The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-01-22

are they . funny ue haps. - ia
their methods OF raising revenue fer
| public purposes. They TAX bicycles
whiCh is all right but this tax u not
Uniform 90 individuals Tht amount
~ i persons bicycle Tax depends upon
hoH much huu7 rent h. PAYS lias
hoLSe rent depends upon how many
windows and doors III his house The
person #ith Our windows in his house
| pas four times IS much tax ON his
bicycle a. thu person With one vim
doN. The window Ind dppr taxes are
paid by thc tcnan and not by th-
owner Of the house. The iouT tax
causes many business houses t. be
! singularIy constructed. often YOU SEE
n business house in which are several
tenants. each dealing in a separate
line Of goods, with only one front
door. This doc on the street opens
into Z small han. then q door 10 he
right Viii 20 into one shop. i door to
the left into another. ana u door
straight onward into stlll another,
The tax is only on 4 door opening on
| the street. The upstairs
tion this front door tax among them
| selves. For solne reason ~ other IN
known to me, they call this a personal
tax. If YOU ada another window or
enlarge an old one in Il house, il re-
! duircS n permit. The owner pays no
i'Fi Aa-N A-AANt+a 49, t'1l 49, - -
worth over $500. He then includes
thai tax in the rental. II is easy 10
see what lass Of people has to beal
: the burden Of taxes under such a Sys-
ITEM. 1t is no wonder. then, that ii.
! better man can drink gin, bCe- ana
Wine instead of water.
There is another amusing feature
Of their revenue laws. Every person
who earns over S24O per year must
pay ar income tax The rate varies
in different localities Or cities, but in
Amsterdam the rate is ; IA per cent.
Of all one's annual income. But the
man with a large family gets a redGc-
ton. the amount depending upon how
many children he has under eighteen
years old. He gets q reduction On
abatement in his taxes for Zach and
every child under eighteen. GGnder
such a system, | know some men who
f, would not only BE exempt from taxes
! altogether, but who would draw q
bonus from the goEernmenD. Then.
also. there is another tax which is in
tended to encourage the growth -
population. 1t is 4 tax on aged un-
a specific purpose and must be so
used. It is devote entirely TO the
public education of the children of
Holland. Thus YOU see President
I~tooseVelt's ideas about the large fam
lily are thoroughly Dutch. They believe
80 10 H'S'4 Us 'iAA 'Al1N
tie the knot so it Will stick. A person
must be married twice before it is Il
valid marriage. There is a civil cere-
mOnY in the morning and a religious
! ceremony in the afternoon. The form
en- is performed by the secretary Of
the mayor OF the city and the latter
by q preacher. on Sunday before the
names Of the contracting parties must
be publicly proclaimed at the town
hall, and for a week afterwards their
names are posted up at the same place.
If persons are not able to pay for the
ceremonies they Will be performed
free. In such cases, often ten or fif-
teen couples are married at the same
time. But they can only get married
on Wednesday. People of means marry
or any day. When the ceremony is
to be paid for. fires are made up and
the marriage roo made comfortable
If the marriage occurs in the winter.
Poor people must be content with no
fire. IN the marriage room of the
town hall are elegant paintings illus
trating marriage and married life. Just
over the fireplace is a beautiful woman
"b0ut to marry. She is painted blind
(, folded. as marriage is a leap in the
dark for her. While it is uncertain
rs to whether the marriage will be a
happy one. there are some events
which the Dutch look for with reason
able certainty; just over the prospec-
tive bride and a little to the ear IS
painted a pair of fat. chuffy wins on
each side of the fireplace is a brass
Stork.
was very anxious to witness a
Dutch lawsuit and went to the court
Of justice" one day. I took my stand
outside the railing near the door
/ where there were a number of people
standing. Pretty soon a burly police
man, With many buttons and a big
military cap on. came up and touched
noe on tho nr,r, SrAnGa a f.,x- ,x-n~IG
that were Greek to me and nodded for
me to come on. ! felt innocent of any
crime and declined to go. as | didn't
like his looks nyWay But he in
sisted. | called for my interpreter and
ordered him to tell the officer that !
was only a spectator. but if my pres
encc was Objectionable then | would
make myself mighty rare in his court,
He told my parrot that he was taking
me to q good seat on the inside OF
the railing where | could lear better.
] thanked him as best | could in Sev-
eral different languages-but | failed
to see any benefit there was in getting
near the court. as / could not UNDER
stand Z word that was said.
1t was Judgment day for several who
had been previously convicted. The
judgments are written out and read
by the court to the prisoner. who
stands While the doom is being pro-
nOunced. The Judgments are very
lengthy, and evidently recite the evi-
dencc in the case. The first unfortU-
nate was a well dressed woman. She
had to stand at least five minutes, dnd
was given three years in PRISON. She
LETT the room weeping bitterly. Her
crime Was permitting a daughter un-
der fourteen years old to engage in
immortality. The next was convicted
of begging and was sent to the worn
house for three years. The Dutch oa-
lieve in industry and virtue. Then
came a fellow who had had q fight.
He got fourteen days in prison. Sev-
eral Judgments We're read by thc court
and the fine called out into an ad-
joining room. These were students and
people able 10 pay fines; they are not
required to go in the tornbs for sen
tence. These parties had been tried
several days before. perhaps thirty
days before. The court takes times to
prepare the judgments and often there
IS an interval Of thirty or forty days
between trial and sentence-and the
defendants in Jail all that time. And
IN prisonment before trial is at the
pleasure of the court. There is no
writ Of habeas corpus in Holland and
no way to force a speedy trial. An
Instance was told me Of one man w.