The Times of Tuesday publishes from its Berlin corre- spondent
a summary of the new German Imperial Taxation Bill. The total annual yield of the new taxes is estimated at £7,000,000, made up as follows :—Inheritance-tax (after £650,000 has been allotted to the States), 22,750,000 ; tax on fire-insurance policies, £1,750,000; increased Stamp-duties on bonds and share certificates, 2500,040 ; new Stamp-duty on transfers of real estate, £1,000,000; increased Stamp-duty on certain bills and a penny stamp on cheques, £1,000,000. Modified as it is, the Inheritance-tax will yield only £2,750,000, as compared with the £5,000,000 of the original scheme. The ten-pfennig stamp on cheques is justified by the example of other countries. The use of cheques is not prevalent in Germany, but it is suggested that a small tax will not affect the spread of a natural convenience. On Wednesday Prince Billow spoke in the Reichstag in support of the new proposals. We have written fully of that speech elsewhere. On Thursday the debate was continued, when the Conservatives and Clerical Centre, who have formed a now combination, scouted the Government proposals, and insisted on the importance of the scheme which they themselves recently drew up in the Finance Reform Committee.
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