: 'S^-
 
 LOCAL TAXATION 
 
 A PAPER 
 
 ON THE 
 
 mtzmw iRating of Citfte iRentcijatge 
 
 SPEECH OF MR. GLADSTONE, HOUSE OF COMMONS, 
 
 DECEMBER 1 6, 1852 
 
 "The clergy have a real grievance. It is admitted by all authorities— Professor 
 Jones, Mr, Cornewall Lewis, and every man who has examined the subject of local 
 rating— that the clergy suffer cruelly by being rated upon their gross incomes. It is 
 from local taxation that the clergyman suffers." 
 
 Price Sixpence. 
 [SECOND EDITION] 
 
 [B— 12]
 
 ©n ti)t <Bxctm\)z IRating of Citbe JRmtcftatge 
 
 A PAPER 
 
 READ IN 
 
 THE ECONOMY AND TRADE SECTION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Social Science association 
 
 AT PLYMOUTH, SEPTEMBER, 1872 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. R. HOBHOUSE • 
 
 RECTOR OF ST. IVE, NEAR LISKEARD, IN THE COUNTY OF CORNWALL 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 lonDon 
 
 RIVINGTONS, WATERLOO PLACE 
 
 HIGH STREET I TRINITY STREET 
 
 SDjcfortJ I €amlirtlia:e 
 
 1875
 
 NOTE TO SECOND EDITION. 
 
 CommTinications whicli have been made to the 
 writer, by readers of the first edition of this paper 
 in various parts of the country, lead him to think 
 that the burden of rates upon tithe rentcharge, 
 which is mentioned at p. 4, is considerably under- 
 stated. 
 
 Within the last fortnight a meeting of the 
 Chairmen and Officers of Assessment Committees 
 in Cornwall has been held at St. Austell, the 
 Chairman of which (who is a great local and 
 county authority) stated that in his (the St. Austell) 
 Union a deduction of 25 per cent from the gross 
 rentcharge would barely cover the cost of the 
 rates. 
 
 E. H. 
 
 23rc? January^ 1875.
 
 LOCAL TAXATION 
 
 Eating of Citfte Jaentcbatge 
 
 EXTRACT FROM AN ARTICLE IN THE EDINBURGH 
 REVIEW FOR JANUARY 1872, ON ''THE LAND, THE 
 CHURCH, AND THE LIBERALS:' 
 
 "The tithe-owner stands in a disadvantageous position compared 
 with his brother ratepayers, because he is compelled to show his cards 
 in a manner they are not. The tithe commutation is a known and 
 ascertained amount : and the tithe-owner is thus entered on the rate- 
 book at the full amount ; whereas, Assessment Committees notwith- 
 standing, other properties are entered at le^s than their net annual 
 value. Moreover, it has been held by a recent decision, that the stipend 
 of a Curate is not to be deducted from the tithe rentcharge of the 
 Incumbent, in fixing its rateable value. This decision has reversed the 
 former construction of law : and at all events, in extensive and populous 
 parishes, where a curate is not a luxury, but a necessity, appears 
 attended with no slight degree of hardship." 
 
 [The points mentioned in the above extract are not handled in the 
 following paper. But the extract will serve to support the assertion 
 that the tithe-owner has at least one grievance : and does not complain 
 without reason.] 
 
 N 
 
 one, I think, has ever heard without asto- introduc- 
 nishment of the sums that are paid m the 
 
 form of rates by the tithe-owning clergy ; nor of the 
 proportion which those sums bear to the whole of 
 the tithe rentcharge. A small body of clergy who 
 looked into the matter a few years ago, found that 
 from one-sixth to one-fourth of their rentcharges 
 were thus consumed; that is, from 17 to 25 per 
 cent. This possibly might not be the, case now, 
 because some relief has certainly been given by 
 the "Union Assessment Committee Act, 1862:" 
 by which the great bulk of landed and house pro- 
 perty has been rated more nearly up to its proper 
 
 A 2
 
 4 Excessive Rating of Tithe Rentcharge. 
 
 value, while the tithe rentcharge has hardly been 
 raised at all ; in many cases it has been lowered. 
 
