PEERS AND BUDGET.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2646, 30 October 1909, Page 2

PEERS AND BUDGET.

. DUKES CUT SORRY FIGURE, t l Tho Dukes have been .cutting a sorry figure in connection with the Budget t (says an English paper). Some ol : them, with visions oi : ruin before them r (conjured up by the prospect of their \ .having to pay something of their dues towards the- revenue of the country), have threatened tp curtail their hou.seI hold staffs, to dismiss their game--3 keepers and other estate hands, to stop subscribing to charities, and in other ways to elfect economics to save them ■j from starvation. ■ , One of them with an enormous rentroll has; indeed, gone so far as to , threaten to emigrate to California or t some other far-off land; but, as a cri- • tic pointed out at the time the threat * was uttered, even this powerful mag- ' nate could not take his land with him. c The action of the Duke of Buc- • cleugh with regard to the Budget is ex--3 citing a largo amount of comment u throughout Dumfrieshiro. 9 Hitherto the old men on the Drumlanrig estate have received a weekly 3 wage" of 14s, but recently that was rct duced to 7s 6d, and these men have 1 just applied for, and been granted, old 1 • age pensions, of ss. At tho meeting of the Pension Comi mittee, Air Archie Kirkpatrick, Thorne hill, charged the Duke’s factor, Mr l Ralston, with scheming to take o.dvan- * tage of the Act. Mr Ralston admitted taking adyan--1 tage of the Act, and said that consklcre ing the amount of taxation his Grace t had now to pay he had to reduce lus a expenditure. “But,” continued the . factor, hotly, “that’s a thing you have got nothing to do with.'’ ;» “It’s a mean way of getting out of paving <vonr taxation and doing your i dutv "to~ the country,” retorted Air - Kirkpatrick. “It’s a mean way to I take advantage of. the Old Age Pen- - eions Act.” r Tlie Duke of Buccleugh has been m the habit of contributing £1 per annum to the funds of the Nithsdalo ■, Wanderers’ Football Club at Sanquhar, \ but the secretary has received the iolj lowing letter from his Grace’s chamberlain : “I would have been very glad to have sent you a subscription, but owing " to the large prospective increase m ” taxation caused by the present Budget, it has been found necessary to curtail very largely the amount of his Grace s i annual subscriptions to such objects, II and I much regret, therefore, that it 1 is impossible for me to send a subscrip--5 tion.” RATE AND RENTAL. The handsome Dumfriesshire seat of - the Duke, Drumlanrig Castle and poh--1 cies, are only rated upon £3OO, while S his Grace is, of course, one of the nch--3 est peers in the realm. 3 Besides his half-dozen palaces, conr taining art treasures of immense value r —the pictures alone would be a great - bargain at £soo,ooo—the Duke is the i owner of more than one-third of J3uni- ] fricskire (253,514 acres), yielding an 3 annual revenue of £97,84.0, and near--3 ly 200,000 acres in other parts of the 3 kingdom. Montagu House, \Vhite--3 hall, one of the finest of great London 3 bouses, is his town residence, and lus > country seats ai'o: _ l Broughton House, Kettering. 1 Bowliill, Selkirk. ). Dalkeith Palace, Dalkeith. Drumlanrig Castle, Thornhill. Eldon Hall, St. Boswells. Langliam Lodge, Langbam. . Commenting on the Duke s action regarding his football subscriptions,. a : Dumfriesshire contemporary bays: “AVe regret to leani that the Duke L of Buccleugh, following example winch he could not have stooped to set, has I intimated to the Sanquhar Football Club that in consequence of the budget he cannot make Ins usual contri- ; bution this year to the funds of the \ club. It is satisfactory to reflect that the players will not slacken the force of their feet on the leather because of. ‘ bis Grace’s intimation. “Their kick will be no less hearty ’ for having a touch of justifiable resentment in it. Only it is a pity that J dukes and other over-wealthy people 1 should accentuate tfce privileges . and exemptions they have hitherto enjoyed at the expense of others by an appearance of vindictive stinginess. In the case of useful charitable institutions, the witholding of subscriptions is sure r to strengthen the argument lor grants s from rates and taxes. “It may interest some or our reai ders to know that tlie Duke of BuccI len'di, for the splendid palace and polir dies of Drumlanrig, with tlieir gardens b and other fine things, is rated on onis I £3OO, which is less than the combined s rental of a dozen modest villas. ~ “If these charities come to be chargd eel upon public funds, there will have to s be a re-valuation of these ornamental estates.”