Contemplated Tax Changes.

There is no direct tax on income or property in Norway, and the revenues of the Government are chiefly derived from import duties, especially on the three articles sugar, coffee, and petroleum. Direct taxes have hitherto been avoided, from their extreme unpopularity, but they will doubtless soon be introduced to meet the increasing demand of the people, and especially of the laboring classes, to be relieved of the heavy duties on sugar and coffee, as well as to cover the expenses connected with the introduction into criminal cases of the jury system, a bitterly discussed topic here, besides new outlays for the army and the public schools.

The last Storthing made a so-called reform in the customs service, chiefly consisting of a reduction in the salaries and the number of customs officers, a measure which will hardly prove of ultimate benefit to the treasury.