Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1890-11-15
SINGLE TAX DEPARTMENT.
THE DEVIL TO PAY.


not in dream, but in sober earnest.
And the devil, as is his habit, went at
once to business.
"You are in trouble, SIR" said he to
the King; "shall help you out of it?"
mo, thank you," replied the King,
''you charge too much for your help. l
do not forget that my father is still
working out debt to you which was
beyond all proportion to your service"
eyes" said the devil, ~ did charge
the old man about all the traffic would
bear; but have tried to be considerate,
and although he is still working out the
debt, let me assure you that his position
is the most comfortable, in winter, in
all my dominions. But that is beside
thequostion. Your treasury is empty, and
can fill it. / will make no conditions.
You may command me freely. What
say you9"
"And has the devil turned saint%' the
King inquired.
"Not by a long shot. I shall get my
pay; though not from you, from your
subjects"
MY subjects be -"
"Stop!" interrupted the devil, "that
sentiment is not original with you. 1t
is the motto of my kingdom, and won't
permit it to be appropriated with inn
punity Come, what do you say; shall
tell you how to fill your treasury"
.'Yes," the King whispered
"Then, listen. All your subjects have
plenty, have they not?"
"They have. There is not poor man
in my kingdom, except myself"
"How do they get ic?"
"They work for it,"
"Why do you allow them to work?'
at is the command of God -"
'Silence!" the devil screamed, his face
purple with rage and his tail lashing the
floor of the palace till the air was laden
with sparks.
'Well, them" gasped the frightened
king, "they would starve if l stopped
them, and what good would that do
me?"
at would do you no good If they
starved" the devil answered, as he gath
cred his tail under his left arm and
opened the window to let out the sitting
fumes "But it would do you some good
to charge them for working, wouldn't
itP They would pay rather than starve,
eh?"
Good ideaw exclaimed the king.
'I thought so," said the devil. Now,
suppose you issue proclamation thai
no one may work without royal char
ter"
YES" the king interrupted, impa
tiently.
And then suppose you sell charters to
H., toi, tr,.pl tor
and to another man to work in another
territory, and so on"
''Yes."
"And suppose you allow the owners o
these charters to farm out the privileges
under them"
YES"
"And suppose you issue no charter
at all for some of the best territory
don't you see that you will get lot o
ready money from the sale of charter
and have permanent income from th
territory reserved, and be favored witt
wealthy leisure class in whose societ
you may enjoy yourself?
"Capitalw exclaimed the King, bu
before the word was out of his mout
the devil had vanished.
sued his proclamation forbidding his be
loved subjects to weary themselves wit
work, he sent for his attorney-genera
and ordered that functionary, on the bf
sis of contingent fee, to draft forr
of charter. 1t read in substance lill
this: BE it known that his pious an
gracious majesty, Impecunious y, hay
ing from love of his faithful subject
forbidden them to work without hi
command, does now, by these presents
confer upon his well-beloved Bylighot'
lord of Towmaytokahn hill, his he'll
and assigns forever, full power and al
thority to permit the good people of a
that territory known as Quad, an
bounded, etc, etc, etc, to work or NJ
to work. as to him may seem best, an
on such terms as to him may seem JUS
Signed, sealed, ETC., ETC., etc.
The proclamation caused an upro;
among the people, for the seeding seaso
was just opening; but when Lord Byl
ghote appeared with his charter in Qua
quiet was restored and terms were mad
81 will give so much year to be allowe
to work." said one, and 81 will give
much" said another. And in this WI
it won't, until Lord Bylighote had a
ranged with all the people in his teri
tory. And while Lord Bylighote W
adjusting things in Quad. Lord This Al
Lord That and Lord Tother were doiI
the same in Guam and Quinn and Qui
And so it was that the Kings treasu
was full from the sale of charters, al
the Lords, instead of working as th'
used to do, lived on what the peop
paid them for the privilege of being {
lowed to work. while the Attorney Ge
erals contingent fec was big enough
make shyster respectable. And
tween them the King, the Lords and !
Attorney General enjoyed their leisu
amazingly.
But as the Kings subjects increased
great many could not buy the right
work and had to hire themselves
those who could, and many of the
could not find men to hire them, n