~Everyone knows that the Chancellor of the Exchequer spoke very strongly at the 1900 Club in favour of the taxation of war profits, indicating that in his opinion it could be done and ought to be done, and that the public, as a whole, would not raise any objection. It' is true a Committee is sitting on the subject, and its report will not be unanimous, but none the less the Government is quite ready to take action and So it is understood in that case, proceed very much as in the levying of income tax.
Each person will be asked to assess his income, or rather his capital as it was in June, 1914, and as it is now; he will be warned not to disregard gifts or loans he may have made, and he will have to take everything into consideration in formulating his final statement. There will have to be a very heavy penalty for intentional inaccuracy, and it would not be surprising to find that imprisonment without a fine is imposed.
Exoramous Increase oF Rates.
What we are afraid of in this country—at any rate we of the middle class—is not taxation but rates. These are simply bounding up. A 50 per cent. increase is quite common, and there are many towns where the aggregate rates are more than 20 shillings in the pound. We are just having a quinquennial valuation, and the local authorities intend to force up assessments to the utmost possible extent, and even as a ratepayer I may as well frankly say they have an easy task before them. How can you deny that assessments should go up when the values property are going sky high? This is all right if you happen to be a landlord, so that you can pass on to the tenant the entire amount of any increase since June, 1914, but if you happen to own and oe: espy your own house, you are inevitably hit very hard.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.