The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-11-03
EXCHEQUER TALES.
Barbara System Of Accounts fingered
Iona In England.

LONG In EnSiand.
The abrogation OF the long STAR
,;Shed british law forbiddInG marriage
with ~ deceased vife's sister" is IN
terostins in recalling the Abandonment
Of other time halloUed customs gf thar
country. Ancng these was the hHaI
living NJ Of he eXchequer ta.!jes. al
ancient mode Of keeping accounts in
the British exchequer long after better
modes were in use everywhere elsa
Macaulay, referring t" this. said:
ages ago a savage mode q keeping
accounts On notched sticks was intro
ducea into the court Of eXcheQUer, anu
tho accounts were kept much as Robin
son Crusop kept Ills calendar on the
desert island,c
Arithmetics and arithmeticiaus, ID
multitude of accountants and So0k-
keepers lived and died, still official
routine inclined to these nOtched sticks
as if they were the pillars of the COLI
stitution. and still the eXchequer ac-
counts continued to be kept on certain
splipts of elm wood called tallies.
I'm the reign of George III. an in
curry was made by some revolutionary
spirit whether. pens. ink and paper
and states and pencils being in exist
euce. this obstinate adherence to an
obsolete custom ought to o. continued.
and whether change ought not to be
effected All the red tape in the coun-
try grew reddeg at the bare mention
of this bold and original conception.
and it took until 1896 to get these
sticks abolished. IN 1884 It was found
that there was considerable accumu-
lation of them. The question arose as
to what was to be done with such
wornOut, worm eaten. rotten old bits
of wood. The sticks We're housed at
Westminster. and it would naturally
occur to any intelligent person that
nothing could be easier than to allow
them to be carried away for firewood
by the miserable people who lived in
that neighborhood. However. they
never had been useful and official roti-
tine required that they never should
be. So the order went forth that they
were to be privately and confidentially
burned
1T came to pass that they were to,
be burned in a stove in the house Of
lords. The stove. overgorged with
these preposterous sticks. set fire to
the paneling, the paneling set fire to
the house Of lords, the house Of lords
set fire to the house of commons, and
the two houses We're reduced to ashes
Nov. we may reasonably remark in
conclusion tina, all obstinate adherence
% rubbish Wi ich the time has long Z
,utlived is certain to have in the soul
If 1t more or less that is perncous e
md destructive and that will some
lay set fire 10 something or other
which, if given boldly to the winds,
would have been harmless, but which
'bstinately retained, is ruinous.''
There is or was kind of nationality
n the tally stick system, one stick be-
ng for the creditor. the other for the
ebtor, and the tailying of the notches
proof that both We're genuine. ID
scotland even as late as half a century
go it was customary for the bakers
ad to bring what were called the
lex sticks with his bread, Il notch
eng made for each loaf that was de-
vered. While the notches on this
tick correspondent with those on the
ne he had left both parties were sat
'neu that the account was truly kent
News.