New-York tribune., 1907-06-09
Hbe Honor System of 0axoffor,.
.ed n swi:ze-!and-Toid by a Descendant of
NTuncI2auscn
EcW Z ESGs Worked

-sv7ng ones debts * always embarrassing enough.
Heaven knows, = makes . man feel i his life
Gc5- Has e1ainG away. But the discomfort i
l-otia---g IN comparison with the agony Of being
6'la-ec; rae unfortunate who Is pursued by col
-eotors easily gets the impression that the whole
o--l a. -ga-2st HIN, and he IS often so to-mcatad
ry -il-s .cea tEaJ hs cutie forgcts the mere bills
z6ez-zelEcs- over il Switzerland, where progress
hEs orlTUa itGzlt. sic statesmen long ago recos-
L-s- The depressing effect which bin collectors
have upon citizens E-very Swiss being ndescrli5a-
ty honest The appearance of tax collector at
Tie cottage door wounded the debtors feeling,
making him think that the government doubted MS
willingness 10 pay. Furthermore. the state,
co.d!Is the Swiss view. has 10 right intTu1e
Lrol The pryaCy and personal freedom Of It's cit-
zeas. and 5 not mans deat peculiarly his own?
VIII accurate logic the Swiss insists that nothing
lz private and personal than his bills payable,
to- he prove this sylIogistically by Offering the
bills 10 somebody else. None OF his fellow citizens
viii them. the state VIII not own them. there
fore they are absolutely his own It is, therefore.
uespass fer any rude stranger 10 dwell upon those
debts, and a worse crime to compel their TigEtful
owner TO reduce them against his VIII.
The great thinkers or Switzerland therefore con
Tened some years ago 10 devise q plan whereby
taxes might be collected without rudely intrudine
upon the privacy OF citizens and encroacAing upon
their personal freedom Ply a master stroke Of
genius the concave Of statesmen hit upon the
scheme OF setting Up boxes in several cantons 10
receive the voluntary contributions private citi
Eens. The fairness and courtesy Of this method ap-
pealed to everybody, ana the tax boxes became e-
ceedingly popular. The government had several
thousand Of them made out Of fine enanelled sheet
iron strong enough to resist the plundering hands
Of foreign tourists and large enough hold several
years taxes The boxes were put up street cor
ners, Just mail boxes are, and contributors
Informed by a trim little Dlacard drop in their
Offering in signed envelopes that the de-
partEnent might keep some record of the funds.
Public indignation. however, speedily removed
these instructions, which suggested too rudely the
base desire Of the officials TO suspect the honesty
Of some contributors. The rule finally posted
the boxes was that citizens might make their de-
posts as they wished.
The success Of the system was quickly demon
etrated. The boxes had not been installed year
before remarkable prosperity was everywhere evil
dent throughout the fair Swiss land Every busi-
ness doomed, bank deposits Increased and mahog-
any Alpenstocks came into vogue. Nobody doubted
snst voluntary taxation the cause OF the in
crease in the nations wealth Did It not stand to
reason that citizens would contribute more lib
orally 70 government Golfers IL government officials
treated everybody gentlemen2 So convIncingly
was this reasoning demonstrated by the tax boxes
that many large private firms had to yield to the
popular clamOr and install similar receptacles for
their customers. This movement began after the
c"Iss people arose and compelled the
government 10 collect railroad streetcar fares
py the box system. It must be noted here that
N-e extreme popularity Of the boxes was due not
Uhe 70 their poteness, but IN large measure also
70 me economies Of bookkeeping they introduced
Boxes were made large enough 10 hold the accu-
'i4lduohs or several years as has been said; and,
Nhat is more, the lawmakers were prevailed
Np0n 10 pass statute forbiiding collectors to
opeh any box until It was full The purpose of
NAs rule was obviously 10 dispense with a large
ofps OF petty officials. collectors accountants and
e'S' only twice in decade would the people