I stand corrected; hut vie call it a Property and 
 Income Tax. 
 
 Sp, I care not what you call it; you may throw dust in the 
 public eyes, hut you cannot in mine—spirits have none. 
 
 Ch. of Ex. But, sir, “ what's in a name ? a rose,” you know, 
 “ hy any other name will smell as sweet.” 
 
 Sp. You will never make your tax sweet, call it hy what name 
 you will; it stinks in the public nostrils. But let that pass ; only 
 we will, if you please, call it by its right name, “a Tax on 
 Profits.” 
 
 Ch. of Ex. But is it not in fact a Property Tax ? 
 
 Sp. No, sir. Is your brain property ? Is ingenuity pro¬ 
 perty? Professional skill, literary excellence, plodding well- 
 directed industry, are these property ? 
 
 Ch. of Ex. No, sir, not in a commercial sense; but we tax 
 property also. 
 
 Sp. You do, the profits arising from property, but very gingerly. 
 You lay burthens, heavy and grievous to be borne, on the profits of 
 industry, but property hardly touches them with one of its 
 fingers. 
 
 Ch. of Ex. "Will you explain to me how the Property and 
 In—I mean, tax on Profits does this ? 
 
 Sp. Listen then, and I will instruct you. The Income Tax, as 
 ! you call it, is a masterpiece of statecraft, originally invented by 
 ; the late "William Pitt; it is a contrivance of surpassing ingenuity 
 for extracting the largest possible proportion of money from the 
 \ pockets of the industrious and intelligent creators of wealth, in 
 order that a proportionate immunity from taxation may be enjoyed 
 by the possessors of wealth ; it is a tax upon the working bees of 
 the social hive, for the relief of the drones. The deep ingenuity 
 of the contrivance consists in two things: first, the artfulness by 
 ^ which it deludes its victims into the belief that they are taxed 
 j equally or proportionately with other classes of society; and, 
 \ secondly, the facility with which it extracts the money from the 
 \ pockets of various classes in precisely the inverse ratio of the 
 
 * 5*6 Yict., cap. 35. 
 
amount of property possessed. In these respects I can only com¬ 
 pare it to a bat which travellers wrote of in my day as infesting 
 some southern climes, which lightly fanned with its wings into a 
 soothing sense of security and repose the unconscious object ‘ 
 from whom it extracted in full stream the current of life. 
 
 (The Chancellor exhibits signs of impatience and dissent.) 
 
 Sp. ( continuing ). Do you possess the works of my distinguished 
 cotemporary and present coadjutor, Adam Smith ? 
 
 Ch. of Ex. I have his works, and frequently consult them. 
 
 Sp. Then turn to the Fifth Book, Bart II., of his “ Wealth of 
 Hations,” under the head “ Of Taxes,” and read what you find 
 there written. 
 
 Ch. of Ex. (reading). “I. The subjects of every State ought 
 to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly 
 as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities. The expense 
 of government to the individuals of a nation is like the expense of 
 management .to the joint tenants of a great estate, who are all 
 obliged to contribute in proportion to their respective interests in 
 the estate. In the observation or neglect of this maxim consists 
 what is called the equality or inequality of taxation.” 
 
 Sp. Very good. How answer me; is your tax on Profits levied 
 in accordance with the equitable and politic dictum of Adain 
 Smith P 
 
 Ch. of Ex. We, that is, my respected predecessors and myself, 
 have anxiously considered the subject, with the view of rendering 
 the operation of the tax as equitable as possible, and finding the 
 subject surrounded with difficulties, we—ahem- 
 
 Sp. ( interrupting ). Shirked it upon the House of Commons. 
 
 Ch. of Ex. In one sense we did so; that is to say, we moved the 
 appointment of a Select Committee of that Honourable House, 
 which resulted in- 
 
 Sp. I know—a blue book, and an outlay of £1000 in printing. 
 
