tions upon which this act was founded, Mr. Pitt expressly declared that they left the question of a more equal repartition of the Land Tax precisely where they found it, and in support of this position made use of the following observations: “Parliament now has the undoubted right of raising more than 4s. in the pound on land; and what greater authority would it acquire were the present redeemed? If the whole were to be redeemed, the only thing necessary to be provided, as expressly as any legislative provision can guard, is, that, if ever a new Land Tax is imposed, it shall not be imposed upon those who have redeemed in any different proportion from that on those who have not redeemed. It would be necessary to provide, that the amount of what may have been redeemed shall be deducted from any new impost."

The principal object, however, being to carry into effect the redemption scheme, little attention was paid to any proposition for a repartition; and thus, notwithstanding the immense annual loss to the revenue, year after year has been allowed to pass away without any effort on the part of the Government to secure to the public the full benefit that ought to be derived from this tax, or to remove the palpable injustice inflicted upon a large portion of the community by its present improper assessment.

When it is borne in mind that the sums assessed for Land Tax are for the most part the same as those which were assessed two centuries

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cluding Brighton, L still is only £57,56 upon the county o Liverpool, Manches is only £20,989: 14 of this tax assessed parish of Saint A George the Marty Property Tax at the was and still is £ parish of Saint Pan Property Tax at th was and still is £1. the parish of Sain

sessed to the Property Tax at the annual sum of £1,132,324, was and still is £492.

Various reasons have been assigned to account for successive Governments having allowed this tax to remain so long in its present anomalous and unprofitable condition; but the Writer believes the best explanation for their apparent apathy is to be found in the fact, that the question has not been properly understood. From the name of the tax it was generally supposed to be one peculiarly affecting land, and hence the landed interest has been reluctant to encourage any interference with it, lest an additional burthen might be imposed on land; while the representatives of populous places, although occasionally evincing considerable earnestness in promoting measures for an equitable assessment, have become suddenly lukewarm upon the question, when they found that their constituencies and not the landed interest were likely to be called upon for an increased contribution, in the event of a re-assessment. The scruples, however, of both parties will, it is hoped, be removed when they reflect upon the very great benefit which would be conferred upon the country by an equalization of the tax at a moderate rate; for such is the increase in the value of property since the assessments were made, that, although they were originally calculated at a rate of 4s. in the pound, to which all real property is now legally subject, an equalized rate of 9d. in the pound, even after deducting the amount redeemed, which