have died first. Legally therefore, Wilfred momentarily inherited the peerage: and as a consequence the family had to pay death duty twice. The peerage passed to the second of Stamp's four sons, Trevor. Quotes A well known quote from Stamp (often referred to as Stamp's Law) is: "The government are very keen on amassing statistics. They collect them, add them, raise them to the nth power, take the cube root and prepare wonderful diagrams. But you must never forget that every one of these figures comes in the first instance from the chowky dar (village watchman in India), who just puts down what he damn pleases." (Stamp recounting a story from Harold Cox who quotes an anonymous English judge). Another quote attributed to Stamp is: "Banking was conceived in iniquity and was born in sin. The bankers own the earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create money, and with the flick of the pen they will create enough deposits to buy it back again. However, take away from them the power to create money and all the great fortunes like mine will disappear and they ought to disappear, for this would be a happier and better world to live in. But, if you wish to remain the slaves of bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create money." (Said to be from an informal talk at the University of Texas in the 1920s). Sources A. L. Bowley Lord Stamp Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Vol. 104, No. 2 (1941), pp. 193–196. J. Harry Jones, M.A., LL.D., Josiah Stamp, Public Servant: The Life of the First Baron Stamp of Shortlands, London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, 1964, 365 pp. With an Epilogue by his youngest son, Colin, from a talk broadcast over Springbok Radio from Johannesburg, South Africa, 5 October 1960. Books by Josiah Stamp Sourced from Who Was Who. British Incomes and Property 1916 Wealth and Income of the Chief Powers 1919 The Fundamental Principles of Taxation 1921 The National Income 1924 with A. L. Bowley 1927 The Christian Ethic as an Economic Factor 1926 On Stimulus 1927 Some Economic Matters in Modern Life 1929 Criticism and other addresses 1931 Internationalism 1931 The Financial Aftermath of War 1932 Taxation During the [Great] War 1932 Ideals of a Student 1933 Motive and Method in a Christian Order 1936