 Ch. of Ex. The Committee reported the evidence, and that it 
 was extremely difficult, indeed impossible, to levy the tax more 
 equitably. 
 
 Sp. (with indignation). I’ll simplify the matter for them before 
 I have done with it. 
 
 Ch. of Ex. I must admit, sir, that the tax is not strictly a Pro¬ 
 perty Tax j but how do you prove that the burthen falls in the 
 inverse ratio of equity and fairness ? 
 
 Sp. I shall make you prove that. G-et me down a copy of my 
 Eudiments of Arithmetic. 
 
 Ch. of Ex. (producing a dusty volume). Here, sir, is a copy of 
 your invaluable treatise. 
 
 Sp. ( sarcastically ). Yes—“invaluable treatise" indeed—you 
 may work a sum in the dust upon the cover. 
 
 Ch. of Ex. I must plead guilty of neglect of the science which 
 derived additional lustre from your- 
 
Sp. {interrupting impatiently). Can you find the present value of 
 an annual sum ? 
 
 r ’, / Ck. of Em. I think I can, aided by your useful manual. 
 
 ' •"’/ Sp. Then-find-me the present value of £150 per annum for 
 / three years; interest at £4 per cent.* 
 
 / {The Chancellor of the Exchequer works laboriously, while Shade 
 of Cocker arrives at the result, by mental arithmetic of course .) 
 
 Ch. of Em. I make it £416. 
 
 Sp. That is right, nearly. Now sit down and find me also the 
 present values of £150 per annum, for 5, 7,10,15, 20, 23, 30 and 
 50 years, and in perpetuity; and place the values, when found, in 
 tabular juxtaposition. 
 
 Ch. of Em. {after considerable pause). Here are the results, sir, 
 in a tabulated form. 
 
 THE EBESEHT, OB PBOPEETT VALUES OP £150 PEE ANNUM POE 
 THE PEBIODS UNDERMENTIONED. 
 
 * The arithmetical term “present value” is employed to represent the 
 property value or amount which would be paid down by a purchaser for any 
 Bum to be received at a future period or periods, so as to recoup the 
 purchaser the principal, with interest at a given rate. In commercial language, 
 it is the discounted value of a future payment or payments. Thus £100 to be 
 received at the end of a year is worth now £100, minus the interest of £100. 
 In like manner, the value of an annuity of £100 for three years is £100, minus 
 one year’s interest, added to £100, minus two years’ interest, added to £100, 
 minus three years’ interest; or, in other words, the amount of three sums of £100 
 discounted respectively for one, two, and three years. As compound interest is 
 always charged and allowed in such calculations, the finding of the exact present 
 value of an annual sum by common arithmetic is at best a tedious process, 
 never resorted to. The process, by logarithms, is greatly simplified; but all 
 calculations of the kind are almost entirely obviated by the use of Tables of 
 the Present Value of £1 per annum, constructed by 3 ohn Smart, formerly of the 
 Chamberlain’s Office, London, which Tables are to be found in all standard 
 works treating of compound interest. By the mere multiplication of any 
 fraction, found in the Tables, into the annuity, the result is almost instantaneously 
 found. Thus, if the value of £150 per annum for three years is required, 
 interest at £4 per cent., payable half-yearly, the Table gives, as the value of 
 £1 per annum, 2775, which being multiplied into £150, gives £416 5s. as the 
 result. 
 
 This mode of finding present values Hcb at the base of all calculations for the 
 purchase and sale of freehold and leasehold estates, annuities for terms of years, 
 etc. The Tables in the Legacy Duty and Succession Duty Acts, for determin¬ 
 ing values at death, are derived from the same data, which could be equally applied 
 in finding values for other fiscal purposes. 
 
7 
 
 Sp. (encouragingly). Very well; now answer me a few questions. 
 The sums you have found are the property values of £150 per 
 annum ? 
 
 Ch. of Ex. Ves; the amount which would he realized in the 
 market. 
 
