The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-02-02

ing Of the inner organs on Partisan admins-
tration. This desire had no sooner been eE-
pressed than an opportunity offered itself OF
witnessing how one branch OF that admins
tratiuu works.
We found ourselves In small crowd as
sembled In front of Diapers shop. The
draper. red with anger, was Giving piece OIL
bis mind to all employee of the gas company.
"Your company" he said. sis swindle. You
go and cut ~ my gas because my last blll ~
unpaid deposited as security 200 francs
with the company nine years ago. az presehb
you owe me 195 francs interest, OF which
shall never get farthng, no more than the
100000 other tradesmen aud landlords OF Paris
who are I'm the same pickle. In that way you
have pocketed millions. ON what you never
pay n sou OF interest It's swindle, ! say
again. You are parcel of rouges," etc.
The employee, of course, mildly remarked
that 1t was no fault of his. and that he was In
no way responsible the draper only grew
more indignant. We'll" said my friend, If
sn ws hst Shs F st ny IT, ssa
J. "Aud whyY" was the reioinder. Be
cause" | replied, there IL but one company
In Paris, and that company has 0 monopoly
"Ah. SOL he returned; well, I'm not obstl-
nate, and good reason always satisfies me-.
We continued our walk, and In time came
TO an establishment, from the windows Of
which tri-color flag was flying. My friend
noticed that there was considerable number
of sepdiiy-dfessed persons Of both sexes con-
stantly entering, each with parcel under bis
or her arm. what is this institution 7" he
asked "Tbis." | said. zig q mont de piete.
Suppose you are short Of money you Ia ke up
your bed and walk In there with It. and you
will receive IN cash half iss value" "Ah.
yer" he said, my unelss that is 0. pawn
we call It my aunt's.s "And what interest
has the customer to pay p Ten per cent
Why he exclaimed. u have 81 ways heard
that the legal rate Of interest In France was
per cent, and that usury was severely for
bidden" 80 It is as regards private individ-
uals," answered; but the State may prao-
tice usury under the pretext Of beneyolonee.
If the Rothsch Ids were to start pawnshop
and charge only per cent on the money lent
they would be prosecuted, condemned aud
arrested" "The French law IL very foresee-
Ing" dryly remarked my friend. and we
walked on.
serious examination on French administra-
ton. determined to get cigar to help me
to reflect / invested penny In one at the
FIRST tobacco, shop we came to. You can,
then. get cigar for q penny In Paris" said
my observant friend. Even at that low
price Il will make a certain amount In year.
Couldn't you get 1t CHI aper atanother shop2'
mo" said T.. ut IL fairfield by government.
and government alone cultivates and soils
cigars and tobacco In France" "Oh, indeed"
he remarked. "By the by" he continued. "do
| you believe tobacco ~ n Doisc3" James l."
| said, land the Countetbiast Association,
which has adopted his views, says 1t Is but
| the doctors disagree on the subject" "If,"
persisted my exasperatingly logical friend,
tobacco is poison, why don't you bring an
action against the State for poisoning your If
| IL IL not q poison why does the State which
| traIIcs In 1t prevent others from tracking
In itY' Its monopoly; IL increases the
revenue "Yes, but the monopoly OF grocery
Of tailoring. of making would enrich the State
| still more" "You are pushing me too hard"
cried In despair That's another matter"
remarked my tormentor unfeelingly.
| Just then q hearse of the poorest class
passed down the street. 1t was followed ex-
clusively by workingmen. all bareheaded.
and some with tears In their eyes. The de-
ceased was one of their comrades. and they
| had evidently dubbed heir little savings TO
| pay the funeral expenses. which amounted TO
more than any one of them could have saved
| in three months. How Is it, asked my In
quisitive friend, "that the funeral OF this poor
| fellow, who, as you say. leaves widow and
small children unprovided for, costs 80
muchp' tits the fixed price," returned ;
Pompes Funebres" Yet" he objected, III
this company had not monopoly-for per-
ceive IL has one--the competition of other
companies would bring the price down.
After oil. you know. IL the man In the coffin
were alive he might go to the cemetery 10 a
cab for fifteen pence, whereas, being dead.
the journey will cost his friends, according to
your estimation, something like e."
] was fioored and could say no more. "Let
us 80 home" said. there's station where
we can get the bus we want" We deter
mined to ride outside. as that Ii one of the
best ways of seeing great deal Of Paris In a
short time, It came on to rain, however, be-
fore the bus came up, and we therefore agreed
to walk. why on earth, began my perse-
cutor once more, ARE not the tops Of your
buses sheltered against the sun In summer
and against the rain and snow IN winter2' 80
they are, ! retorted, peevishly. ION the ON.
nibuses belonging to the railway com panies' "
Then" he continued, these other omni-
buses, which are In far greater request, are at
the discretion Of a company which has q
monopoly Now, do you know what should
doY' | ut once snapped him up with, you
would start rival company, with covered
tops and sofas to recline upon" and wouldn't
you II you were a CAPITALISM he asked, not In
the least disconnected. "The authorities
would not allow u.s. returned I, conclusively
At parting, my friend remarked: "Good-bye
old fellow. You certainly manage many things
differently from US in France; but really dc
not think you manage them better, he said
and was gone,