Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1890-11-28
SINGLE TAX DEPARTMENT.
THE DEVIL TO PAY.

question OF state, the devil came to him.
not in a 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 1
do not forget that my father is still
working out debt to you which was
beyond all proportion to your service"
YES" said the devil. Il 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 tho most comfortable, in winter, in
all my dominions. But that is beside
the question. Your treasury is empty, and
can fill it. l will make no conditions.
You may command mo freely. What
say you?"
"And has the devil turned saintY' tho
King inquired.
Not by long shot shall got my
pay; though not from you, from your
subjects"
MY subjects be -"
'Stopf' interrupted the devil, shat
sentiment Is not original with you. 1t
is the motto of my kingdom, and won't
permit it to be appropriated with i'm
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 it?"
"They work for it,
"Why do you allow them to worls?"
ut is the command of God -"
''Silence!" the devil screamed, his face
purple with rage and his tail lashing tho
floor of the palace till the air was laden
with sparks.
well, them" gasped the frightened
king. 'they would starve if / stopped
them, and what good would that do
me?"
ut 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
it? They would pay rather than starve,
eh?"
Good ideaw exclaimed the king.
81 thought So" said tho devil. Nov,
suppose you issue proclamation that
no one may work without royal char
ter"
YES" the king interrupted, impa-
tiently.
"And then suppose you sell charters to
ono man to work in certain territory
and to another man to work in another
territory, and so on"
Yes"
And suppose you allow tho owners of
these charters to farm out the privileges
under them"
Yes
"And suppose you issue no charters
at all for some of the best territory;
don't you see that you will get lot of
ready money from the sale of charters
and have a permanent income from tho
territory reserved, and be favored with
wealthy leisure class in whose society
you may enjoy yourself?
"Capital~ exclaimed the King, but
before tho word was out of his mouth
the devil had vanished.
The King Lost no time. Having is
sued his proclamation forbidding his be-
loved subjects to weary themselves with
work, he sent for his attorney general
and ordered that functionary, on tho ba-
sis of a contingent fee, to draft q form
of charter 1t read in substance like
this: Be it known that his pious and
gracious majesty, Impecunious Y, hav-
ing from love of his faithful subjects
forbidden them to work without his
command, does now, by these presents,
confer upon his well-beloved Bylighote,
lord of Towmaytokahn hill, his heirs
and assigns forever, full power and au-
thority to permit the good people of all
that territory known as Quad, and
bounded, etc, etc, etc, to work or not
to work. as to him may seem best, and
on such terms as TO him may seem just.
Signed, scaled, etc, etc, etc.
The proclamation caused an uproar
among the people, for the seeding season
was just opening; but when Lord Byli-
ghote appeared with his charter in Quad,
quiet was restored and terms were made.
81 will give so much a year to be allowed
to work, :" said one, and 81 will give so
much, said another. And in this way
it went, until Lord Bylighote had ar
ranged with all the people in his terri
tory. And while Lord Bylighote was
adjusting things in Quad. Lord This and
Lord That and Lord Tother were doing
the same in Guam and Quinn and CURL
And so it was that the Kings treasury
was full from the sale of charters, and
the Lords, instead of working as they
used to do, lived on what the people
paid them for the privilege of being al
lowed to work, while the Attorney Cen
erals contingent fee was big enough to
make shyster respectable. And be-
tween them the King, tho Lords and the
Attorney General enjoyed their leisure
amazingly.
But as the Kings subjects increased q
great many could not buy the right to
work and had to hire themselves to
those who could, and many of these
could not find men to hire them, and
many more found it easier to follow tho
example of the Kings and lords and live
on plumber than either to buy the right
to work or to hire themselves out. And
it came about that there were paupers
in the kingdom, which was something
novel, since the King had heretofore
boon tho only pauper; and there were
criminals there, which was also novel,
for when nobody had to pay to be allow
ed to work, and everybody got rich by
working, no one ever thought of being a