MR. GIBSON BOWLESI beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer is it the practice at present, when it is required to ascertain the principal value of real estate for the purpose of existing duties, to ascertain it under (a) sub-section (5) of Section 6 of "The Customs and Inland Revenue Act, 1889," by taking 24 years' purchase of its net annual value; and, if so, is there any reason why this method cannot be continued instead of the method of valuation?
§ * SIR W. HARCOURTThe reason why the method of valuation adopted in the Act of 1889 cannot be continued in regard to real estate is because it fixes an arbitrary maximum which may in some cases give a most unfair advantage to real, as compared with personal, property.