[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR. "] Six,—Would you kindly allow
me to make a few remarks in reference to the letter from " A Liberal and Nonconformist " in the Spectator of November 25th in reference to the question of tithe ? The writer suggests that each tithepayer should be asked to state whether he wishes his tithe to be paid to the Church of England, or to some recognized Noncon- formist Church, or to the Roman Catholic Church, Stc. I should have been glad if " A Liberal and Nonconformist" had dealt a little fuller with this question, as I am uncertain if his proposals include also tithe which is in lay impropriators' hands (of which I am not one myself), for in Wales this amounts, I believe, to £38,968 a year net. In the parish in which my post townie situated out of every £3 paid in tithe £2 goes to lay impropriators. In the 1909 Bill for the Disestablishment and Disendowmeut of the Church in Wales this money will still have to be paid to the owners, whilst the whole of the church tithe is to be taken away. Tithe is a charge on the land ; the owner receives so much less rent because of this charge. I cannot accept that it is a tax, because the higher the tithe so much the less rent does the tenant pay, and so much the less does the landlord receive in rent, and if a person purchases land he pays so much the less for it because of the tithe charge. I know of cases in Wales
where there are charges on the land which go to the ministry of Nonconformists which are paid by Churchmen. Would the payer also be allowed to say to whom he wishes these charges
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