Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1901-06-01
"A Fortunate
@@Crirninal.
A TRUE STORY OF THE PRlN-
ClPAliTY OF MONACO.

i On the shores OF the Mediterranean
there lies between France and Italy
the little kingdom of Monaco. Ii num-
| bers fewer inha than a large
| yillage-in all 1.000-and is In extent
| so contracted as not to boast more than
| double that number of acres. But on
| the other hand, IL has a real prince
| who possesses a palace. has a court
ministers. bishops. generals and an
| army-not. to be sure a large army, 60
men. still an army-nor is the revenue
large. Duties are indeed. as elsewhere.
| imposed upon wine, alcohol and tobac-
co; but. although the people conscien-
| tiously drink and smoke. there are not
| enough of them, and the princeling
| would certainly be unable TO feed his
| courtiers and himself had he not the
| special resource of gambling house.
| There people lose or gain. as the case
| may be, but the keeper always profits
| and therefore pays heavy dues to the
princeling. He can well afford to do so,
as his establishment is in Europe
unique. Similar places formerly exist
ed in some OF the German principal
ties, but years ago on account of fire.
quent catastrophes they were suppress
ed. A player, carried away by excite
ment. would lose all his own money
and sometimes even that of others and
then commit suicide. So the Germans
forbade their little princes 10 keep
gambling houses. but no one could for
bid the potentate of Monaco. and that
is why be has monopoly.
Therefore all the lovers of trente ct
quarante rush to his kingdom and for
his benefit despoil themselves. Hon
est toll does not enrich" says the Rus
sian proverb. The princeling knows
that the spring from which he drains is
impure. but what can he do? 1t would
not be more honest to increase his in
come by raising the duties on alcohol
and tobacco. A man must live. So the
princeling reigns in peace. makes mon
ey and. like real sovereign. lives sur
rounded by courtly ceremonial. He re-
wards. Furnishes, reviews his troops,
holds councils and promulgates laws.
just like other rulers only on a smaller
scale.
Now. some years since a serious
event took place in the kingdom A |
murder was committed. The inhabit- |
ants of Monaco are pea ceable folk. and |
nothing of the sort had ever before TAX |
en- place among them The judges met |
and. as was proper set about judging. |
All was done according to ruie-public |
prosecutor. lawyer, jury. long and con- |
scientious debates Then. in accord |
ance with the law. they condemned the |
assassin TO death. So far. so good The |
sentence was submitted to the prince |
ling and after his ratification all that |
remained to be done was to execute it. |
But an impeachment presented itself. |
The country possessed neither guillo-
tine nor executioner.
After mature consideration 1t was de
cided that to obtain the loan of a mas
terly cutter of of heads. together with
his apparatus, the French government
should be addressed and that at the
same time inquiry as to the cost of the
move should be made. Eight days lat
err the answer was received. The
French government consented to send
the guillotine aud the executioner. AS
10000 francs.
The matter was referred to the
princeIing His majesty thought the as
sassin was not worth that price. Six
teen thousand francs for the neck of a
rascal. All. no, indeed. 1t would in
that case be necessary to increase by 2
francs yearly the taxes of each citizen
The people might resist
council was held. aud 1t was decid-
ed TO address the same request TO the
king OF Italy. France is republic.
and republics do not respect Caesars.
but the king of Italy. a brother. might
be less extortiouate. The reply was
immediate. For the considera ton of
1900 francs, which would also cover
the expense of transportation. the ItaI-
ian government declared its willing
ness TO lend the apparatus and special
list.
This was cheaper. but yet too heavy
an expense 10 incur for such a wretch
1t would still be necessary to tax the
citizens Again the council met At
great length they debated as to bow
the matter might be more economically
settled. Why could not they employ a
native soldier and behead the rascal
at home?
The general was consulted. He quite
might order one of his war
riors 10 cut off the head. since that is
their trade. and. after all. what else is
war? The general spoke TO his men
but one and all refused to perform the
task NO, sir" said they. I'VE have
not had sufficient practice"
What could be doneG They reflected
and yet again held council \ com
mittee was formed. a commission and
4 subcommiSsion. \ way was found
for the death penalty must be SubSti-