 Sp. Exactly ; whether realized by actual sale or found by calcu¬ 
 lation, the sums you have given represent the property values. 
 
 Ch. of Ex. Yes; the property value of £!50 per annum for 
 three years is £-116. and for fifteen years the value is £1667, and 
 in perpetuity it is worth £3750. 
 
 Sp. {angrily). And yet you levy on all three the same sum 
 annually, notwithstanding the difference in value to the possessors. 
 
 Ch. of Ex. How so ? 
 
 Sp. What tax do you levy on an income of £150 per annum ? 
 
 Ch. of Ex. £10, being Is. 4<d. in the pound. 
 
 Sp. Just so. You make a property worth £116 pay £10, and 
 another worth £1667 pay £10, and another worth £3750 pay £10, 
 is this what you call equitable taxation ? Can you work a com¬ 
 mon proportion ? 
 
 Ch. of Ex. Yes. 
 
 Sp. Then furnish me with the results of the following propor¬ 
 tions:— 
 
 If £416 pays £10, wliat is that per cent. ? 
 
 If £667 pays £10, what is that per cent. ? 
 
 If £900 pays £10, what is that per cent. ? 
 
 If £1216 pays £10, what is that per cent. ? 
 
 If £1667 pays £10, what is that per cent. ? 
 
 If £2038 pays £10, what is that per cent, f 
 
 If £2228 pays £10, what is that per cent. ? 
 
 If £2593 pays £10, what is that per cent, ? 
 
 If £3222 pays £10, what is that per cent. ? 
 
 If £3750 pays £10, what is that per cent. ? 
 
 Ch. of Ex. {having ivorked out proportions). Here are the 
 several results 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 A with £116 pays at the rate of 2 8 0 per cent. 
 
 B with £667 pays at the rate of 1 9 11 per cent. 
 
 C with £900 pays at the rate of 1 2 2 per cent. 
 
 D with £1216 pays at the rate of'O 16 5 per cent. 
 
 E with £1667 pays at the rate of 0 11 11 per cent. 
 
 F with £2038 pays at the rate of 0 9 9 per cent, 
 
 <? with £2228 pays at the rate of 0 8 11 per cent. 
 
 H with £2593 pays at the rate of 0 7 8 per cent. 
 
 I with £3222 pays at the rate of 0 6 2 per cent. 
 
 K with £3760 payB at the rate of 0 5 4 per cent, 
 
Sp. Now, sir, you see the operation of your tax. Property 
 worth £416, say, the tail of a lease, the end of a life interest, the 
 remnant of professional capacity, the Long Annuities, which expire 
 in 1860, and a thousand other brief and precarious incomes, you 
 tax at the enormous rate of £2 8s. per cent, on their property 
 value, while your Consols, Exchequer Bills, and other property in 
 absolute possession, upon which you may realize to-morrow the 
 full value of the perpetuity, you tax at the rate only of 5s. Id. per 
 cent. 
 
 Ch. of Ex. {submissively). That is so, sir. 
 
 Sp. And you think this a near approach to absolute equality, 
 do you ? to assume, first, that a man’s brain is so much property, 
 and bringing it to a money value, to tax £400 of that value as 
 though it were £4000 stock or land; imposing upon one man 
 48s. per cent, property-tax, and upon another 5s. ‘id. per cent. only. 
 Again, you think it fair to tax the Long Annuitant, whose income 
 expires in 1860, and whose property sells now for £416, according 
 to your own calculation, at the rate of 48s. per cent, on the value, 
 whale you impose on the owner of annuities expiring in 1880 
 (twenty-three years hence) a tax at the rate of 8s. lid. per cent., 
 and on the owner of Consols, whose property will realize to-day 
 £3750, just 5s. 4td. per cent. 
 
 Ch. of Ex. I fear the tax cannot be justified on the ground of 
 equality. 
 
