Page:Tithes, a paper read at the Diocesan Conference at Rochester, May 31, 1883.djvu/7



Mr. read the paper which follows, and submitted this resolution on the subject of Tithe:—

"'That the law in regard to tithe requires amendment, and that it be referred to the Law and Parliamentary Committee to consider and report on the subject.'"

The subject of Tithe is one that at the present time occupies public attention. Like many others, it has been brought to the front by a long period of agricultural depression, and in this country, owing to the large acreage under hops and under fruit cultivation, the question occupies exceptional prominence under the head of extraordinary tithe. The subject is one that has long interested me. In my opinion it presses for a speedy settlement, and I shall be quite satisfied if I can raise a practical discussion upon it. The collective wisdom of the Agricultural Commission suggests a very slight change in the matter of ordinary and none in extraordinary tithe. I am bold enough to propose some, although I admit the difficulty that attends on any change; still I think that both in the incidence of the tithe and in the method of collecting it useful changes may be made; and we shall, I trust, arrive at some conclusion by a full and free discussion in such a meeting as this. When the question was first proposed for consideration the Very Rev. the Dean was somewhat afraid, I think, that I should take you back to the Pentateuch, and from there traverse the history of tithe until its introduction into this country. I confess that the archæological aspect of the question has many