Mr. Stansfeld presses on with his Rating Bill, fighting boldly,.
but not winning very much. On Friday week he carried his. clausefor rating stock-in-trade—we wonder what the Commis- sioners will tax our brains at—but on Thursday he was obliged. to tax the owner of game, instead of the hirer of the shootings, which he did quite willingly ; and he had a fierce fight over the- rating of hospitals, till Mr. Gladstone had to rise to the rescue, and in a smashing speech, a sort of condensation of the best speech he ever made—that for taxing Charities—showed that the- exemption only meant a forced subscription from unwilling- persons. The clause ordering the rate was therefore carried and then there was a slight discussion upon a very difficult point. Is a house to be rated with any reference to the cost of building. it ? Mr. Stansfeld thinks so, but the Peers won't, nor can we. If a man likes to spend money on overbuilding himself, so much, the better for the country, which wants good houses. Why should a man be fined for using marble instead of brick, wheft his marble won't bring him a penn'orth more rent? Yet the' marble is an improvement.
Previous page