 But in spite of this relief, the burden of rates is 
 still very heavy indeed. An inquiry into a few 
 scattered cases shows it to be, at the present mo- 
 ment, in those cases, from 13 to 14 per cent.; i. e., 
 a man with 200Z. a year (besides paying his income 
 tax, assessed taxes, and indirect taxes) is mulcted 
 of no less than from 26/. to 28^. a year for parochial 
 rates ;^ and probably 5/. or 6Z. a year more for 
 landtax, the amount of which depends partly on 
 the amount of his rateable value. Every one will 
 admit this to be severe. 
 
 And if, in looking about us, we could see that 
 tithe rentcharge was rated in the same manner 
 as other property, we should have no reason to 
 complain, as compared with the owners and oc- 
 cupiers of other real estate. But we believe 
 that we have a ground of complaint over and 
 above any of theirs ; and this it is the object of 
 the present paper to point out, with a view to a 
 remedy, if possible. 
 
 What then is the reason why rates press more 
 The ground hcavilv ou the tithc-owucr than on others ? The 
 
 of our com- "^ ^ ^ 
 
 plaint. reason is this, that the tithe-owner is the only person 
 
 ^ In the short discussion which followed this paper, a gentleman 
 expressed his entire disbelief in the amount here spoken of: thus 
 curiously verifying the remark with which the paper begins. But what 
 will be the amount when sanitary rate, school rate, and turnpike-road 
 rate shall have been added? And it must be remembered that when 
 the tithe-owner has paid these rates on his tithe, then he begins to 
 pay, like other people, on his house, and any land that he may occupy. 
 
 ^UIUC 
 
 »
 
 Excessive Rating of Tithe Rentcharge. 5 
 
 rated on Ms income. Let any professional person 
 ask himself what he would have to pay if he was 
 rated on his professional receipts ; income or salary ; 
 and then he will be able to judge somewhat of the 
 amount paid by the tithe-owner. 
 
 The tithe-owner, I say, is the only person rated 
 on his income. The tithe rentcharge is property, Tithe rent- 
 
 charge is 
 
 and hence are all its hardships. But it is property property of 
 
 a peculiar 
 
 of a peculiar nature, and peculiarly circumstanced, nature. 
 as I hope to show. But first let us consider that it it partakes 
 
 -*• ^ ^ of the 
 
 partakes also of the nature of professional income ; nature of 
 
 ■•- ^ professional 
 
 and still more, perhaps, of the nature of a fixed income, and 
 
 ■*• ■'• of fixed offi- 
 
 official salary. cial salary. 
 
 " Professional income ! " you will say, " why, it 
 is fixed and certain, not precarious ! " Yet it is 
 rather more precarious than you might think ; 
 depending, not only on morality and orthodoxy 
 (about which I should not wish to say anything), 
 but also on health and strength. If health fails, 
 or old age comes on, the income must at least be 
 diminished by the necessity of paying some one to 
 perform the duties. To this extent, at least, it is 
 precarious, and the attributes of "property" are 
 thus largely modified. 
 
 If the ministry is a profession, the income will ^°^p^J!^.'* 
 naturally be dependent on the exercise of that ^.^^'''''^f 
 profession. Don't say it is a profession favourably 
 circumstanced because the income cannot fall off, for 
 I have just shown you that it can, and in many cases 
 does, when the minister becomes incapacitated for
 
 6 Excessive Rating of Tithe Rente karge. 
 
 his duties. And if you say it is quite right that it 
 should be so, I do not deny that; but I ask, Is 
 it right that he should be rated on his professional 
 income, which we thus find to be_, like other pro- 
 fessional incomes, precarious ? or that he should 
 be rated on the whole amount^ after it has been thus 
 diminished ? 
 It may be ^Qv while it is thus true that the amount is 
 
 diminished, 
 
 but cannot q^^q^ diminished, it is equally true that hy no 
 creased. possihU exevtions can it he increased. The duties 
 are sometimes comparatively light ; then the pay- 
 ment is generally light also. But, be the duties 
 ever so heavy, there is no necessary proportion 
 between them and the payment. Or if, from being 
 comparatively light, they become heavy (as is 
 often the case by the increase of population), still 
 there is no increase of income. The duties often 
 increase, so that an assistant is required, or even 
 two assistants ; still there is no increase of income. 
 In this respect it is unlike any other profession, in 
 which an increase of work may be said always to 
 produce increased pay. I do not, of course, say 
 that the pay should be directly proportioned to the 
 duties ; but these considerations, which arise in 
 comparing tithe rentcharge with professional in- 
 come, should surely prevent the former from being 
 overburdened with rates, while the latter pays 
 none — these considerations, I mean, viz., 
 
