The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-04-30

he sent a goat by mail. one may send
q jug Of milk, a crate Of oranges.
coop Of chickens. fresh meat, q billy
goat, bull yearfing or even a small
donkey by mail. Seaport cities get a
lower rate of postage than INLAND
commerce.
! Publicans and Sinners.
n old method of farming out the
customs and taxes. which made the
PublicanS 50 much hated, still OBJ
tains i'm a modified form. One-tenth
of all the farm products is due to the
government as public revenues. But
now it is an estimated rather than an
actual tenth. This method of assess
ing was adopted because the tillers
would eat or sell portions Of their
crops while green, and Thereby defeat
the collecting of his tenth. An as
SCISSOR goes upon the lands of a section
and estimates how much the section
will produce, values the prospective
crop, and then assesses in money one
tenth of the amount on the farmers
Of the section II village. The right
to collect these taxes is then sold to
the highest bidder, who gives bond for
their payment. The purchaser pro-
portions to each his share Of the tax
and there is not control over his ac-
ton. 1t is easy to see how readily
a Publican can become also a sinner.
The tax collectors execution is a Win
chester rifle. Tax collectors, like Nor
mon elders, generally go two together.
You may see these tax collectors gal
looping about the country any day.
There is also a tax on all fruit trees.
This tax is very odiOus II many own
ers cut down their trees and sell them
The olive wood commands a good
price and is made into souvenirs
roots are dug up and sold for fuel.
Fire wood is sold by weight. All stock.
cattle, camelS, sheep and goats are
taxed SO much per head fat or lean.
The income tax is novel. Every
man must annually pay three days
of his salary 10 the government. II
he has no income ne must pay fifty
cents anyway. The salt tax" hits
everybody. The government furnishes
the people salt and the tax Is laid on
every membe of a family. This must be
paid whether the salt is gotten or not
No one lis allowed To fish without a
license to do SO. One-third in value
of all that is caught goes to the gov
eminent. There are no big fish stor-
les in this country. Real estate Is
taxed about | per cent of its assessed
value. There is no tax on real estate
within the walls of Jerusalem, because
it is a holy city.
orphan Girls I'm Demand.
All Nohammedan males of a certain
age are liable to military duty. Young
fellows are marched away in droves
for service in remote provinces. while
their Mothers follow them weeping
to the station or steamship. chris
tians are not required TO serve IN the
army or navy, but must pay a substi-
tuition tax. This exemption from ser
vice is not on account of love Tor
Christians, but from fear that they
might not be loyal fighters for the Sui
tan's government. This substitution
tax is levied on all males. even on a
bov six months old. An infants
father or guardian must pay IL
When once levied it continues. A
man or d boy liable to 1t can move
to another country without first
providing for the payments being
made after he is gone.
There is one exception in the case
of a Mohammedan liable To military
service. Ii he marries an orphan girl
that exempts him from liability 10 DO
service. This puts orphan girls at q
premium. The poorest orphan giri
can easily marry the richest young
| man, no matter how ugly she may be
Laws and Courts i'm the Holy Land.
Turkey has no legislative body ex-
/ cept the Sultan. He Is parliament or
legislature himself. And there is no
| Supreme Court which can declare his
enactments void. He can veto the
Idecision Of any court in the empire. If
any one questions his laws sue a one
is considered in rebellion 10 God. In
Turkish Jurisprudence there is a GU
rious mixture of the secular and the
religious: 1t is difficult To tell where
the secular ends and where the re