13 JUNE 1868, Page 2

The Austrian Government and the Reichsrath have come to an

arrangement about the tax on coupons, and a very bad arrange- ment it is. No general property-tax is to be imposed, but only an income-tax on national coupons of 16 per cent., that is, in fact, a composition at the rate of 17s, in the pound. The French Government is remonstrating warmly, and it is said the Stock Exchanges will resist; but the bondholders seem contented, and bonds have gone up. It is as a precedent that the measure is so dangerous, as it may be copied by Governments less able to plead poverty than the Austrian.