11 JULY 1896, Page 2

The Radical party in France is accepting the idea of

an Income-tax more heartily than we recently thought possible. M. Doumer, the recent Minister of Finance, proposed his Bill in the Chamber on Tuesday ; and though the Government exerted its whole authority against it, and made the question one of confidence, be was only defeated by a majority of 29 (283 to 254). This signifies that the tax will ultimately be imposed, for the Government has adopted part of it, namely, the tax on Rentes, and it has against it all those who fear that in France it might be indefinitely increased. The fear of inquisitorial proceedings which has hitherto defeated the tax is in fact yielding to the envy excited by the new fortunes which, though not as numerous in Paris as in London, are even more conspicuous.