 1st. That the income from tithe rentcharge is to 
 a certain extent precarious :
 
 Excessive Rating of Tithe Rentcharge. 7 
 
 2nd. That it is often entirely disproportioned 
 to the duties and the responsibility : and 
 
 3rd. That it is incapable of increase, let the 
 duties or the responsibility increase ever so much.^ 
 
 Much more similar is clerical tithe rentcharge Compare it 
 
 with the 
 
 to the salary of a place or office. Indeed, it would salary of 
 
 , an ofllce. 
 
 seem to be in no way different from that, except 
 in being freehold. " Well, that," you will say, 
 " makes all the difference." But I am going to 
 show you that its character of a freehold is much 
 limited and encroached upon, in comparison with 
 other freehold property. 
 
 Here, then, is an office with a salary. Who 
 will hold the office, perform the duties, and pay 
 rates upon the salary ? Are there no other free- 
 hold places or offices ? If so, do they pay rates ? I 
 think not. But you say the income of thi^ is from 
 land. Well, that would raise the question whether 
 the land only should pay rates. I do not propose 
 to enter on that question. Let it be assumed or 
 admitted that it is so. The fact is so. Then I 
 beg you to observe this : that we hold a place 
 with a fixed income, large or small, for which we 
 have to perform duties ; and upon that income we 
 pay rates ; which no other place-holder does. If 
 the duties cannot be performed by one person, we 
 must provide a second — still paying the same rates 
 
 ^ I do not here forget the increase arising from the Corn Law 
 averages ; and I would not be supposed to undervalue it. But that 
 lias been a c?ecrease ; possibly may be so again ; has no reference to 
 duty, responsibility, or exertion ; and is duly rated year by year.
 
 8 Excessive Rating of Tithe Rentcharge. 
 
 as before. Sometimes we have to provide even a 
 third ; yet still paying the same rates, as though 
 the income v^as equally valuable as at first.^ If 
 we cannot provide these assistants, we must sink 
 under the weight of the duties (as many do), or 
 they must be left undone (as they often are, in 
 great measure). But where is the justice of assum- 
 ing, all the time, that the pecuniary value of the 
 income is unaltered, and rating it accordingly ? 
 
 These duties do, in fact, very largely affect the 
 pecuniary value of tithe rentcharge, and make it 
 to be property of a very peculiar kind — different 
 from all other property. And yet it is rated as 
 if it was . the same as landed property, or worse 
 even than that, as I will endeavour to show. 
 Compare it Comparc it with ordinary landed property. 
 
 with landed , r r J 
 
 property. This docs uot pay rates on the whole of its 
 income, as tithe rentcharge does, but is rated on 
 that part only which is represented by the rent. 
 It is a question often discussed, whether the 
 tenant ultimately pays the rates, or the landlord. 
 I am not about to discuss that question here ; 
 but it is obvious that the very existence of the 
 question shows that both landlord and tenant do 
 not pay : so that, either, one of these classes 
 escapes altogether, or else the burden is divided 
 between them. Thus, if a farmer should be pro- 
 
 ^ Is it not the case with most other official situations, that if the 
 duties become too onerous for one person, relief is given at the public 
 expense ?
 
 Excessive Rating of Tithe Rentcharge, 9 
 
 duced who was paying exactly the same amount 
 of rates as a tithe-owner, it would be found, I 
 think, on investigation, that the sum so paid by 
 the farmer issued out of a property whose gross 
 value was about three times as great, and its nett 
 value about twice as great, as that of the tithes. 
 
 For the land, as I have said, is rated only on 
 its rental (with some deductions from that) : and 
 rental is considered to be only a third of the pro- 
 duce ; so that land is rated on only a third of its 
 total gross value, with deductions ; but the tithe 
 rentcharge is rated on the whole of its value, with 
 deductions. 
 