 Sp. {with dignity). I should think not, indeed. Accept, sir, and 
 ' profit by this definition of your tax An Income Tax, levied as 
 at present, is a geaduated Peopeett Tax, the geahation or 
 
 TAXATION BEING SO CONTEITED AS TO PALL WITH CEUSHING 
 WEIGHT ON THE SHOULDEES OE INBUSTEY, TO THE BELIEE OE 
 
 accumulated wealth, ii In addition to this definition, I furnish 
 you with a scale which I'have prepared, to inform all classes at 
 what rates the tax falls upon them (see Tables, pp. 13 and 14). 
 
 Ch. of Ex. Pray, sir, do not publish your scale until I have 
 devised some tax as a substitute. Consider the difficulty of my 
 
 C ition, the maintenance of the credit of the State, its honour at 
 ae and abroad, its dig- 
 
 Sp. {impatiently). Eudge! How can the credit and honour of 
 any country be maintained by injustice and oppression ? “ Right¬ 
 eousness (equity) exalteth a nation”— so we read. Levy your taxes 
 fairly, and the honour and credit of the country will take care of 
 themselves. 
 
 Ch. of Ex. True, sir; but I was about, when you interrupted 
 me, to remind you of the claims of the public creditor. Can you 
 add to the obligations already conferred on me, by suggesting 
 a tax as a substitute for that which, I suppose, I must relinquish ? 
 
 Sp. Before doing so, I must inform you that we spirits enjoy 
 clearer views of things than we did while looking through mortal 
 
eyes, and we do not perceive any occasion at all for providing a 
 tax as a substitute. To me it is quite apparent that a proper re¬ 
 presentation of the tax-paying people, due attention to the voting 
 of supplies (which is now a farce), together with the very simple 
 expedient of the publication of a detailed statement of the na¬ 
 tional receipt and expenditure, would obviate any occasion for 
 substituted taxation. 
 
 Ch. of Ex. (exhibiting extreme agitation ). Surely, sir, you would 
 not advocate so imprudent a measure as the publication of the 
 details of the expenditure of the several departments ? 
 
 Sp. Indeed, 1 do advocate it. Toil have required it of the Poor 
 Law Unions, have you not ? 
 
 Ch. of Ex. Yes. 
 
 Sp. And of the Municipal Corporations, the Savings Banks, the 
 Prisons, the Police, the County Courts, the Court of Chancery, 
 etc. ? 
 
 Ch. of Ex. Yery true; but consider the different nature of 
 their expenditure. You would not expose to the impertinent 
 curiosity of the public gaze the amount received by this or that 
 official, disclosing the secrets of the various departments? It 
 would be striking a blow at the roots of our political institutions. 
 
 Sp. I know it would, and shall take steps for promulgating my 
 views on the subject. 
 
 Ch. of Ex. (in extremity of his agitation forgetting the spiritual 
 nature of his visitant). I pray you, good sir, do not act with pre¬ 
 cipitation in this matter ; I wiil speak to Lord P-n, a place 
 
 at the Treasury Board could not be more worthily occupied than 
 by yourself. But stop—a vacant Garter is at his disposal, and 
 would doubtless be offered for your acceptance. 
 
 Sp. (interrupting, with a hearty laugh). A garter! how can a 
 spirit’s leg be invested with a garter ?' 
 
 Ch. of Ex. (awaking to a sense of his position). True, I forgot 
 myself for a moment; a dignity of that kind would be somewhat 
 out of place. 
 
 Sp. Of course it would. Such things possess no value in the 
 spirit world; from the order of the Seraphim of Sweden down to 
 the Garter of Great Britain, all such decorations are alike worth¬ 
 less. 
 
 Ch. of Ex. Assuming, however, that a tax by way of substitute 
 should be required, ivhat tax do you recommend ? 
 
 Sp. A Peopehty Tax. 
 
 Ch. of Ex. But have you not demonstrated the difficulty of 
 levying such a tax fairly ? 
 
