Sir, - When I was browsing through some books in Kilkee library last week, Tempestuous Journey - Lloyd George His Life and Times, opened by coincidence on his defence of the National Insurance Bill of 1911. At that time, the wealthier classes had adopted a "We Won't Pay" slogan and, with striking similarities to present-day Ireland, they too had their media champion. Lord Northcliffe, through his mouthpieces the Daily Mail and The Times had advised readers not to pay the tax. As Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lloyd George took up the issue as follows:
"Were there now to be two classes of citizens in the land-one class which could obey the law if they liked; the other, which must obey whether they liked it or not? Some people seemed to think that the law was an institution devised for the protection of their property, their lives, their privileges and their sport - it was purely a weapon to keep the working classes in order. This law was to be enforced. But a law to insure people against poverty and misery and the breaking-up of home through sickness or unemployment was to be optional."
During the 1980s and early 1990s, many homes in this country were broken up through unemployment and emigration in what was a period of massive tax evasion by the wealthier classes. Where were the calls for equality from our "chancellors"?
It was also interesting to note that, in 1911, the tax on unearned income (tax or interest) was higher than the tax on earned income, in marked contrast to the way things stand today. - Yours, etc.,
Joseph Ryan, Ardnataggle, Bridgetown, Co Clare.