"Four-fifths of a per cent (the rate levied in New York) on this sum would realise £19,000,000 sterling; and were _all_ property, real and _personal_, in this island below £150 a-year, and the amount of property in Ireland rated in a similar way, and fairly collected, our entire revenue of £50,000,000 would probably be obtained as the revenue of the State of New York now is, by this one property tax only."--(Vol. ii. p. 257.) And he thus concludes that, as regards the _absolute_ amount of taxation, property in Britain escapes for a smaller payment than that in America. Now, it must be remarked, on this branch of the comparison, that before we can form any opinion as to its soundness, it is essential that we should know on what principles the valuation of property is conducted in New York. The whole question depends upon this. If the system of valuation is different in the two countries, there are no materials on which to build a conclusion. We know what discrepancies may arise out of the mode of valuation, from the fact that, while the annual value of _all_ real property in England and Wales was assessed for the poor-rate, in 1841, at about £62,500,000, _a portion_ of it only--that over £150 a-year--was valued two years afterwards, for the income-tax, at nearly £86,000,000. We observe that Professor Johnston has arrived at the amount of real property in Britain, by assuming the fee-simple value to be twenty-seven years' purchase of the income. But in New York, he tells us, the value of income is calculated at _only sixteen and a half years'_ purchase. The terms of the comparison are, therefore, manifestly faulty. And mark how this affects the result. The real income of Great Britain, capitalised at sixteen and a half years' purchase, would amount to only £1,447,000,000, and, if taxed at the same rate as in New York, would yield, instead of £19,000,000 only, £11,500,000, which, as it happens, _is three millions less than it actually pays_, as may be plainly seen from the undernoted statement:-- DIRECT AND LOCAL TAXATION OF REAL PROPERTY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 1. Land Tax, £1,164,000 2. Poor and County Rate, (England,) 6,847,205 3. Highway Rate, " 1,169,891 4. Church Rate, " 506,812 5. Proportion of Stamp Duties on deeds affecting real property, 1,200,000 6. Proportion of Legacy Duty affecting do., 300,000 7. Property Tax, 2,600,000 8. Poor Rate, (Scotland,) £577,000--say on real property, 500,000 9. Statute Labour, (Scotland,) 81,226 ---------- Total, £14,369,134