OCR Text |
Show TITIIK A KVAAC OF OTUKR DAYS Hut Ih Itrcopiizcil hi Tropei'ty ly Km il is It I,nw. The recent revolt of IO.ckmi farmers In aouthorn England to resist the payment of tithes directs nllcnllon to this foini of tavallon, which has from time to time been the cause of considerable agllnlloii In thai coun try. More than a year ago reports came from u Sussex town lo the ef feet Unit Hilary Inn 's hail attacked at-tacked a t in i 1 1 IV who llllelllpled lo seize sheep belonging to a neighbor who had failed to nieel his tllhe payments pay-ments due Ihe Church of England. In Ihe prcM-nt situation, unci loneers who have tried lo sell the properly of fanners who owe lllhes have met wllli ns llllle success as the alio tloneers In foreclosure sales In purls of our own Mid West. Tithe payments are a relic of an l ie i it days, when persons were culled upon to pay one tenlli of Ihe produce of nil land and labor lo the support of Ihe church. They were stabilized In England In lli'Jo by an act of par. Ilamcnt, which laid down a fixed schedule of paynieiils, Since then, however. Ihe prices of live stuck ami agrlcullural produce have dropped by ii limit fid per rent. The tllhe probably originated in a tribute lolcd by n conqueror or ruler upon his subjerls. and perhaps the custom of dedlcalliig a tenth of Ihe spoils of war to the gods led to the religious extension of Ihe term. I'.efore llin Eighth century payment pay-ment of lllhes was enjoined by ( oleslnsllcal writers and church conn ells, hut the earliest iiiiUicnllc example ex-ample of a law of the stale enforcing enforc-ing payment Is probably Unit In the ( 'ii j ill u In rl-K of Charlemagne In England the earliest example of legal recognition of lllhes Is believed be-lieved to be a decree of a synod In "Ml. 'I'hi! church received tithes In Ihe Middle Ages, but trouble arose under the reign of Henry VIII. When Ibis monarch raided the moii nslcrles he transferred their tithe privileges lo Ids friends. The UlhB Is properly, and If the government abolished It or even amended II In principle, It Is argued, It would then have lo reform all properly laws. K' the I II be quesllon Is one of parliament's parlia-ment's knottiest problems. |