3 JULY 1909, Page 10

If the " ungotten" minerals proposal stall holds the field,

we would suggest an extension of the principle to Mr. Lloyd If the " ungotten" minerals proposal stall holds the field, we would suggest an extension of the principle to Mr. Lloyd

George. Why should not newspapers be taxed on their " ungotten " circulation ? A very good case on the lines of the mineral taxation might be made oat for such an impost. Newspaper proprietors might on the new principle be told that if they showed a little more enterprise they might get a great deal more circulation, and that the State could not tolerate their unbusinesslike and indolent methods in not making full use of their opportunities. Government valuers could easily be employed to say what the circulation of a particular newspaper ought to be, and on such " ungotten" circulation they might be charged at the rate of a halfpenny for every " ungotten " pound's-worth of circulation. Returned copies would clearly be " ungotten" circulation.