pay.' It would bring no increase of revenue to the community, would benefit only the class of persons who are 'vassals,' and its insertion in the programme is probably owing to the fact that it was impossible to drop a cry hitherto so long and so successfully used as taxation of feu-duties.' It may be admitted, however, that if anything so monstrous as the raising of all Imperial expenditure by a new tax upon land is to be permitted, there is no reason why the superior should not bear his share of the robbery as much as the vassal.

Such are the objections to the proposals known as Taxation of Land Values. But it does not follow that the present system of local rating is satisfactory and stands in no need of improvement. It seems to us in the first place that land within burghs, required by the inhabitants for building purposes, should be rated at certainly more than its annual agricultural value. But the difficulties of putting this proposal into practical shape are no doubt considerable, and there is so much difference of opinion on the point that a majority of the Royal Commission on the Housing of the Working Classes reported in favour of it (p. 42), while a majority of the Select Committee on Town Holdings reported against it. In the second place it is matter for consideration whether, some alteration ought not to be made in the present system by which the burden of poor and school rates fall upon a man not in accordance with his ability to pay' but depending on the value of the house or land that he happens to own or occupy. As regards police, municipal, and county council assessments the present system can be justified on the principle of 'benefit received.' The more money is spent by the local authority on police protection, draining, lighting, road-making, public health, water supply, etc., the more the property in that locality rises in value, and accordingly those who receive the benefit, pay for it, in proportion to the value received. The man who owns a large property may be a poor man, but he is presumably so much richer in consequence of improvements by the local authority, and therefore he has to contribute his share. But his property is not enhanced in value because the poor are being supported, or the children educated, any more

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than it is enhanced by the fact that we have a Navy or an Army or Courts of justice. These are no doubt benefits, but they are benefits shared by every citizen of the Empire. To rate such a man for poor and school rate cannot therefore be defended on the ground of benefit received,' and if his property is small or burdened with debt, and he has no other means, it cannot be justified on the principle of 'ability to pay.' Sir William Hamilton, in the Memoranda' (C. 9528, p. 52), calls attention to this difference between what he terms beneficial' rates (such as municipal) and onerous' rates (such as poor and school.) After observing that there is much more complaint of the burden of rates than of taxes, he accounts for it by the fact that 'There is less equality of sacrifice on the part of ratepayers than of tax-payers. The original intention of the poor rate, which is the foundation of all local rates, and on to which many other rates have been grafted, was that it should be a contribution from the inhabitants of parishes, according to their ability or substance; in fact, a sort of local income tax.' He points out that this principle was unworkable, and adds, This disregard of "ability to pay," however inevitable it may be, is one of the contributory causes of the unpopularity of rates, and with reason. One of the primary canons of taxation of all kinds, handed to us from the days of Adam Smith, and accepted by all subsequent authorities on economic subjects, is that persons should contribute to it as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities. Effect has been given to that canon to a not inconsiderable extent in the case of our Imperial taxation. We have the principle of graduation recognised in the inhabited house duty, and in a more marked degree, in the estate duty. We have exemptions and abatements in connection with the income tax.'

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It is, no doubt, in consequence of the difference between 'beneficial' and 'onerous' rates, and of the fact that 'ability to pay' is not an element considered in the imposition of rates, that such large grants are given from the Imperial Exchequer for education and for the support of pauper lunatics. But the further application of money raised by Imperial taxation to the assistance of local ratepayers, ought not to be encouraged. It

causes great confusion as to the ultimate incidence of taxation and of rating, and it raises awkward questions of equivalent' grants as between England, Scotland, and Ireland. But there would surely be no great difficulty in giving local authorities power to raise money for education and the poor from some source where ability to pay' would be the chief consideration. Lord Farrer suggests (p. 78 of the Memoranda) the imposition of a new municipal death-duty to be levied and applied by local authorities. He also suggests the transference of the inhabited house duty from Imperial to local purposes. It is true that the latter hardly fulfils the condition of ability to pay,' but at all events it does not fall upon the poorest class. Some means at anyrate should, we think, be found of relieving owners and occupiers from payment of school and poor rates solely in respect of their heritable estate, and of casting the burden upon those best able to bear it.

