The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-12-07
THE LASH AS A CURE FOR
 INCREASING COST OF FOOD

lNGkEASlNG JUST OE FUUD
 When Cervantes lived in Seville, no one was more notorious in that city than Francisco Arias Sde Bobadilla, Count of Pufioenostra, Know, friend" says a muleteer to his comrade, in one of Cervantes' tales, that this count of Pufoenrostro has demon in his body that fixes the fingers of his fists in our souls. Seville and ten leagues round 1t is cleared of roughs; no thief stops in the neighborhood. All dread him like the fire, though 'tis said he will soon quit the post of sheriff, because he is disgusted to find himself con stantly thwarted by the lords of the high court"
 It was not till recently that an his- torical windfall placed us in possession of a detailed account Of the adminis- . tration of this municipal Rhadaman- thus. In 1SS7S @ manuscript was dis covered in Seville which turned out to be a diary, undoubtedly authentic, of the leading public events in the city between the years l592 and 1894. Of its author we know little more than that his name was Francisco Arino, and he lived in the suburb of Triana, and was apparently a citizen of the middle class probably clerk in some govern ment office. Though his grammar and orthography betray 8 want of educa- tton, he amply atones for it by his nat ural faculty for graphic narrative and his unique genius for sightseeing. Wherever, according to his favorite phrase there 'wasrt'a thing to be seen'' an auto de fe, bull1ght, a religious procession. a riot, or a flood-Arino was there, and all that he saw and heard was duly chronic1ed in the diary.
 The Municipal Code of old Seville affords quaint and highly character istic example of the grand-motherly principles on which society was organ ized in Spain, and indeed throughout Europe, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Of this code no part is more
 minute in it's details than the series of ordinances which deal with the sale of food. Many of these were aimed at excessive luxury; some limited the amount of food which any one hucks- ter might sell or any one customer | buy; others restricted the amount to be consumed at wedding feast, and even 1 prescribed how many courses citi- zen might have at his dinner, accord ing to his rank and position But quite as often the ordinances had orig l mated in the necessity of preventing smuggling, and protecting the mono- poly of trade and the revenues, both imperial and municipal, which were 1 derived from the taxation of food. The food supply of Seville was impor-
 ted into the town under the direction of the municipal authorities, who reg ulated the amount according to their own notions of what the citizens re- qured. It was then distributed among certain licensed hueksters, who re- tailed it to the people under strict laws
 and penalties. It was illegal for any l Of these huclasters themselves to buy 1 food outside the city, or to sell 1t at
 their private houses, or anywhere ex- oept in the squares and market. places.
 The food must be exposed openly for
 sale, and not hidden, and it must be weighed in scales, and not sold "by the eye" If 8 huckster sold several kinds of flesh, they must be kept separate, and customer asking for one kind
 must not be put off with another. To insure strict observance of these laws, and to carry out the severe penalties
 attaching to their breach, officers called "overseers" were appointed over
 the hucksters. Not only did the law
 define the manner of selling provisions,
 but the overseers fixed the prices, and any huckster selling beyond the legal tariff was subject to the severest pun ishment.
 Though the fixing of prices by the
 municipality had long been common
 throughout Europe, the descriptions of
 supply and demand had at all times made such a system difficult to enforce
 but by the time Pufosnrostro had be- come responsible for it's administration l a new factor constituting a new diff1- l culty, had arisen. The precious metals 1of the new world were pouring into ] Spain. Accommodation could hardly l be found in the mint for the ingots of
 gold and silver that were landed on
 he quays of Seville. The result was
 rapid and continuous rise in prices; I and, In spite of all the efforts of the 1 overseers to maintain low prices by alaw, the ,hucksters, habltually sold, be yond the tariff. This state of matters