Page:Tithes, a paper read at the Diocesan Conference at Rochester, May 31, 1883.djvu/18

 extraordinary tithe already existing, but should contribute rateably towards the amount now charged on a plan which I will propound directly. My own parish of Titsey is not subject to extra tithes, whereas Limpsfield is. I know a case on a farm of my own where the tenant, in cultivating hops, studiously adheres to the boundary-line of the parishes, in order to avoid the extra charge. This is an anomalous state of things. The scheme I propounded at a meeting of tithe-payers a short time ago was to this effect:—That an average either for seven years or for a longer period should be taken of the produce of extraordinary tithe; that the charge should be fixed at that point as a maximum beyond which it should not extend, however much the acreage might do, while on the other hand it might fall below, if the special cultivation were diminished; the 15s. per acre, or whatever the extraordinary tithe might be, still being taken as the charge per acre. To make it clear. Suppose a parish in which the extraordinary tithe on the average of seven or more years is fixed at £30, the calculation for extra tithe being taken at the original figure, say 15s. per acre. That £30 would represent 40 acres, subject to extra tithe, at 15s. Suppose the acreage to increase to 60, the amount to be levied being the same, 10s. per acre would be the charge to be assessed rateably. On the other hand, supposing the cultivation to decrease to 30 or 20 acres, 15s. on such acreage would be the sum to be levied, viz., £22 10s., or £15 respectively, all future plantations to come in for charge rateably. Do you say that this is hard? That a limit is fixed beyond which it cannot increase, while it might decrease to any extent. I say that it is liable to sudden fluctuations and even extinction now; that I do not believe that the tithe-owner would suffer, because it is unlikely that the acreage of hop or fruit gardens would materially decrease; in fact, the charge being smaller in proportion to the quantity cultivated, this plan might tend to increase it. I get these advantages. I still recognize the distinction between ordinary and extraordinary tithe. I make the charge upon those who grow the more paying crop; and do not impose it as a permanent charge on the ordinary tithe. I stop an unlimited increase of it, and by spreading it rateably over a larger area I make the incidence of it less heavy. Regard this scheme