Page:The Annual Register 1899.djvu/349

 1899.] Denmark. — Taxation Bills.

been voted by either House. Promising the new Minister' of the Interior co-operation for the passing of useful bills, he de- nounced the coupling together of the four Taxation Bills, but he promised that the Left would pass the two direct Taxation Bills, for although they did not give much, they were steps in the right direction. The debate on the Budget extended over a dozen sittings, during which the oft-mentioned item of 520,000 kr. again played a prominent part. The leading spokesmen of the Opposition repeatedly and at some length went over the old ground, the Premier in his turn maintain- ing that the Government in making this expenditure had not in any way violated the Constitution, but that they had dis- charged a constitutional duty.

The four Taxation Bills, which had already in previous sessions occupied much of the Bigsdag's time were next intro- duced (Oct. 20) by the Finance Minister. The bills in question dealt with (1) the transfer of certain direct State taxes to local authorities ; (2) an income and property tax ; (3) a reform of the existing tariff, and (4) the increased taxation on the manu- facture of corn brandy.

The first bill, providing for a transfer to the municipalities of a portion of some of the State taxes, was to come into force when the second bill (the State Income and Property Tax) had become operative. This latter bill provided for an income tax of 1J per cent., and a property tax of 03 per mille. Both these bills were laid before the Landsthing in the form passed by the Folkething in the previous session. The Tariff Bill was almost identical with the measure introduced by the Government in the previous session, only the calculations had been brought down to date, showing a deficit of 5,028,078 kr., as against 6,440,081 kr. According to the previous bill, the * reduction of the deficit had been brought about by the transfer of the duty on petroleum and rice. The fourth bill increased the taxation on the manufacture of corn brandy, raising it to 25 ore per litre of 50 per cent, alcohol, a reduction as compared with the original bill. This proposed taxation meant a gain to the Exchequer of about 5,000,000 kr. The Minister of Finance, in the Folkething, stated that his position as to the desirability of coupling these four bills together had not in any way changed, as had been surmised by some member, on the other side. The four bills were then referred to a committee, which, however, could not agree upon a joint report ; but their second reading was passed in accordance with the report of the majority of the committee — an essential point of which was that the four bills should come into operation simultaneously. The fate of these important measures was consequently left an open question at the close of the year, but would probably again engross the attention of the Rigsdag later on in the session.

A number of practical measures were also brought before