The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-10-11
NJ. zoLA,s CONVERSION.


NJ lola has had an experience and
lesson. He was protectionist That
Is, we assume he was, because he is a
Frenchman. Protection Is a sentiment
o1ten worn as cloak for greed, and
all Frenchmen are sentimental and
some are greedy NJ Zola is now a
free trader; That is, again, we as
sumo that he Is, because he talks like
one in LIE Figaro. i To understand the
experience, the lesson and the change
one must knownthat Paris derives a
portion of her revenues from tax laid
on articles of food brought into the
city, called there an octroi. 1t matters
not whether one brings in vegetables.
say, that he has grown on a garden
outside thei cityl for his own use, or
Wnether.he brings them in for sale. the
officer stands at the gate of the rail-
way station Or the, road and levies and
collects the tag !.
W. Aoia mas ateountry place outside
the city, with "a garden attached. to
winch he retires when the pace has
oeen TOO vigorous in Paris and his
worn energies need regeneration. He
rests under his fig tree. loafs in his
grape arpors,' delights his sense Of
sIneh with anticipation of the garlic
rlpenlng In the garden and feels the
glow or the honest farmer as he watch
es the cabbages swelling to corpulent
lia'i revived, he gathers up his
baskets or vegetables and goes back tn
the city to resume his task of democrat
izins the noveEreading public with his
erotfc tales. Recently from his sum,
ineiihs ne came back, bringing with
aim box containing three lars of
pickles grown on his own land. and
baskets OF cabbage and salad mate
rails, together with his trunks f1l,aa
WIN MS and the madam's apparel He
goes 10 secure cab, and madam hon
estly tells the customs officer what the
oo1 ana the baskets and the trunks
contain, but that officer has his doubts
anu tue oox must be broken open. for
IL was securely nailed, and the baskets
must be uncorded and the trunks
opened for his inspection.
But let him tell the story in his own
fervid and inimitable wav:
When return am Obliged 70 NV amaze
iineht, 10 look on while this goes on m.
poaros are broken, everything must he taken
OUT, the offieial iheftst the three lars one
notices d tha ne vinegar runs out. Then he
on Inspecting 9it;s the cords are cut and he
runs mis- hands, fulLof suspicion. amid salad
ssts sha @ the very bottom. Then he in
sisss tnat one OF the trunks shall be opened
anu IL ls the turn of the linen, Of the thou,
SANG 50 ooJects packed in with great dificuIty.
ART Al pe exposed ana spread out in the dust and
viii admit that got angry. What9 7
nave lived at Medan for eighteen years I
am am perfectly well known at the st. Lazare sta
ceive ON returningss to Paris with NV own
vegetables and my own pickles. Everything
Wer examined - evsssythjng is dirtied i
after I had declared my pickles, on which
paid S6 centimes, for which have the
receipt. for It was a matter Of six cents. 1t
t was 70 get SIX cents that our linen was turned
topsy turEy and all our little. private domestic
articles ar were. passed around by all sorts Of
why DO I feIate thfs Commonplace story,
which, after .a1s is hardly Interesting? Why
because my ,heart1leaps with Indignation and
wrath; because ] Consider it shameful that a
great city Hike Paris should still cling to this,
unpleasant vexations of the inspection Of bag
gage; because there Is In it a coarseness a
sort Of violation that may make a woman
suner; because 1t ought to be time for us to
lind some other mode of taxation, or at least
not to keep on collecting in railroad Stations
ridiculous duties which exasperate every
body ~ sNF
And you haree endured this for so many
years, Parisians my brothers. Do YOU know
that you have made revolutions for less than
this, and my surprise is great that you have
not yet filled Paris with barricades to escape
" the imbecile annoyances Of the sotroi''
1t needed an. obstinate customs Of
fieer and the breakage of jar of CHER
kfns to open the eyes of this French
man to the absurdity of a system of
taxation he had borne for years with
out doubt or question. But the octroi
is nothing more than our tariff sys-
tenn which millions of Americans en-
dure without sense of its absurdity and
injustice. We are glad that jar of
pickles was broken, and only wish
some American lola had undergone
the same indignities at the port of New
York. A revolution here might follow.