THE TABLET.
A W eek ly N ew sp aper a n d R ev iew .
DUM VOBIS GRATULAMUR, ANIMOS EXIAM ADDIMUS UT IN INCCEPTIS VESTRI5 CONSTANTER MANEATIS.
F rcm the B r i e f o f H is Holiness F iu s IX . to T he T a b let, June 4, iSyo.
V ol. 1 13. No. 3,603. L ondon, May 29, 1909.
pR.CE 5a , „y post 5 ^ .
R e g i s t e r e d a t t h e G e n e r a l P o s t O f f i c e a s a N ew s pa p e r
•Ch ron ic le or t h e W e e k \ Page
Imperial Parliament: Increase of the Death Duties— The Extra Duty on Spirits— Irish Tobacco— The Government and the TwoPower Standard — The Paris •Strike—The French Government and Civil Servants— The Italian Government and the Church— Policy of the New Turkish Government— Empire D ay Celebrations — Further Decline in the Birth-Rate — Reorganisation of Passive Resistance— Lord Charles Beresford, the Colonies, and the N a v y ................................................837 T opics o f t h e D a y :
Mr. Justice Darling and the
Establishment . . . . , . 8 4 1 The Miracle of St. Januarius . . 842
C 0 N T T opics (Continued); ^ Page
The Passing of the Old Sardinian
Chapel . . _ .............................844 Sir John Day's Pictures . . . . 846 N o t e s ........................... ~ . . 8 4 6 R ev ie w s :
Shelley . . . . . . . . 848 The Comte de Mun and Social
Work . . . . . . . . 849 The Hidden Church of the Holy
Graal ....................................... 850 The Last Things : . . . . . 850 Dante in English Literature . . 863 The Catechism in Examples . . 863 Meditations on the Ro.ary . . 863 Books of the Week . . . . . . 864 Literary Notes . . 851 C orrespondence :
Rome :—(From Our Own Corre
spondent) . . . . . . 853
5 N T S.
C orrespondence (Continued) : Page
News from Ireland.. . . . . 855 News from France . . . . . . 856 L e t t e r s to t h e E d it or :
“ The Island of Saints ” . . . . 856 Privileged Sundays.. . . . . 856 The Catholic Disabilities Removal
Bill ... . . . . . . . . 857 Society of St. Thomas and Reunion 857 Socialism . . . . . . . . 838 Father Dalgairns’ “ Holy Com
munion ” .................................... 858 The St. Vincent de Paul Society
Pilgrimage to Rome . . . . 859 Sacred H»art Chapel in West
minster Cathedral . . . . 859 Women’s Suffrage . . . . . . 859 A Want at Walworth . . . . 859 St. Charles Boiromeo . . . . 860 A Hard Case . . . . . . 860
The Jubilee o f Louvain University 860 E t Caetera . . . . . . . . 860 St. Joseph's Foreign Missionary
Society ......................... .. 861 The Next London County Council
Election . . . . . . . . 864 So c ia l a n d P o l it i c a l . . . . 866
S U P P L EM E N T . Educational N o t e s .............................869 Doings o f Local Authorities . . 870 Circular 7 0 9 ....................................... 871 Our Colleges and Schools . . . . 872 Secondary Education.. . . . . 872 Educational Questions in Parliament 872 N ew s from t h e D io ceses :
Westminster....................................... 873 S o u t h w a r k ....................................... 874 Middlesbrough ............................875 O b it u a r y ........................................... 875
Rejected M S . cannot be retu rned unless accompanied w ith address and postage.
N O T A N DA. ----------*---------
The miracle of St. Januarius. Father Thurston, after considering experiments made with the spectroscope, and also “ the astounding fact ” that the phial containing the blood varies in weight at different times, comes to the conclusion that no scientific explanation for the phenomenon is forthcoming (p. 842).
Some account of Cardinal Capecelatro’s book upon new methods in ecclesiastical studies (p. 851).
St. Joseph’s, Mill Hill. The Secretary’s report. Nine thousand Baptisms (p. 861).
The passing of the old Sardinian Chapel. What it represents in the story of English Catholicism (p. 844).
Which was the Island of Saints? (p. 856).
CHRONICLE OF TH E WEEK.
IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT
INCREASE OE THE DEATH DUTIES. I N further debate upon Mr. LloydGeorge’s Budget proposals, the changes made in the incidence of the death duties came in for severe criticism from both sides of the House. Mr. J. F. Mason said the broad fact was that under the death duties the Government was seizing blocks of capital and destroying them, while at the same time they were by the income-tax destroying to some extent the source from which alone capital could be built up. With many of Mr. Mason’s arguments, Mr. Leif Jones, a Liberal, disagreed, but he joined Mr. Pretyman in declaring that the present deductions on agricultural land were insufficient. The death duties need not, he thought, be paid out of capital in certain estates, but where they were all agricultural land paying a low rate of interest there was a real
New Series. Vol. LXXXI. No. 3,002.
grievance, for the insurance necessary to cover the cost might amount to 20 per cent. Other members having protested against a system which would entail the breaking up of estates by the necessity of selling portions to meet the increased charges, Mr. C. J. O ’Donnell declared that the increase proposed in the death duties, coming on top of those of two years ago, was radically unjust. These proposals gave a certain amount o f support to the unjust idea which was abroad that this was a Socialistic Government. The death duties were beyond all question a diminution of capital, and he was not prepared to help any party to bleed capital white. Mr. Balfour followed with a long speech, in which he pointed out the dangers of graduation and the difference between land and other forms of property. Landowners were told that they could meet the death duties by selling part of their land. But a man could not sell his land just as easily as he could sell stocks and shares. A man who was selling stocks knew that he could sell them, and he knew exactly what he would get. But the owner o f land might not be able to sell at all by fractions, or he might have to wait an indefinite number of years for an appropriate purchaser. Again, who could deny that this spasmodic form of taxation was not only occasionally harsh on individuals, but must be extremely damaging to industry ? The death duties fell on a business at a perfectly arbitrary moment, and it might be a very bad moment for the business. Mr. Lloyd-George, in reply, maintained that his proposals fairly distributed the burden among all classes, that agricultural land formed but a small portion of the total property contributing to estate duty, and that he had only added sixpence in the pound taken out o f the annual increase. Ultimately the proposal was carried on a division by a majority of 177 votes. The approval o f the new motor-car duties brought the consideration of the Budget proposals to a close.
Monday’s sitting was devoted to the dis—THB cussion of the increased taxes on spirits and o n s p i r i t s , tobacco as reported on by the Committee of Ways and Means. Mr. W. Rutherford sought to get the customs duty on spirits from the colonies reduced by fourpence, so as to make it the same as the excise duty at home, but this was refused. The protest against the increased duty of 3s. 9d. a gallon was opened by Sir H. Craik on behalf of Scotland, and Mr. T . O ’Connor on behalf of Ireland, the latter declaring that there would be a great slump in whiskey-drinking in Ireland which