 Sp. Not at all. I required you to demonstrate that your In¬ 
 come Tax was, in one sense, a Property Tax; not an equal tax on 
 the value of property, but & graduated, sliding-scale Property Tax, 
 the gradation of the taxation being in a ratio inverse to the 
 
10 
 
 amount of the property. Confounding the produce of skill and 
 labour with the interest arising from realized property, and then 
 ignoring all those differences in the value of property arising 
 from the duration of the income taxed, I endeavoured to convince 
 you that your tax was a masterpiece of injustice. What I now 
 propose as a Property Tax is a very different thing; by that term 
 1 mean an equal tax on the value of all realizable property in the 
 country, so that if £100 shall pay £1, then £1000 will pay £10, 
 and £10,000 will pay £100. This tax being levied upon fair 
 principles, there could be no difficulty in making all contribute; 
 whereas you now exempt a large proportion of the property of 
 the country—viz., that which belongs to owners of property up 
 to about £3000 in value*—while' you inflict the tax in its most 
 oppressive form upon men living by labour of hand or brain, and 
 who have not £10 worth of property in the world. 
 
 Oh. of Ex. But such a tax will drive property from the country. 
 
 Sp. It cannot drive away the land, or houses, or factories, or 
 funds, or mines, or railways; such fears are altogether delusive. 
 Let me ask, however, have you no fears lest British industry, 
 skill, and enterprise should seek more congenial treatment than 
 they receive under your paternal management ? What would be 
 the value of land, where would the wealth of England be, or 
 how would you raise your taxes, if British skill and enterprise 
 should make themselves wings and fly away ? 
 
 Oh. of Ex. But could the property of the country support the 
 burthen ? 
 
 Sp. Eirst tell me, what is the estimated value of the property 
 in Great Britain ? 
 
 Oh. of Ex. It has been estimated, by the best statists, to be 
 worth 5000 millions. 
 
 Sp. It is more than that, as your Income Tax returns demon¬ 
 strate ; but I will assume that your figures are correct. How tell 
 me, what is the average annual charge on the country for national 
 purposes ? 
 
 Oh. of Ex. Say, in time of peace, about 50 millions + 
 
 Sp. (sharply). Then 5000 millions cannot pay 50 millions, or, 
 in other words, £5000 cannot bear the burthen of £50 annually ? 
 Why, if all the existing taxes were swept away to-morrow, a Pro- 
 
 * Amongst other financial paradoxes resulting from the working of the 
 existing system is the following:—If a person has £3300 Consols and pur¬ 
 chases £34 in addition, he is, by the transaction, a loser of £125. Thus, A 
 has £3300 Consols, which produce less than £100 per annum, he therefore 
 escapes taxation, paying nil. He purchases £34 Consols, making a total of 
 £3334, which gives an income of £100 a year, and renders him liable to de¬ 
 duction of 11-Jrf. in the pound=£4 15s. lOd.; if the tax is made permanent, 
 this is equal to a capital of £159, so that he gains £34, and loses £159 in 
 present value, or is in a worse position by £125. 
 
 t Omitting Post-office, Crown Lands, etc. 
 
11 
 
 perty Tax would produce easily all the revenue of the country. 
 It is, however, some 10 millions at the most that you are called 
 upon to supply, now that the war is over; and you are bold 
 enough to tell me that 5000 millions cannot pay 10 millions, or, 
 in other words, that a tax of 4s. on the £100 iu value would be 
 an intolerable and insupportable burthen on property. You might 
 just as well try to convince me that Moneygrub and Millionaire, 
 of Lombard Street, are unable to pay their police rate. The 
 simple truth is, you delude yourself about the excessive pressure 
 of taxation on property, whereas property has never yet felt the 
 strain. Your taxes oppress not so much because they are exces¬ 
 sive, as because they bear unequally, and where there is not 
 strength to support their weight. You set, so to speak, a pony to 
 draw a laden waggon, and you yoke a team of cart-horses to a 
 child’s perambulator. From the man who maintains, as I did when 
 in this world, a constant struggle for life and its common neces¬ 
 saries, you wring (after taxing everything which he eats, drinks, 
 and uses) some £15, £20, or £30, which is the very life -blood, 
 bone, and sinew of himself and family ; adding mockery to injury, 
 by offering him a receipt for Pbopeety Tax. You then collect 
 from those who enjoy every comfort and luxury, with money to 
 spare for every form of indulgence, an amount insignificant in 
 proportion to their property, and which does not trench upon 
 the use or enjoyment of a single superfluity. To revert to the 
 proportionate values again. Each of the properties I have re¬ 
 ferred to pays £10 annually for Income Tax, so that 
 
