COLONEL LONG (Worcestershire, Evesham)I beg to ask Mr. Attorney General whether, in arriving at the rateable value of tithe rent-charge, poor rate may be deducted from the gross value; and whether an assessment committee can refuse to allow the portion of rate now paid out of the Local Taxation Account under 62 and 03 Vic., c. 17, to be deducted.
§ SIR R. FINLAYThe answer to this first branch of the question is in the affirmative. The answer to the second branch should, in my opinion, he in the negative. The whole rate ought to be deducted as before the statute, but I must 1516 remind my hon. friend that I have no authority to determine the point. If raised it must be settled by a court of law, and I express my opinion upon it only because it affects practice and administration under a recent Act in a very large number of cases, and is of interest to a great many assessment committees.