Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1902-07-01
A LETTER FROM EUROPE.
CONSTANCE, June, Is, 1902.
Sunday Evening.


Harold Mortenson thele, they went to
Denmark and we may N eet them later
as we hope to make part of the tour to-
gether.
We spent from Sunday A. NJ. until
Wednesday in Hamburg then two days
in Frankfort, one-half day at Heidel-
berg, same at Carlsrhue, same at Baden
Baden and now have reached the
Swiss boundary. Mrs Heinemann
stays at Weiss-Baden for treatment
while Mr. and Mrs Albers. N. Heine-
mann and Gertrude and we are touring
together
We are having delightful time. 1t
is far beyond my expectations and cer-
tainly believe no one can spend vacation
money to better advantage than on
such trip. 1t would be impossible to
tell of the sights have seen so as to
make you see them, so | must not try.
Perhaps a few general impressions may
be of interest.
The first thing / noticed was the civ
ility and politeness of the people aud
the officials Everywhere it is manifest;
the custom house officers were the first
to show it no harsh exercise of author
ity, or autocratic assumption at all, on
the contrary they were as polite as pos
sible and seemed rather to be endeavor-
ing to assist us strangers through the
lines into their country and receive. us
as their guests. That same spirit has
been manifest everywhere; the hardest
thing to get in a restaurant is the bill
when you are through. The railroad
officials are polite and obliging, and the
policemen intelligent and courteous.
The city affairs seemed to be so nicely
managed that naturally inquired some
what into their management. tits much
the same as with us, but with this diff
ference-such thing as pull" does not
seem to preIominate. II no doubt ex-
lists, but not to any great extent; Off
cials are chosen (not appointed, but
elected) with but little regard to any
consideration other than their fitness.
Mayors of cities land | presume some
other officers) are not required 10 be
chosen from the residents of the city.
Hamburg, for instance, elected as its
mayor resident of Frankfort; so / be-
lieye did berlin. There seems to be little
money wasted in public expenditure.
Bridges, streets, halls, and parks are
built for once and that so as to last.
The bridge at Frankfort, built in 1900 is
still in use, and probably as solid as
ever; until 1870 thepe was but this one
bridge, now there are four others, and
all as strong and durable. The Rath-
haus (city halD of Hamburg will no
doubt be one of the sights of the city
for centuries.
| inquired as to taxation and found
that the German states have passed |
through their period of tax discussion.
1t is all settled and everybody is salts
fed with the system. They had the
same troubles we have. Taxation was
inequitable, securities escaped their
share, property was not listed, etc.
Herr " Miguel q think it was) devised
the present system after having made
the matter a special study while an Off
cial of Frankfort He was called to be
Minister of the Treasury of the Empire,
and that question is settled for this ma
ton. There are substantially but two
items of taxation, the real estate and
the income tax. Real estate pays tax
of about / per cent of its actual value.
1t varies of course with local needs, but
the average is probably less than that
Then every person pays an income tax,
if his income is over 900 marks per year.
This ak is collected and not evaded
The penalties are heavy and there is no
statute of limitations The tax and for
feiture descend to the heirs, if evaded-
then there is healthy public sentiment
by which one who evades his tax is os
tracised as any other criminal. The tax
increases with the amount of the income,
reduced to our currency, it runs ap-
proximately about this way An income
of $3.50 per year, pays 81. 80; of $500,
pays s75; of 81, 500, pays $3.50; of s25, 900,
pays 81, ,OOG, etc.
Another thing one has thrust upon the
vision everywhere is the evidence of
progress in the German empire; every
city has its old and its new quarter; the
new is in every sense modern, and built
within the last 30 years, the two now
are intermingled, crossing a street,
turning a corner. or passing through a
narrow lane, will carry one back or for
ward thousand years. The old is go
ing fast. We must not think we are the
only country that has been growing
powerful and wealthy; great as our adj
vancement has been, Germany has been
keeping abreast True, there is not the
chance here that we have, but for all
that, we cannot afford to boast of our
tremendous strides There are others
and Germany is one.
At Heidelburg we were fortunate
enough to get into the place where
couple of students were fencing with
swords, and we saw genuine bout; we
watched it for perhaps fifteen minutes
until one had his cheek slashed and was
of course marked for life This scar,
you know, is one of the things most de-
sired by students at such universities.
However, the old historical universities
are being side tracked by fhe new Hell
delburg and Goettingen, and are giving
way to Berlin By-the-way, the En-
4 peror especially favors American stu
dents at Berlin. They have privileges
none other possess. They also presume
upon his leniency sometimes, perhaps.
I You know how the offense of lee Hs1jesfe
is considered here A disrespectful
i term applied 10 the ruler Is unpardon-
able, not only By the ruler bat By the
people as well They have no slang
/ names for their ET1peroT, nevertheless
( the American students at Berlin are sa
I gsslegis-fhey call him Billy the Kid. =
I from them it is not resented. / fear the
reason is one OF politeness and courtesy,