Granville William Gresham Leveson-Gower

“ 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. ”

“ If the present system is to remain in force, it should certainly be enacted that no tithe-owner who had not taken steps to enforce payment should be able to recover from the landlord arrears for more than one year previous to the current year. I foresee certain difficulties in the change; the law will have to be altered which now gives power to recover from the produce of the land, and there is this objection, that whereas the occupier is always on the spot, and to be got at, the owner is not. Speaking as a landlord, the change will not add to our happiness ”

“ That it has so increased in many places is due to the system devised by the tithe-payer; and although, perhaps, in strict justice, as we made our bed so ought we to lie in it, there are reasons which, I think, make it desirable that a limit should be put to its extension. It is undesirable in these days of active competition with foreign produce to restrict in any way the cultivation of the land, if it does so restrict it. A tax on a particular crop is not in accordance with modern and perhaps sound fiscal policy ”

“ 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 ”

“ Without proposing to tithe land such as the woodland in the Weald, which is not subject to tithe, most persons must be aware how very unequally tithe often presses in a parish, some of the best lands, if grass or valuable building land, being very lightly charged, while poor arable land of old standing which now may have gone out of cultivation has a heavy charge upon it. ”

“ Inderwick's Bill, which is more moderate than many, proposes to take the value of £100 at £75 as a basis for the redemption of the extraordinary tithe. As to payment by the landlord, I consider this would be unfair. It is purely a tenant's question. He grows the crop, and does so with the knowledge that he will have to pay an extra charge. The landlord is already put to the expense of building oast houses and rendering himself liable to the valuation for hop-poles, &c., which is a very heavy one. We should all probably agree that to leave the question where it is would not be satisfactory. ”

“ Incomes many times larger than those now derived from tithes are wanted to deal successfully with the mass of irreligious ignorance, and vice which an ever-increasing population brings in its train. On the principle of endowment. Lord Hatherley, a strong Liberal, says in his autobiography, "I am convinced that the Church of England alone, from its organization, the wealth of its members, from its endowments, and from its parochial subdivisions, has the means of bringing home religious instruction to the people." ”

“ For instance, in 1880, after the ruinous season of 1879, the tithe-payer was paying £109 17s. It has fallen this year to £100 4s. 93⁄4d., and there is every prospect of a continued decrease. Bat coincidently with very low prices and bad harvests the tithe-average remained exceptionally high. This is of course very undesirable; but it is a question whether the much shorter average would not tend to make the fluctuations even more sudden. A longer average seems to give a fairer measure of value; and in the matter of farm lands and long agreements to make a calculation more easy. ”

“ 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. ”