IRISH TAXATION

New Zealand Tablet, 14 July 1921, Page 9

IRISH TAXATION

In 1896 a Financial Relations Commission appointed by the British Government reported unanimously that Ireland had been over-taxed from the year 1800 to the extent of at least £2,750,000 per year, (See Report of Financial Relations Commission, Blue Book, C. 8262.)

Since 1896 the taxation and the consequent over-tax-ation has been increased many times over, as can be seen by the following figures, taken from the English Government returns. We have no means of checking them. England takes our money and keeps our books. These figures represent merely what England admits she takes out of Ireland’s pockets.

England has multiplied her collection of taxes from Ireland four and a half times since she discovered the overtaxation of the country. Moreover, the Irish Revenue is estimated at £^3,000,000 for the financial year ending March 31, 1920.

Meanwhile let us look back to the period when Engalnd annexed the Irish Exchequer at the close of the Napoleonic Avars and let us compare her taxation with ours then and now. We take England’s figures as given in the Financial Report of 1896 and Imperial Revenue White Paper (No, 163 for 1919.

In one hundred years England has increased Irish taxation eleven-fold. But she increased her own taxation per head only five-fold. And these are her own figures, not ours. . She has managed to do that by selecting for taxation commodities where consumption is relatively greater in Ireland than in England.

Let us look at the other side of the picture. England collects so much from Ireland. But how’ much does she spend in Ireland ? In other words, how much . does she lift out of the country? We turn once more to the White Paper (No. 163 of 1919).

* Excluding the item £8,624,500 for “Votes of Credit naval and military operations” included this year for the first time under Irish “local” expenditure. -

It will be seen that the expenditure on alleged, Irish services has hardly increased at all, though the revenue has more than doubled. A considerable proportion of the expenditure is really paid out to English manufacturers, to whom are allotted all the contracts for supplies for the Irish services. In addition England pockets the whole 1 of the surplus, which is calculated to be about £32,000,000 for the current year. It must be remembered. that the , figures given for the expenditure include £1,702,500 for > the portion of the army of occupation known as the police force, £396,500 for the English Law Courts in the country, £266,000 for the English Prisons in Ireland, £23,000 for

the Lord Lieutenant, £25,500 for the Chief Secretary, and much of the remainder on the fifth odd extravagant and * irresponsible Boards which England has set up to govern the country in England’s interests. 11. “ , - Over and above the extraordinary and unjust overtaxation of two and three-quarter million pounds per year, Ireland has paid in the last five years a sum of £62,552,500 for a war to free small nations. That money was spent in English munition factories, and used to raise and equip huge armies, one of which is .now used as the army of occupation in Ireland. Here are the figures; 9

Deduct 5 years’ taxation at 1914 rate. £11,1.34,500 55,672,500

' » , £62,552,500 One aspect of .the frightful depopulation- of Ireland during the past half-century is that it represents a loss in capital of at least £3,152,500,000 POPULATION. Year, Ireland. England. 1911 4,390,219 ... 36,076,492 POPULATION PER SQUARE MILE. 1841. 1911. England ... 273 618 ... Increase % 126 Ireland ... 251 135 1 ... Decrease % 46 On the basis of increase in Irish population from 1821 to 1841 the present population of Ireland should be 17,000,000. The actual decrease in Ireland’s population between 1845 and 1911 is 3,912,000. i The real loss in population-is 12,610,000. This represents a capital loss in money (at £250 per head) of £3,152,500,000. IV. Ireland has paid in rents to absentee landlords, mostly resident in England, a huge sum, calculated at £1,000,000,000. . This sum, raised in Ireland and spent outside Ireland, has been a dead loss to the country. ■ V. If we add these various sums together: Over-taxation at two and three-quarter mil- ’ lions per year for 119 years ... .... 317,500,000 Surplus war taxation 62,552,500 Capital loss in population 3,152,500,000 Absentee rents 1,000,000,000 Total ... £4,532,552,500 Showing that the huge sum of 4533 million pounds has been lost to Ireland because of English domination during the past century.

IRISH REVENUE. (Year ending March 31.) £ Per head of Population. £ s. d. 1896 8,034,000 1 15 1 1914 11,134,500 2 10 10 1915 12,389,500 2 16 8 1916 17,929,000 4 1 11 1917 23,766,500 5 8 '6 1918 26,865,000 6 2 8 1919 37,275,000 8 10 2

REVENUE PER HEAD. Ireland. Gt. Britain, Britain, £ s. d. £ s. d. s. d. 1819 0 15 5 3 13 0 13 0 1919 ... 8 10 2 19 . 3 10 3 10 Increase per cent. 1004 426

IRELAND. Year. Revenue. Expenditure. Surplus ’ £ £ % £ 1916 .. 17,929,000. 12,597,000 5,332,000 1917 .. 23,766,500 12,686,000 11,080,500 1918 .. 26,865,000 13,002,000 13,863,000 1919 .. 37,275,000 13,537,000* 24,738,000

Year, r £ 1915 ... 12,389,500 1916 ... 17,929,000 1917 ... 23,766,500 1918 ... 26,865,000 1919 ... 37,275,000 £118,225,000