Mr Labouchere on Millionares

Feilding Star, Volume XIV, Issue 125, 11 April 1893, Page 4

Mr Labouchere on Millionares

Mr Labouchere, M.P., apropos of American millionares, favors a progressive death duty on all bequests. This is the scheme : No doubt, it is undesirable that single individuals should be the possessors ot enormous liquid fortunes, which can be used in raids against railroads and such like properties. But, were lan American, I should meet this tendency by a progressive death duty on all bequests. What I mean is, that the duty would not progress on the sum total left by the individual, but on the sum inherited by the individual. Suppose that a man left one million, and that my progressive duty doubled itself on every £100,000 inherited by any of his heirs, my plan would work out in this way: If the duty on the first £100,000 were five per cent, should he leave one person £200,000, £15,000 would have to be paid ; £35,000 to anyone getting £300,000, and so on until the effect of leaving an excessive amount to one individual would be that the State would become the sole heir. This would prevent perpetuation of accumulations, and oblige a millionaire so to spread his money on his death that a large number of individuals would profit by it. Not being an American, I recommend the plan to Sir William Harcourt.