The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-09-25
TO CLEAN CARPETS.

rent was usually content to let the boy
 go his own way, and even smiled with
 indulgent pride at his precocious vil- lainies. -iv .t.,- The policing of the Sultans capital ] and of the populoua part of the coun- | try is conducted by means of a body
 of men who bore the generic name of ] the Budah Raja, or Kings Youths. These men are in effect the Sultan's s bodyguard. They are drawn from the
 noble and well-to-do classes, are sent
 to live at the Court while they are
 still very young, and are thus taught | to inhale the poisonous atmosphere of the palace at most impressionable age. They receive no regular pay, though the Sultan usually gives them
 a few dollars now and again when his l caprice moves him to do so. They dress magniflcently in brilliant colored silks, with the delightful blendings of i bright hues which the Malays love by l instinct; they are armed with dagger | and sword, and spear all beautifully kept and very handsome in appear ance; and they pass most of their time l in making love and playing games of CHdUCt. UtI uulltS are HulueIUuS, but no means heavy They follow at the heels of the Sultan when he takes his walks abroad to guard him from
 harm, and to give a finishing touch to
 his magnificence; they row his beat,
 hunt game and snare turtle doves in
 his company; join with enthusiasm in
 any sport which for the time the Rink
 is pleased to favor, such as kite-hying
 or peg-top; carry the Kings messages,
 levy fines, murder those who have of
 fended their master, seize property
 which he covets, abduct women, spy
 upon the chiefs, bring word to the
 King of all that behooves him to know,
 and never miss an opportunity of win
 ming his favor by satisfying his de-
 sires. Men such as these, who from
 their youth are taught to be unscrupu-
 lous. and to live expensvely upon no
 settled income, quickly discover means
 whereby money may be obtained
 When duty sends them into the more
 remote portions of the country they
 plunder the unhappy villages without
 mercy. When dealing with the more sophisticated folk of the capital greater caution is needed; but by threatening to inform against those who have committed some crime, by declaring their intention of accusing wholly in- nocent people, and by other similar methods the Kings Youths manage to obtain enough money to enable them to live in the style which they consider necessary for their comfort.
 The taxation to which the peasant 4l. jected wag of two kinds; the dues which were collected on behalf of the | King. and the taxes levied by the | chiefs for their own use In the first place there was the banch or poll tax, which every adult male in the land was required to pay for the swelling Of the | royal coffers. The sum demanded on the East Coast was usually one amas, worth two Mexican dollars, but the executive Government was so slipshod, and in a land where the seasons melt into one another so imperceptibly the passage of time is so little marked that often two years or more would elapse before the Kings counsellors bethought them that it was time to again inflict tax which, theoretically, was supposed to be payable annually. The chiefs, who had more urgent need of ready money, were more careful to impose their own private poll taxes with regularity. and they usually made every adult male In their dis
 rct contribute one dollar each to- wards their support at least once in every period of twelve months The second wel-recognized tax was the 'erah, truly Oriental invention. for 1nder the spacious guise of a gift from ! superior to an inferior it brought much money alike to the Sultan and 0 his nobles. Periodically the King would send some of his youths up-
 ver to one of the great districts with gift Of silk cloths and other articles 'f value to the baron who ruled there The Kings messengers bore word to he chief that the Sultan placed such value upon the goods in question, I amng a figure which was something nore than double their proper value. The chief at once summoned the head nen of the villages to his district
 ivided the articles sent to him by the 'ultan up among them. told each of hem the amount of cash which his illage was to supply, and sent them
 way to collect it, He was usually wise in his own genera tion ot only to avoid contributing at all imself, but also to raise the price of he goods in such a manner as to cave fair margin of profit for him.