Page:Tithes, a paper read at the Diocesan Conference at Rochester, May 31, 1883.djvu/13

 writer in the Times who signed himself "Layman" that the tithe-owner did not receive more than £75 clear for every £100 of tithe. On this assumption it was proposed that, taking the total rent-charge in England at £4,000,000, this sum, as redemption, was to be paid direct by the landowners to a Government office. Of this sum 75 per cent., or £3,000,000, was to be paid by the office to the tithe-owners each year, free of all deductions, the remaining £1,000,000 to be annually invested in consols as a redemption fund. He calculated that in 47 years, from this annual investment at 3 per cent, at compound interest, there would be a sufficient fund to provide an annual income of £3,000,000, and that the tithe rent charge would then cease absolutely. A deduction of 25 per cent, from the gross is the calculation on which Mr. Inderwick's Bill proceeds in regard to extraordinary tithe. It is clear, I think, that so large a deduction would amount to a confiscation of property, and is a method which, outside Ireland, at any rate, would hardly be applied. I venture to suggest that the average value of tithe calculated since the Act of 1836 should be the starting point; from that should be deducted the expense of collection, which may be estimated at about 5 per cent, on an average (although in many cases it is much higher), and the poor rates, which may be taken as from 10 to 12 per cent. The average value of tithe since 1836 is £103 2s. There is, however, this difficulty, that we are always on shifting ground, the value changing from year to year; and therefore it might be better to take £100 as the fixed value, from that deduct 15 per cent, for rates and collection, and £85 would remain as the price for redemption. I am perfectly aware that this would not be accepted by all tithe-owners, and would be considered to involve a large sacrifice of income. At the same time, I believe that there is a large body of the clergy and lay owners who are desirous of removing the question from the arena of party politics, and who would welcome such a change, even at some loss of personal income. Where the best cannot be had, it is often the wisest course to accept the best under the circumstances. The sturdy resistance of the oak may be more to the taste of some, and they are not to be blamed for it; the more pliant disposition of the willow may be more likely to weather the storm. Earl Stanhope's Bill, now before the