In disclosing his new taxes, Mr. Bonar Law urged that
taxation must not cripple industry and stop the flow of money into the War Loan, and that taxation must be just and fair. He would not increase the Excess Profits Duty because it might yield less if a higher rate were fixed. He proposed, first, an increase in the postal rates. The letter would be three-halfpence instead of a penny, for the first time since Sir Rowland Hill's day ; the postcard would cost a penny ; and the parcel under three pounds would cost sixpence. The new rates would yield an increase of £3,400,000 this year, and £4,000,000 for a full year. His second proposal was to double the cheque stamp, making it twopence, as Lord St. Aidwyn tried to do during the Boer War, and thus raising £750,000 this year, or a million in a full year.
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