 A with £416 pays 4 J , s t of his property. 
 
 IS with £667 pays o^tli of his property. 
 
 C with £900 pays ^th of his property. 
 
 D with £1216 pays l l 1 st of his property, 
 
 E with £1667 pays j-j 0 th of his property. 
 
 F with £2038 pays a J 3 rd of his property. 
 
 G with £2228 pays = A a nd of his property. 
 
 H with £2593 pays a i 0 tk of his property. 
 
 I with £3222 pays 3 i- a nd of his property. 
 
 K with £3750 pays 3 ) 5 th of his property. 
 
 (Spirit continuing with dignity, and rising into the style of 
 the late Sir Robert Peel). Thus, sir, by a simple appeal to the 
 invaluable science which I left for the guidance of an inatten¬ 
 tive world, I have shown you that your Income Tax is, in fact, 
 a graduated Property Tax—the gradation of the scale of taxation 
 proceeding in the inverse ratio of fairness, sound policy, and 
 ability to sustain the burthen. From neglect of that science 
 with which my name is imperishably associated this evil has 
 arisen, and has been perpetuated; and terrible has been the 
 
12 
 
 punishment which retributive justice has inflicted on the degene¬ 
 rate sons of those who were' my pupils and admiring disciples. 
 By a simple return to the study of the sublime rule of Propor¬ 
 tion, the tax on Incomes may be repealed, and a tax on Property, 
 valued as property, may be introduced. Time warns me that I must 
 be brief, for at cock-crowing our interview must terminate. There 
 are two courses open to you: either repeal this tax on profits at 
 once and for ever, and substitute a bond fide, ad valorem, Property 
 Tax and go down to posterity—which means come to us in the 
 Spirit world—“readingyour history in a” grateful “nation’s eyes;” 
 or persist in the tax as at present levied (to palter with or tinker 
 it is useless), and be swept out of office by the swelling flood of 
 indignant intelligence which is rising hourly in the breast of the 
 British people. (The Chancellor displays emotion.) Tell that people 
 from me, that there are three things which I wish them to attend 
 to:—1, Education; 2, Competitive examination; 3, Book-keeping. 
 
 Oh. of Ex. [with cheerful aspect). Ah! these are points whichl 
 have invariably urged on the Cabinet and advocated in the House; 
 attention to the education of the masses, and competitive examina¬ 
 tion as the basis of . admission to clerkships in our public- 
 
 Sp. Hold. You misinterpret my meaning. I do not now allude 
 to the masses or to the clerks. Let us begin at the head and not at 
 the foot of the scale; it will be time to consider the clerks when 
 their betters are attended to. I wish you to communicate to the 
 British people my desire that they should attend more to the edu¬ 
 cation of their representatives and head oepiciam ; let these, 
 before selection, be put through a course of simple arithmetic, in¬ 
 cluding the first four rules, Proportion, and especially Seduction — 
 a rule of which they appear to be lamentably ignorant; let them be 
 required to repeat by rotemy Dialogue on the Income Tax before 
 taking upon them their official duties; a slight examination in 
 English History and the principles of English Law may also be 
 superadded. 
 
