Papers relating to the history and practice of vaccination.

  • Great Britain. General Board of Health.
Date:
1857
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Papers relating to the history and practice of vaccination. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    ■whisky duty has risen step by step frt>m 2s. 8d. in Ireland, and 3s. 8d. in Scotland, to 10s., the re- venue from Spirit Duties was 9,697,5221. last year, and there is no ground to suspect an increase in illicit distillation. Whether it is any part of the duty of the State to make men virtuous by Act of Parliament seems to be a question which has never been doubted at Somerset House ; the Commissioners are satisfied that it is, and they challenge our admiration of the way in which they have carried out their conception of duty. This is, however, but one of the many tasks they have to perform ; no sooner have they disposed of it than they proceed to a second equally difficult—the recon- ciliation of Free Trade with the existence of Excise duties. Here they have not been so successful, but they have at least been zealous. Everything that could be done they have done. They have allowed Scotch distillers to water their spirits in bond in London to put them on an equality with their English rivals. Formerly the poor Scotchmen were forced to water their whisky in Edinburgh or Glasgow, and to pay freight for the carriage of so much water to London. Another boon conferred on commerce by the Board was the permission to methylate rum. 1 Turpentine is so dear in conse- quence of the American war that it was said bad rum mixed with wood naphtha might be advan- tageously substituted for it. The Commissioners got an Act passed to permit the free use of the mixture, but we regret to add that the only re- sult has been that a small druggist in the north of England sold it as a cordial draught under the name of “ Indian Brandee.” Equally unsuccessful we are sure has been the concession to farmers to use malt free of duty when ground up with linseed meal, though, according to Mr. Bass, out of this might be brewed a Chancellor of the Exchequer’s beer to match the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s claret. It is more satisfactory to note that the number of bushels of malt made in 1864 was 47,935,949, which exceeds by 2,379,763 btishels the quantity ever before made in one year. The Commissioners pass lightly over the Legacy and Succession Duties, but it appears that, in spite of all their vigilance, the amount received last year shows a falling off in the receipt. They look for- ward, however, to an increase if a judgment of the Court of Chancery recently given is maintained by the House of Lords. The old French law, under the name of droits d’aubaine, absolutely confiscated to the use of the Kino the movable property of foreigners dying in France, and Mr. Yoriuk pathetically lamented the fate of his silk breeches in the event of his dying at the Hfltel Dessin. Our English Courts held a milder rule, and deter- mined that the property of a foreigner dying in England was absolutely free from Legacy Duty, but the Lords Justices in Chancery have now decided that it is subject to Succession Duty. What may be expected to accrue to the Exchequer annually from Succession Duty arising on the death of jpersons who are not domiciled Englishmen does not ap- pear, but the Commissioners plume themselves on the accession to their income, although they are evidently afraid the House of Lords will upset the decision. The virtues of the Commissioners are, however, most apparent in the next part of their Re- port, dealing with the Income Tax. They dwell upon Mr. Gladstone’s alteration in favour of “ minor in- “ comes,” but they do not tell us all that could be desired. The deduction for purposes of assessment of 601. from incomes between 1001. and 2001. has very much diminished the number of appeals I against assessments at 1001. or a little over ; but we are not told what effect it has had upon assessments at 2001. or a little over. That fraudulent returns are still made is, however, proved by the revelations of compensation cases. The Commis- sioners have prosecuted several offenders, but the fines inflicted will scarcely deter others from doing the same. C. D. returned his income in 1863 at 5001., and the same vear swore, at a trial,, that bis I profits were 1,9941., but seems to have escaped all penalties. E. F. returned his income at 5101., and subsequently claiming compensation proved it to be 4,4031.; whereupon he was prosecuted and fined 1501., which is just as much as he would save in one year’s false return when the tax was 9d. in the pound. It is, perhaps, impossible to make the penalties more proportionate to the offence, and the Commissioners seem satisfied with the evi- dence afforded by these frauds of the necessity of their vigilance. The least successful part of the Report is that in which the Board discusses the rejection of the Collection of Taxes Bill last Session. The Bill in an unmutilated condition would, no doubt, have been useful. At a time when a tax-collector has just absconded from Liverpool, no one will say that it is desirable a district should be called on to pay its taxes twice over. But the Commis- sioners altogether ignore the fact that an important alteration was made in the Bill during its progress through'Committee. When the London district was removed from its operation through terror of the metropolitan members, its fate was sealed. The grievance sought to be mitigated wa3 not pressing, and the House thought it better to wait another year rather than sanction an unprincipled com- promise.