 Two-thirds of the gross produce of the land are 
 exempt from rating. What are these two-thirds ? 
 One of them is held to be absorbed by the farmer's 
 expenditure in carrying on his business ; in labour, 
 manure, implements, rates, &c. The other is the 
 farmer's profit, whereby he maintains his family, 
 and advances in life. Each of these thirds is 
 supposed to be about equal to the other third (the 
 rent) ; but neither of them is rated ; and so it 
 comes to pass that land is rated on only a third 
 part of its entire gross value. 
 
 Now, if you would make the same deductions 
 from the tithe rentcharge as from the land, that 
 would meet the justice of the case. I do not mean 
 that the rentcharge should always be rated on 
 only a third of its value ; but that it should be set 
 free, for rating purposes, from the expenses of
 
 lO Excessive Rating of Tithe Rentcharge. 
 
 carrying out the work that is attached to it : just 
 as the farmer's gross income is set free — that por- 
 tion which is absorbed by the expenses of his 
 business. These expenses would not be great in 
 the case of the tithe-owner, except where there 
 was the salary of a curate or curates to provide. 
 You must set free also such portion of the tithe as 
 may be fairly considered as salary, or payment for 
 work done (and we can easily find a rule for 
 estimating that portion^). The farmer's personal 
 income, recollect, is not rated — that portion which 
 constitutes the proper remuneration for his labour 
 — so neither should it be in the case of the tithe- 
 owner. And you must not say, *' Oh ! but the 
 farmer's income is uncertain and precarious," 
 because we have already agreed that one-third of 
 the produce of the land (i. e. of the farmer's gross 
 receipts) is to remain unrated ; and I have also 
 shown you that the tithe-owner's income is in some 
 degree uncertain and precarious too. 
 
 With these deductions Social Science would be 
 satisfied : a deduction for necessary expenses 
 incurred, and the deduction of a sum for personal 
 labour. But if you do not like to make such 
 deductions, then, in all fairness, rate those por- 
 tions of the farmer's income also. Allow him no 
 deductions from the gross but rates and taxes, just 
 as you allow us. Let him thus pay on his income, 
 
 ^ Pluralities Act, 1838 (see Appendix infra).
 
 Excessive Rating of Tithe Rentcharge. t t 
 
 and the land-owner on his (minus his deductions 
 for repairs and insurance, and expenses of manage- 
 ment^) and then we shall be all alike : Social 
 Science will be satisfied again. In this way, two- 
 thirds of the gross proceeds of the land would be 
 rated, instead of one-third, as now. 
 
 I venture to ask you to compare the tithe- Con^pare 
 
 '' ■*■ tithe-owner 
 
 owner's position with that of the land-owner. The with land- 
 
 ■•■ ^ _ owner. 
 
 latter may take his rent, and carry it where he 
 will. The whole world is open to him, for busi- 
 ness, for profit, or for pleasure. He may reside 
 a hundred or a thousand miles away, and carry 
 on a profitable business besides. Or, if he is 
 resident, he has no legally imposed duties (none, 
 that is, strictly imposed by law) except those of 
 sheriff^ (if his estate is large enough), or of parish 
 officer (if it is small enough). Whereas the tithe- 
 owner, if clerical, is tied (and most properly tied) 
 to strict residence, and to the performance of active 
 duties which often prove too much for him. And 
 he is forbidden to carry on any other business. 
 This being so, must not the pecuniary value of 
 100^. of tithe rentcharge be much less than that 
 of lOOZ. of rent ? Much less. And yet the former 
 pays rates, the latter none. The rentcharge, that 
 is, pays heavily ; the rent not at all. But, if you 
 say, " Yes, it does, for it is really the owner who 
 
 ^ Corresponding with the tithe-owner's " expenses of collection." 
 ^ This would be met by a rateable allowance of 10/.
 
 1 2 Excessive Rating of Tithe Rentcharge. 
 
 pays the rates ;" then the tenant does not pay, by 
 
 your own showing. 
 
 titKwner "^^^ "^ argue it, then, on that ground. The 
 
 fermer^^^^ tenant does not pay. Why should the tenant, 
 
 making his 100/., more or less, not pay, and the 
 
 tithe-owner pay ? In other words, why should the 
 
 time and labour of the farmer be deducted from 
 
 the gross proceeds of the land, and those of the 
 
 clergyman not be deducted ? You ought either to 
 
 deduct the clergyman's, or not deduct the farmer's. 
 
