We have not space, unfortunately, to deal with the Chancellor
of the Exchequer's fervent attempt to show that his Land Taxes have not been a fiscal fiasco. We can only say that it was not a convincing performance. The one land tax which has not been a dismal failure is the tax on mineral royalties, and that is not really a land tax at all, but merely a very unjust form of double income tax falling on a specially selected form of property whiSh, since it is in its essence not income but capital, ought to have been relieved from, rather than exposed to, extra taxation. Mineral royalties aro wasting securities. We may add that we do not think much of the Chancellor's challenge to the friends of the municipalities to abandon their share of the Land Tax. Though the taxes do not yield very much, the localities will, of course, be glad to keep even that little. The Chancellor of the Exchequer should remember the case of the young lady in Miss Austen's novel. When her lover explained his poverty to her she declared that " however little he might have, she would be very glad to have it all 1"
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