Income Tax Assessments.
In Millions Sterling.
| Five Years’ Average. | Schedule D. | All Schedules. |
|---|---|---|
| 1870-74 | 210 | 490 |
| 1875-79 | 263 | 575 |
| 1880-84 | 268 | 601 |
| 1885-89 | 292 | 634 |
| 1890-94 | 350 | 699 |
The return from which the above figures are taken stops with the year 1894; but a somewhat similar comparison was brought up to date in the last Budget speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The following table is taken from the “explanatory memorandum” that accompanied that speech:—
Yield per Penny of the Income Tax.
| Year Ending March 31st. | Yield per Penny. | Ten Years’ Growth, after allowing for alterations in the incidence of the tax. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amount of Growth. | Percentage of Growth. | ||
| Thousand £ | Thousand £ | Per Cent. | |
| 1876 | 1,978 | — | — |
| 1886 | 1,980 | 62 | 3·23 |
| 1896 | 2,012 | 207 | 11·47 |
With such figures as these available it is difficult to understand how people can continue to pour forth nonsense about the ruin of our national industries. During the very decade in which the blight of German competition was supposed to have destroyed the profits of our manufacturers, it is clear from the above infallible test that the incomes of our commercial, professional, and property-owning classes have been growing with increasing rapidity.
REDUCTION OF NATIONAL DEBT.
Passing from taxation to the question of what has been done with the taxes, it is sufficient to select one fact for comment—the enormous reduction in the National Debt. Here are the figures:—