In Committee on the dog-tax on Thursday Mr. Marsh gave
vent to the same sort of horror of ordinary working dogs which he is known to feel politically for ordinary working men,—and appa- rently on the same ground,—his morbid Australian experience. He appeared to be unfavourable to the substitution of a 5s. licence for a 12s. assessed tax. " He trusted his honourable friend had considered whether under the reduced duty he would get as much money as he did at present, for if he calculated on twelve dogs being kept in future where five are kept now, that would be a great nuisance. One could hardly have an idea as to the nuisance dogs were where there was no dog-tax. In Australia," &e.,—and then the hidden grief came forth. Australian dogs are spoken of with as much contumely as Australian voters by the " Botany Bay school of politics." Are, then, the dogs as often descended from convicts' dogs as the men and women from convict men and women? And now that convicts are no longer sent out to Australia, we are urged to give our dogs tickets of leave at home, and let them wear their licence hanging from their collars. We are glad to find that the Secretary to the Treasury opposes this proposal. Mr. Hunt humanely observes that if the dog's title to exist depended from his collar in an excise ticket, the dog would be liable to be waylaid by other men or dogs, for the purpose of borrowing its valuable pass- port. Little dogs of a frank and candid nature would not keep their tickets many hours ; and then might be slain by ruthless policemen for the crime of having been robbed of them. Under so monstrous a provision, if every dog had his day,—he would very seldom indeed have any more.
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