§ MR. WARNERsaid, he would beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether in estimating for the purposes of the Reform Bill the clear annual value of tenements any deduction is to be made on account of Rates; and, if so, whether it is to be calculated on the rates paid to the Landlord or on the Rates which would be paid if there were no composition?
THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERsaid, in reply, that he could only state what was the intention of the Bill, and not the particular legal effect of the wording of the clause. The clear annual value was governed by the same standard, whether the immediate subject of inquiry were compound houses or houses where the occupier paid the rates. The intention was that the real value should be judged by the same test in the case of compound householders and ratepaying householders, and that compound householders should neither inhabit better nor worse houses than ratepaying householders. That was the law at present, and it was not intended to introduce any alteration in it.