IMPERIAL POLITICS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2584, 19 August 1909, Page 5

IMPERIAL POLITICS.

THE APPROPRIATION BILL

PASSED THE HOUSE OF LORDS. UnITHD I'RI'UH ASSOCIA TIO N--Co P Y 111 Clll LONDON; August 17. The Appropriation Bill has passed the House of Lords. PROGRESS OF THE FINANCE BELL Mil. . ASQ UFiT-I S ATI SKIED. • (Received August IS, 10.10 p.m.) LONDON, August IS. Air. Asquith is, well 'satisfied with the progress of the Finance Bill, owing to the winnowing powers, enabling .the chairman of count! it tecs to shear away pages of 'amendments. Mr. Asquith will assume, charge of- the; Bill v/hen t!;c 'licensing clause is,reached. BRICK-CLAY A MINERAL. ’ TO "BE* TAXED UN DER. THE BUDGET PROPOSALS. •

(Received August IS, 10.20 p.m.) • Mr. Lloyd-George iul'ormed Mr. -•-■ G, Montgomery, Liberal member.; for the Bridgewater Division of Somersetshire, that brick’-cTay was a mineral, and that it was not proposed to exempt it from Une operation'--of the .finance Bill. The doubt expressed by Sir Felix Schuster, the eminent banker, ''whether it was altogether in the interests of the community to put the whole of the burden of new taxation, or the greater part of it, on one class.” is entertained by other great bunking experts in the city of London._ Lord Aldenham, partner in Messrs Antony Gibbs and Sons, in an interview 'remarks: -“The Budget proposals'as to taxation will have the to drive capital out of England. What appears to bo a deliberate attack on capital must shake confidence, and any step which shakes confidence reacts prejudicially on busmens. It is undesirable, too, that the great majority oi the people, Who pay no taxes, and who at the same time have noar.y all the representation, should be encouraged to pm the whole burden oi taxation upon the few.” Another loading City banker, a gentleman of great authority in the world of finance, said: "I tool especially strongly with regard to the- proposed increase in the death duties, which, if adopted, must, I think, lead to tlm gradual diminution of capital; and the revenue derived from that eon roe, if the duties are on so high a scale, must be, in ray opinion, a declining one after a number of years. Death duties form a very uncertain and variable source of revenue, and they should? not in my judgment be carried beyond the present limits, which are already very high indeed. My principal objection to a high income tax is that it diminishes the reserve power of the nation in times of difficulty. But if capital is to bo further taxed I for one would infinitely prefer even a higher income tax than that now proposed to the suggested increase of the death duties. It would be better for the individual and better for the State. The diminution of capital caused by heavy death duties, of course, affects the trade of the country, as it means the diminution of the working capital employed in trade.”