 Compare rp]^^ iniusticc suffcrcd bv the clerical tithe-owner 
 
 clerical «J "^ 
 
 w^thiJ^^^ may be seen, perhaps, still more clearly by com- 
 *^^"o- paring clerical tithe with lay or impropriate tithe. 
 The owner of impropriate tithe has absolutely no 
 duties to perform in connection with it, except, 
 perhaps, the repair of the chancel. He may do 
 what he likes with his tithe. He may take it 
 where he likes; may employ himself and it in 
 what he likes ; may give or bequeath it to whom 
 he likes ; may be as great an invalid or as great a 
 heretic as he likes. Does not this make it of much 
 greater pecuniary value than the same amount of 
 clerical tithe, for which continual duties must be 
 performed in situ ? And yet, in the same parish, 
 these two properties are probably rated at exactly 
 the same figure ! Suppose them both for sale : would 
 not lOOZ. of impropriate tithe fetch a much larger 
 sum than the same amount of clerical tithe ? The 
 clerical tithe must be sold subject to the perform- 
 ance of its duties. This, I say, reduces its pecuniary
 
 Excessive Rating of Tithe Rentcharge. 1 3 
 
 value. Why, then, should it be rated as high as 
 the impropriate tithe ? 
 
 Or, again, suppose a person rents both of these 
 properties, binding himself to perform all the duties 
 which appertain to each, how much would he give 
 for them respectively ? For the lay tithe he would 
 give the whole amount, minus only the rates and 
 taxes, expenses of collection, and a sum for the 
 repair of the chancel. But to ascertain the rent to 
 be given for the clerical tithe, he would have to 
 deduct a sum to be paid to a person for performing 
 the duties of the parish. So that each lOOZ. of 
 clerical tithe would be reduced to a much smaller 
 figure before it could be paid over by a tenant; 
 and sometimes it would be quite annihilated. 
 Why then should it be rated as high as the impro- 
 priate tithe ? There can be no justice in that — 
 nor any Social Science. 
 
 That part of the tithe rentcharge, then, ought The 
 
 "working 
 
 to be exempted from rating, which can fairly be portion "of 
 
 - the tithe to 
 
 considered as salary necessary to secure the per- be exempt 
 formance of the sacred duties. And this portion rating. • 
 is easily ascertained by the amount to be paid 
 to a curate under the Pluralities Act.^ This may 
 be called the " working portion " of the tithe ; and 
 I say it ought not to be rated at all, unless the 
 working portion of the proceeds of the land is also 
 rated, which at present it is not. This working 
 portion of the tithe is strictly analogous to the 
 
 ^ 1 and 2 Vict., cap. 106. See extract from this Act in Appendix.
 
 14 Excessive Rating of Tithe Rentcharge, 
 
 salary of a freehold place or office ; and ought to be 
 as much exempt from rating as all such salaries are.^ 
 Whatsoever amount exists over .and above this 
 " working portion " may be rightly looked upon 
 as " property," and rated accordingly, on the same 
 grounds as other landed property. And if it be 
 rated on the same reasonable basis as other pro- 
 perty, that will cause a further deduction in some 
 cases — viz. those cases which require the services 
 of assistant curates. A deduction for this would 
 be analogous to the allowance made for the 
 farmer's outlay for labour, stock, manure, &c., in 
 the rating of land.'^ 
 
 Conclusion. "^^ COUcludc, thcU, 
 
 (1) That so far as clerical tithe is the salary of 
 an office, it ought not to be rated. The surplus 
 only, above such salary, can be fairly considered 
 "property." That surplus only should be rated: 
 and it should be rated on the same principle as 
 other property, with deduction for all necessary 
 expenses. 
 
 (2) If (not looking at any portion of it as 
 salary) you rate it at what it would let for, you 
 must suppose it to be let on the same conditions as 
 
 ^ In some parishes, where the amount of tithes is small, the whole 
 would thus be exempted : exactly as the whole is (in such cases) 
 absorbed by a curate's salary under the above-mentioned Act. What 
 can be more unjust than to make a person pay the whole of his pro- 
 fessional income to a curate, and yet to pay rates upon that income ? 
 
