SIR,—The Rev. Mervyn StockwoOd, in his article, Disappearing Clergy, says
that " the State, in spite of popular fallacy, does not contribute a penny" towards the Church of England. This is not the case. The State contributes to all charities in direct proportion to the subscriptions made by private persons, provided that these subscriptiods are made in the form of a seven years' covenant. The Church is recognised as a- charity, and all subscriptions by covenant made to the Church are entitled to a refund of income tax. As treasurer of a small parish with .400 on the electoral roll, I-receive from the State a sum of £75 annually as a refund of income tax on covenanted subscriptions.
If every Member of the Church of England were to subscribe under covenant to his parish, the State would nearly double this sum, at the present rate of income tax, and most of our financial worries would be over. The facilities are provided, and all that is needed is an adminis- trative lead by the Church Congress. Can we treasurers be informed of these facilities and not have to ferret them out for ourselves ? We want to be able to obtain forms for covenanting as we do electoral roll forms, and we want provision made for transferring covenants from one parish to - another when a parishioner changes his or her residence.—
Captain, R.N. (Retd.).
Oaklynn, Ridgeway, Pyrford,-Woking.
[Whether a rebate on tax can properly be described as a contribution by the State is a matter for argument. It may be doubted whether the many charities benefiting by deeds under covenant regard the State as a contributor to their funds.—En.. Sped.]
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