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entire subject, as I could only repeat here the arguments, which I then placed before the Conseil. I have not, I think, omitted any topic of importance, and have not intentionally declined to meet fairly every objection raised in the statement of the Memorialists.
Your Lordships will be a fair Judge, but I have reason to think that the feeling here is that the weight of argument is not on the side of the Memorialists, which possibly may be...
14.
Although residents here connected with Banks and Mercantile Firms would not prefer a Stamp duty to an increase in their House Rates, many consider that taxation is already much too heavy, rendering building operations costly in this already overcrowded climate.
And though two out of the three daily newspapers published here support the views of the Government, nevertheless on the whole Your Lordship may take for granted that all immediately connected with the more mercantile interests of the place are opposed to the principle of a stamp duty because they apprehend that, if sanctioned, an unwise use may be made hereafter of the facilities thereby afforded for raising money.
They naturally argue that the great freedom hitherto secured to the shipping and mercantile business has been that which has centred here such large transactions.