 2 It is not, however, this class of cases that is here principally in- 
 sisted on ; but they must be considered before full justice is done to 
 the clerical tithe-owner.
 
 Excessive Rating of Tithe Rentckarge. 1 5 
 
 land ; viz., the tenant to provide for the performance 
 of those duties which alone will enable the owner 
 to continue to receive the rentcharge/ What rent 
 would it then command ? 
 
 (3) If it is looked at as the tenth part of the 
 profits of the land (which it was professedly at the 
 time of the commutation), then it is the tenth 
 part of the landlord's profits, plus the tenth part 
 of the tenant's profits. Now the tenant's profits 
 are admittedly not rated at all ; i. e. those nine- 
 tenths of the tenant's profits which remain to 
 him after the tithe has been taken away. Why, 
 then, should the other tenth part be rated, viz. 
 that part which is paid to the tithe-owner ? 
 Either rate both, or exempt both. If the tenth is 
 rated, the other nine parts should be rated also. 
 
 (4) The principle of the Parochial Assessments ^ & 7 Wm. 
 
 IV. cap. 
 
 Act, as applied in practice, appears to break down xcvi. 
 in the case of tithe rentcharge ; viz. the prin- 
 ciple that " all property shall be rated at what 
 it may be reasonably expected to let for, free 
 of all usual tenants' rates and taxes, and with a 
 deduction of those expenses which are necessary 
 to maintain the property in a state to command 
 such rent." It breaks down, because these last- 
 mentioned expenses are at present held to be not 
 deductible in the case of the tithe rentcharge, 
 and tkey are so heavy as to place the tithe-owner in 
 
 * By analogy with the rule laid down for all rating, in the Parochial 
 Assessments Act, 1836.
 
 1 6 Excessive Rating of Tithe Rentcharge, 
 
 a very disadvantageous position as compared with 
 other ratepayers. 
 
 From the above statement of the case, it will 
 be seen that justice to the tithe-owner may be 
 done by either — {a) operating on the land ; or, 
 (h) operating on the tithe ; or {6) operating on 
 both. 
 
 (a) If the land is operated on, it must be by 
 causing the owner to pay rates on the rent, minus 
 certain deductions ; and the occupier also to pay 
 on the same amount.^ 
 
 (h) If the tithe is operated on, it must be by 
 exempting from rates the " working portion ; " 
 viz. that which is defined by the Pluralities Act 
 as payable to a curate in case of non-residence. 
 (Or else by deducting the expenses just above 
 referred to in the Parochial Assessments Act ; 
 those, viz., which are necessary to maintain the 
 property in a condition to command such rent.) 
 
 (c) If both are operated on, it must be by 
 making the saleable value, and not the lettable 
 value, the basis of rating. This latter has been 
 proposed in the case of Government property, 
 but no doubt it requires further consideration 
 before being reduced to practice. 
 
 ^ There would still be a third part of the produce of the land (the 
 working portion) unrated.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Extract from Pluralities Act, 1 & 2 Vict., cap. 106. 
 
 § Ixxxv. lu every case in which an Incumbent does not duly 
 reside, the Bishop shall appoint for the Curate licensed under 
 this Act such stipend as is hereinafter next mentioned. 
 
 In no case less than 80/. 
 
 Nor less than 100/., if the population amounts to 300. 
 
 Nor less than 120/., if the population amounts to 500. 
 
 Nor less than 135/., if the poi)ulation amounts to 750. 
 
 Nor less than 150/., if the population amounts to 1000. 
 
 Or if, in any of these cases, the whole income shall be less 
 than the amount here assigned to a curate, then the wliole income 
 is to he paid to him. 
 
 N.B. — In all these cases, the sums here mentioned ought to 
 be considered the " working portion " of the tithe, and exempted 
 from rating accordingly, as the " working portion " of the land 
 is exempted. 
 
 *^* The subject of this paper is well handled, and authorities 
 given, in a Eeport of the Committee of the Lower House of 
 the Convocation of Canterbury " On the Rating of the Property 
 of the Clergy." Rivingtons. Price 6^.
 
 
 
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