 Lastly, for my minutes are numbered, let the British people see 
 
 to it THAT THE RECEIPT AM) EXPENDITURE OE THE NATION ABE 
 STATED CLEARLY, EXPLICITLY, AM) IN DETAIL, ACCORDING TO 
 THE RULES LAID DOWN IN MY ELEMENTARY TREATISE ON BOOK¬ 
 KEEPING, AND PUBLISHED ANNUALLY, BEEOEE EUBTHEB SUPPLIES 
 ABE ASKED EOB. 
 
 (The cock crows, the Shade of Cocker melts away; the Chan¬ 
 cellor is discovered at daylight_ seated at his bureau, a trace of 
 sadness on his brow, but a wiser man .) 
 
13 
 
 TABLE I. 
 
 The Present Values of Incomes for various Periods certain, and 
 Bates at which each are Taxed. 
 
 Tears. 
 
 Present Yalue 
 
 levied Annually. 
 
 
 Proportion of 
 Property 
 paid Annually. 
 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 
 3 
 
 416 
 
 10 
 
 2 8 0 
 
 Asfc 
 
 5 
 
 667 
 
 10 
 
 1 9 11 
 
 Ath 
 
 7 
 
 900 
 
 10 
 
 12 2 
 
 aVh 
 
 10 
 
 1216 
 
 10 
 
 0 16 5 
 
 iJi«t 
 
 15 
 
 1667 
 
 10 
 
 0 11 11 
 
 loath 
 
 20 
 
 2038 
 
 10 
 
 0 9 9 
 
 siard 
 
 23 
 
 2228 
 
 10 
 
 0 8 11 
 
 ,-I,nd 
 
 25 
 
 2343 
 
 10 
 
 0 8 6 
 
 „J- 4 th 
 
 30 
 
 2593 
 
 10 
 
 0 7 8 
 
 siath 
 
 40 
 
 2968 
 
 10 
 
 0 6 8 
 
 a-Jath 
 
 50 
 
 3222 
 
 10 
 
 0 6 2 
 
 aiand 
 
 60 
 
 3393 
 
 10 
 
 0 5 10 
 
 aioth 
 
 70 
 
 3509 
 
 10 
 
 0 5 8 
 
 3 50 th 
 
 80 
 
 3587 
 
 10 
 
 0 5 6 
 
 3 5 9th 
 
 90 
 
 3640 
 
 10 
 
 0 5 5 
 
 394th 
 
 Perpetuity 
 
 3750 
 
 10 
 
 0 5 4 
 
 3-bth 
 
 Explanation of Table,— Am income certain of £150 for fifteen years is 
 worth £1667, and paying £10 Income Tax is taxed at the rate of Ilf. lid. per 
 cent, on the present value, being i| 6 th part of the property. A similar income 
 in perpetuity (say in the Funds) is worth £3750, it is taxed at 5s. id. per 
 cent., being -i 5 th part of the value. 
 
14 
 
 TABLE II. 
 
 Present Values of Precarious Incomes, enjoyed either for Life or 
 during Capacity for Labour, at various Ages. Calculated at £5 
 per cent., Carlisle rate of mortality. 
 
 Explanation of Table.—The lifo income'of £150, of a person aged 60, is 
 worth £1341, and ho is taxed on that value at the rate of 14s. lid. per cent. 
 As, however, men are generally incapacitated for active exertion before death, 
 .a column has been added, with the value of incomes at various ages, determi¬ 
 nable five years before death (which period is assumed as the average period 
 of incapacity) ; the income of the same person, aged 60, will, upon this as¬ 
 sumption, be worth £1164, and he will be taxed at the rate of 17s. 2d. per 
 cent.; a similar income in the Funds' (see Table I.) is taxed at 5s. id. per 
 
 By the above Tables I. and II. the values of incomes for periods certain, 
 and also of precarious incomes, may be approximately ascertained-, and the 
 effects of the Income Tax upon them may be contrasted.