A melancholy interest attaches to a handbook on Income Tax,
Weights and Measures, Stamp Duties and Coinage published by the British Bank of South Africa, which gives particulars of these subjects for most countries. A comparative table for the Empire shows that our Income Tax is by far the highest. An earned income of £1,000 pays £150 here, £40 in Canada, £72 in New South Wales (including the Federal tax) and less in other Australian States, and £93 15s. in New Zealand, where the income up to £300 is exempt. The Elysium free from Income Tax may still be found in South and Central America, China, Egypt, Persia, or Siam. The coinage tables in this useful book are illustrated with numerous photographs. One plate represents the eighteenth-century Austrian dollar of Maria Theresa, which, by sonic curious freak of fortune, is still the favourite legs I tender in Abyssinia, and the rival Menelik dollars, which, it is. explained, are subject to discount if the tail of the lion on the obverse is curly, instead of being straight.
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