As civilisation advances, there is more and more sympathy with the poor, and more and more desire to throw the burden both of taxes and rates upon the shoulders of the rich. But it should be clearly understood that the supporters of Taxation of Land Values are inspired by no such considerations. Their object is not to alleviate the hardships of the poor and of the working-classes, but to carry to a practical conclusion the theory that no private individual should own land. Το achieve that purpose, they are prepared to ruin all who stand in their way. It behoves all good citizens to resist a policy so cruel, so unjust, and so disastrous.

J. EDWARD GRAHAM.

ART. VIII. THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE WAR.

T

THERE is much fine stuff in your army,' said a distinguished foreign officer to me not twelve months ago. But a few more victories over black men will be the ruin of it. Your military chiefs play to the gallery, and your high staff supplies the "claque." Yes, yes, I admit it, your regimental officers are still all right, and your men brave fellows, but are there not even there, signs of--" he hesitated for a word, then added: Hippodroming.'

Then in your opinion,' I said, 'we need ’ Exactly so! a thorough good shotting from modern artillery—a really big war-all fight, no talk,' he continued, with a smile, and a motion of the eyelid.

Whether my candid friend had reason for his criticism, I will not now be careful to enquire, the more so that we seem at last, in a fair way to realise those conditions of salvation he so cheerfully prescribed.

It was on the 11th October, 1899, that, according to the terms of President Kruger's astonishing ultimatum, we found ourselves at war with the South African Republic, and by declaration of President Steyn, also with the Orange Free State. That very day, in pursuance of long matured plans, the Boers, already mobilised, assumed the offensive simultaneously on their east and west borders. Everyone knows more or less the causes of dispute-political supremacy and the native question. It is, however, worthy of remembrance that, as a matter of fact, the casus belli was the alleged excessive accumulation of British military forces on the borders of the Transvaal-a grievance curious to review by the light of subsequent occurrences.

In the present article I propose to discuss briefly the events which followed, not necessarily in their chronological sequence, and certainly not with any attempt at a description of the marches and the battles. All this has been, and is being, done most ably by the daily press, leaving nothing to add of picturesque detail or heroic incidents. I, on the contrary,

take up the story in its prosaic aspect, such as it will perhaps appear to a future generation, when time has allayed the agony of the struggle, and history records only the solid results of the military operations, grouped as memorials of success or failure.

From this point of view it is as well to begin with a clear idea of the theatre of war, without which an intelligent criticism of the doings of the armies is absolutely impossible. Now, for practical purposes, we may take this to be a rectangle about 1500 miles long, by 450 wide, and distant some 6000 miles from England;-a vast stretch of land greater than Spain, France, Belgium and Holland combined, and possessing every variety of climate and physical condition, but, according to European standards, as yet quite undeveloped. Its railways are its only high roads; its great rivers are bridged at rare intervals, and its lesser streams not at all. Small as is its entire population, its food products are unequal to its needs-so little of the soil is under cultivation,—and thus it comes about that in a South African war our forces must depend upon ocean transport, not ouly for reinforcements and material of war, but also for clothing, necessaries, and the main supply of food.

The magnitude of such an undertaking is one which few but shippers can realise. Suffice it to say, that by the aid of our great mercantile marine the task has been accomplished, and it remains only to consider what ports we possess available for disembarkation, and as bases of supply.

In pursuance of this enquiry, if we take up the map we see that besides a few insignificant landing-places for small boats, there are just four British ports in South African waters accessible to sea-going ships.

1. First and foremost, there is Cape Town near the southern extremity of the west coast. Here Table Bay offers a sheltered anchorage of unlimited extent, with docks, wet and dry, sufficient for the largest fleet. Railway waggons run alongside the steamers, and entrainments of men and stores can proceed by day and night independent of season or weather.