He reflected for a while, and then suddenly exclaimed: “Can you find us money, and rid us of the bailiff?... Parliament will not agree to the licensing tax, not even the Conservatives, each one of whom is cleverer than the other, while they are all of them wiser than the Government. Here there is nothing but discord, and the majority are blockheads. What is the use of their Conservatism when they will not support us? A progressive income tax is unjust, and would not be of much assistance, but an equitable income tax would be good and useful. That can be obtained by self-assessment, and it would in a short time cover the deficit in the four classes. The higher classes--14,000--pay about seven million marks, and to double that amount would be oppressive, it would mean a tax of 26 per cent. The capitalist is either a mortgagee, and if his taxes are raised, he turns upon his debtor and raises his interest to 5 or 5½ per cent. interest, instead of 4; or a loan and debenture company, and then its securities would lose as much in value as the tax amounts to; or a holder of industrial shares, and then the tax might reduce or indeed destroy the export trade in the manufactured article. The State cannot tax its own securities, and therefore there only remain foreign securities and railway shares. People are not afraid of the capitalist, but only of the tobacconist, the wine merchant, and the brewer. Of the capitalist one may say:-- “‘I prithee take thy fingers from my throat; For though I am not splenetive and rash, Yet have I in me something dangerous, Which let thy wisdom fear!’ “If the Conservatives were at one with the Government all would be well. As it is, however, we shall doubtless be obliged to dissolve again in February, and then there will not be so many Conservatives returned. The King has so far committed himself that he can no longer govern with the bailiff. His position is most painful, and he will ultimately ask the country again and again whether the bailiff is to be retained.” He then spoke about Wedell-Malchoff’s motion for taxing time bargains on the Bourse. In his opinion it was not a bad idea, but the phrase “time bargains” should be defined, and in such a way as not to include genuine transactions in rye and spirits or cash transactions. Furthermore, it should start, not with two per mille, but, as the Government had proposed, with one per mille. The latter would be feasible, and of course once a beginning had been made it could be raised. The mistake here was that they were trying to get at dishonest transactions, and thus to introduce a moral tax, whilst such transactions could not possibly be defined or reached. The Chancellor’s statements were somewhat to the foregoing effect. More I cannot say, as I did not understand all these financial explanations, in which he doubtless credited me with more technical knowledge and capacity than I possess to supplement their purport.