§ MR. MORRISON (York, W.R., Skipton)asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, If he is aware that, as disclosed by 1604 a recent Report of the Trust, the buildings erected by the Peabody Trustees (in respect of which Property Tax is remitted on the ground of charity) are let at profit rentals to skilled artizans—such as engineers, brass-finishers, bricklayers, carpenters, printers, compositors, and other persons of the good wage class, as postmen, policemen, &c.—and if he will remit the Property Tax in respect of the dwellings of the Societies established to provide improved dwellings for that class, or discontinue the remission to the Peabody Trustees, so as to preserve, as far as possible, equality in the taxation of the working classes?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. GOSCHEN) (St. George's, Hanover Square), in reply, said, the exemption of the Peabody Buildings was duo to the fact that any surplus which might arise out of the rentals of these houses was invested again in new buildings for the working classes, and that no person derived any profit from them. It was on that ground that they were exempted; and that exemption would, no doubt, equally apply to any other Societies who put themselves in the same position. The Societies which were now taxed were those which did derive a certain amount of profit.