THE TITHE QUESTION
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR" STR,—It is to be hoped that Mr. H. G. Lys, if he will reconsider the Government's tithe proposals in the light of all the facts, will revise his opinion that tithe-owners receive better treat- ment under them than tithe-payers.
It is not true that tithe rent charge was stabilised in 1918 at 44 per cent. increase on pre-War values. The increase was 11 per cent., and it was something like 50 per cent. below the value which tithe was rapidly reaching in 1914. The value of tithe from 1835 to 1914 averaged £98 per cent. of commuted value. The Government proposes to stabilise at £91 11s. 2d. gross. It is true that it is now proposed to stabilise the tithe " at a materially higher figure than the values which prevailed for thirty years before the War," but it is not true that tithe-payers are to bear the costt of the Redemption Scheme, nor does the contribution of £72,000 per annum to help the poorer clergy come from the pockets of the tithe-payers ; it proceeds from economies in administra- tion to be effected by the scheme.
Tithe-payers are to be benefited to the tune of £700,000 yearly by the proposals ; the tithe-owners are to lose £410,000 per annum by the scheme. All the partners in the business of agriculture have been blessed in recent years by Government action. Growers of wheat and sugar-beet, and purveyors of dairy products have received subventions amounting to 16 million pounds. The wages of agricultural labourers have mercifully been doubled. The clergy alone are to be penalised. They are to lose 18 per eent. of their income from tithe. Mr. Lys may contend that they will still receive more than they did in 1914, but if income is reckoned in purchasing power, they will receive very considerably less. People who can rid themselves of prejudice have, unlike Mr. Lys, no difficulty in reaching the conclusion that the balance of benefit falls with a bang to the tithe-payer, not to the tithe-owner. Some manipulation of the detail of the proposals will be needed to save them from being harsh and scandalously inequitable. —Yours faithfully,
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