5 JULY 1902, Page 11

In the House of Lords on Thursday, on the second

reading of the Finance Bill, Lord G-oschen made a powerful defence of Sir Michael Hicks Beach's financial measures. The tax on corn would, he declared, only amount to half a farthing on the quartern loaf. Even if the whole weight of the tax were placed on the consumer, each individual member of the community would only pay M. a year in consequence of the Corn-tax. After Lord Spencer had opposed the tax on the conventional Opposition lines, Lord Balfour of Burleigh replied on behalf of the Government, and, we are glad to say, strongly repu- diated the notion that the Corn-tax had, or was intended to have, any protective character.