BRITAIN'S MILLIONAIRES

NZ Truth, Issue 1199, 22 November 1928, Page 5

BRITAIN'S MILLIONAIRES

Healthy Crop of Them TREMENDOUS TAX PAYMENTS The London "Daily Mail" publishes some most interesting particulars about the' s62 millionaires who are at the present time living 1 and paying taxes m Great Britain.

IN the 22 years since 1906, through the war period, which was responsible for many of them, the number has grown from the very mode3t total of 19. In that year, also, there were only 2913 people m Great Britain who were m receipt of incomes of £2000 or more — to-day there are 92,865. Great Britain's 562 millionaires last year had a combined income of £55,812,673— m0re than £99,000 a year on the average. But many of them were much, richer, and no fewer than 138 of them had- incomes averaging £127,000 a year, with a total combined income of £27,812,673. The total number of millionaires, however, has fallen for last year. The peak was reached with 584, upon which total there has been a steady rise for several years. In four years these millionaires have paid into the Exchequer m taxation £112,124,367 or more than half their total income apart from death and other duties. „ I Last year they paid £28,000,000 or, roughly, one-tenth of the total revenue from income, and super tax, the average individual payment being £50,000. The foundations of these fortunes have been laid m all sorts of ways from banking to grocery, from coal to i cotton,- from meat to artificial silk.

. Indeed, the last-named is said to be the most prolific and they say that m Leicester alone there are eight millionaires whose names are littie known to the general public. There are at least a score of Peers who are millionaires, some like the Duke of Westminster having inherited their money, others like Lord Melchett (Sir Alfred Mond) naving accumulated it m chemicals and coal. Tnere are four notable women millionaires—Lady Rhondda, Lady Houston, Lady Dalziel, and Lady Louis Mountbatten, "all of whom inherited their wealth, though Lady Rhondda is Still active m the business left her by her father. There are four reputed millionaires who are members of the Government, Sim Samuel Hoare, Sir Philip Sassoon, Wilfred Ashley, and the Duke -of Sutherland— the three first deriving their fortunes from banking and the last from real estate. Other millionaire M.P.'sin the lower House are Colonel Gretton (Bass's beer), Samuel Samuel (oil), J. S. Courtauld (artificial silk), and Edward Grenfell (banking). The aggregate wealth of the House of Commons is, however, much less than it was a few years ago when it was computed that the first Coalition Parliament after the war could be capitalized for £500,000,000.