CHAPTER XVIII

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_The Commutation Act of 1836, pages 201-215._

Tithe a tax on industry, 201. Paley’s and Adam Smith’s views on tithes, 201. Lord Althorp failed to solve the tithe problem, 202. Sir R. Peel’s scheme, 202. Lord Russell’s Commutation Bill, 202, 203. The principle of the Commutation Act, 203. Lord Russell said, “Tithes were the property of the nation,” 203. Formula for finding the tithe-rent charge for any year, 204. The wording of the 80th section, by which the landlord is to pay the tithe, 204, 205. But generally the tenant contracted himself out of this section, 205. The injustice of tithe-rent charges on one kind of property, 206. A re-valuation would be unjust and impracticable, 207, 208. The repeal of the Corn Laws an injustice to the tithe-owners, 208. Difference in amount between tithe and tithe-rent charge, 207.

_Redemption of Tithe-rent Charges._ The difficulty in dealing with this question, 209. Everything turns on the word “value,” 209. Are we to start from “par value” or “current value?” 209. £100 commuted value should not be sold for less than £2,000, and reasons given, 210. Gross value of the tithe-rent charge of England and Wales, 210.

_Extraordinary Tithe-rent Charge._ The Middlesex market-gardeners influenced Lord Russell to introduce the above in his Bill, 211. The tax is against the principle of the Commutation Act, 211. Duty on hops repealed in 1862, p. 213. Market Gardens Act of 1873 and its origin, 213. The Act of 1886, no new extraordinary charge to be made, 213. And to redeem such charges that were made under previous Acts, 213. An annual rent-charge free from rates on the redemption money in lieu of the extraordinary charge, 213, 214.

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