§ MR. COGHILL (Stoke-upon-Trent)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware of any erroneous charges of Land Tax having been made on the holders of small livings; and what provision does he propose to make to reimburse those who have suffered from them?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Sir M. HICKS BEACH,) Bristol, W.Some cases where the incumbents of small livings, which were exonerated from Land Tax by the Commissioners under the Great Seal between 1806 and 1822, have been wrongly charged by the Local Commissioners of Land Tax have been brought to my notice. The responsibility for such errors rests between the parties and the Local Commissioners, and, as the quota payable by the parish is fixed, the Ex- 442 chequer has not benefited by the wrong assessment, any sums paid in consequence of it having gone to the benefit of the other Land-Tax payers in the parish. I do not, therefore, see how compensation can be given from public funds in such cases.