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Queensland's second stamp act came into effect on 1 November 1894.
Selection of provisions
A selection of original provisions from the Stamp Act 1894 as enacted on 23 October 1894
'Be it enacted by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly of Queensland in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
1. This Act may be cited as 'The Stamp Act, 1894', and shall come into operation on the first day of November, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-four, which date is hereinafter referred to as the commencement of this Act.
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3. The Colonial Treasurer shall be charged with the administration of this Act and the chief control of all matters relating to the imposition of stamp duties. 6. The Governor in Council may, by Order in Council, establish at any town in the Colony a branch of the office of the Commissioners, and may appoint a fit and proper person, to be called a Deputy Commissioner, in any such town. |
'The duty of two shillings and sixpence upon an agreement under hand may be denoted by an adhesive stamp' |
13. All stamp duties for the time being chargeable by law upon any instruments are to be paid and denoted according to the regulations in this Act contained, and except where express provision is made to the contrary are to be denoted by impressed stamps only.
30. If any person whose office it is to register or enter in or upon any books or records any instrument chargeable with duty, enrols, registers, or enters any such instrument, not being duly stamped, he shall incur a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds.
32. The duty of two shillings and sixpence upon an agreement under hand may be denoted by an adhesive stamp, which is to be cancelled by the person by whom the agreement is first executed.
73. The Commissioners may appoint persons to act as distributors of stamps throughout the Colony, who shall be remunerated for their services by a commission upon the amounts and number of stamps purchased by them for disposal as the Treasurer may from time to time direct.
| '... shall be guilty of felony, and shall, on conviction, be liable to be kept in penal servitude for any term not exceeding fourteen years' |
76. Every person who does or causes or procures to be done, or knowingly aids, abets, or assists in doing, any of the acts following [Nine sub-sections listing various offences relating to forging dies or stamps, or otherwise fraudulently dealing with stamps] shall be guilty of felony, and shall, on conviction, be liable to be kept in penal servitude for any term not exceeding fourteen years, or to be imprisoned, with or without hard labour, for any term not exceeding two years. |
78. All penalties imposed by this Act may be recovered in a summary way before any two justices of the peace.'
Second Reading speech
The following are extracts from the Second Reading speech by the Attorney-General, Thomas J Byrnes, who introduced the Stamp Bill into the Legislative Assembly on 7 August 1894.
'When people are nervous and excited they are almost afraid of shadows. There is no doubt that at the present time the question of fresh taxation is one that goes against the grain; and because this Bill has been thought to be a measure of fresh taxation, men have given expression to sentiments that will really, I think, in their quieter moments, appear almost hysterical. It has been presented as an engine of oppression worthy of the dark ages. I do not know why it should be so.
| 'It has been presented as an engine of oppression worthy of the dark ages' | It may be considered, when legislation of this sort is made drastic, that it is in the interest of the Treasury and the revenue, but I submit that when taxation of this sort is imposed it ought to be drastic, not merely in the interest of the revenue but also in the interest of honest traders. |
If there is a law which says that stamp duty is to be imposed, and one obeys the law and pays the duty, and another man evades it, the man who evades it trades at an unfair advantage compared with the honest trader. That is why this legislation from clause 13 forward is made as drastic as possible.
I have heard it seriously argued that it is not the slightest moral offence to 'do' the Government either through the Customs or in anything else.
| I have heard it said that if Caesar makes his law, and does his best to enforce that law, and you successfully evade Caesar’s penalties, you are a highly moral individual. We are not going into that question of casuistry, but we are providing penalties to enable Caesar to get his due.' |
'We are providing penalties to enable Caesar to get his due' |
Newspaper article
This article was published in The Brisbane Courier on 14 August 1894, under the heading 'The new Stamp Duties Bill'.
There is a very important bill now on the table, which it is understood to be the Premier’s intention to ask the House to read a second time this week.
| 'a stranger might at times have supposed that the speakers were dealing with a measure designed for the ruin of the mercantile interests and the annihilation of capital' | We refer to the Stamp Bill, a revenue measure which in its present form has created a good deal of uneasiness among the mercantile and banking community of the city. Some gentlemen at the Chamber of Commerce yesterday were surprised that the bill was much more than a consolidating measure to be passed with the object of preventing evasions of duties already imposed. Its title however is, 'A bill for granting certain Stamp Duties in lieu of Duties of the same kind now Payable under various Acts, and Consolidating and Amending Provisions relating thereto.' |
Under such a title there is cover for very radical changes indeed, and we have no doubt that the Chamber of Commerce yesterday discovered the necessity of giving the following twenty-six pages of clauses and schedules the closest possible examination. If all we hear be true there was highly critical spirit developed as the discussion proceeded, and a stranger might have at times supposed that the speakers were dealing with a measure designed for the ruin of the mercantile interests and the annihilation of capital.
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But eventually a less captious feeling was manifested, and it may be hoped that when the Chamber have done with the bill they will have earned and will receive the hearty thanks of the Government for the valuable suggestions their report will contain. |
'It is not surprising to find that he has not always avoided mistakes' |
Our Government draftsman has had difficult duty to discharge in grafting the elaborate English law upon our crude Statutes, and it is not surprising to find that he has not always avoided mistakes.
Nor are the conditions of the mother country in this matter so dissimilar to those of this colony as might be supposed. Indeed, a perusal of the Government bill will convince any unprejudiced reader that the dark ways and vain tricks of duty evaders in England are reproduced in Queensland, and that the measures taken there may reasonably be supposed to be generally and with some modification applicable here.
Letter to the editor
The following letter to the editor was published in The Brisbane Courier on 12 December 1894.
Sir,
As an underwriter it became my duty to make myself acquainted with those sections of the Stamp Act of 1894 affecting policies of fire and marine insurance. Now, since the 1st November, the day the Act came into force, I have executed and issued a large number of marine policies on (I now quote the schedule) 'wool, tallow, skins, meats, sugar, to be carried both on sea and land,' and have stamped each policy with the 3d. required by the schedule.
In your paragraph in Courier of this date you state that this 3d. has been discovered to be a mistake; indeed, you call it 'another mistake,' and that instead of 3d. the schedule was intended to read 3d. per cent. The schedule is clear enough, and I cannot admit very readily that Parliament intended other than the simple 3d.; but really it does not signify what their intention was.
| I, as an underwriter, am bound by the Act only; and as I am personally liable (vide section 47) to a penalty not exceeding £100 if I issue a policy not duly stamped, I have been specially careful to comply with its provisions. It is not incredible that the Treasurer has ordered the duty to be levied at per centum, but yet I doubt very much that he has done so, because Parliament only has the power to amend an Act once passed the royal assent, and it is not improbable that our Treasurer is aware of this constitutional principle. | 'As I am personally liable to a penalty not exceeding £100 if I issue a policy not duly stamped, I have been specially careful to comply with its provisions' |
However much one may desire to help our revenue, particularly just now, it must be borne in mind that if an insurance company charges 3d. per cent instead of 3d. only as required by schedule, the insurant might, and indeed would, object, and the loss thus fall upon the company.
There is only one right method, if a blunder has been made—that is, to amend it by proper legislative action next session; and I would also add that the commissioner, clerk, printer, or to whomever else the blunder could be traced, should be severely reprimanded.
I am, sir, &c.
CHAS. J. TRUNDLE, 11 December.