New-York tribune., 1908-10-24
A CITY OF HOTELS
Partisan Bomifaoes Fighting Pro-
posed Tar on Their Lodgers.
Paris. October 13.

Paris. October 13.
.,s-fe i 2 city Of hotels. Nowhere in Europe
- re-haps in the world. is hotel life more pop
- than in the French capital In New York
80 in London there are more luxurious and
-s-si,-e hotels than IN Paris where in the
~.snec- of nevel improvements and general up
..-5s-eness. the progress made in recent years
- heen slow There are certainly very few
,-s,s in Paris as Yet which can compare with
:, ez-e-see first class hoteI Of New York The
---.,chran's exigencies ir the matter OF hotel
--,-sriences are not Of the same strenuous or
- = those Of the average American He does
=. sxnect 10 have 2 telephone in his room,
- does he want 20 have one fo- the tele-
.,,a service in France is more maddeQing
.nsn serviceabls- He is content if home
..,srboze" enables him 70 communicate more
= 7.ss nroraptiy with the hotel clerks. He would
:, surprised If there We're hot water con-
.s-,-,z- 81 his disposition from q convenient tap
- ~ were not obliged to cal; q chambermaid
70 b-ing il 70 him
-ss-s are 10 dictionaries in his room in
-,sch he can turn up practically any local
.-t,--7srior which a traveller is likely TO need.
: rfne+v-n}re Paris hotels out OF a hundred
.Ls,a ere no baths attached TO the rooms II
:. frequently happens that there is no bath
~, in the hotel a. al in which case should
- traveller wish TO take a bath antiQuated
,-e-st,ss slready described in these columns,
: -,---rght IN from the street. which with its
,s-3ors accessory psraphernala resembles
s.s,-7 fire engine il full play. What applies in
: ,.-rA 2 measure to Paris IS still more true
- The provinces There. too. the hotel system,
.,oreh il Is constantly being improved. is prirni-
i've and Inefficient
80 -be less tle Paris and French hotels
,.,-s 3 quiet Old World charm OF their own.
-Ls-4- many people fnd uniquely attractive and
--s--r Some OF the oldest and most COnserva-
.ivs hotels the interior and exterior arrange
-,s-,s q which have hardly changed since the
.oos are stiu rrequented by the richest and
s-azrtest folk
81 IKE" says the 5aded millionaire, "to go to
. hote7 where am not mere number. where
zine host has personality, and recognizes that
,,,- have one TOO where the cellar has a his
- and the chef q universal name. There is
5-s- In she chambers Of these ancient hotels. but
:. g the dust Of ages. not Of yesterday. and is as
,-bs-p--- and fneradiCabis as the 'patine' OF an
7s bronze. the furnirUre Of three style. and OF
s-,-a--sr origin. has Witnessed as many mon
s-r1icaI -as-o-atiorEs and double the number OF
-srolut.3rs. I an in the heart Of city with
+-a --ost wonderful individuality OF all the Old
,vo-l5 cites. and not in a sleeping car which
has come TO temporary standstilL'
Tins The singular aItTaCtiveness OF Paris for
-saa --r5z- :
s+s-=fnz some Of its obvious drawbacks To tn
terfsre with This situation constitutes q serious
danger 10 the prosperity OF the city This, how
eze-. * what the Paris Municipal Council thinks
~ doing tz- the imposition of q tax upon al
ladFers n hotels who pay more than Sl2 e
month = their rooms To this scheme the
uniou q Paris hotelkeepe-s means 10 offer the
most violent opposition. Apart altogether from
the wealthy visitors. upon whom the prosperity
Of PEris 50 largely depends. nearly fifth Of the
Paris population lives in hotels The student,
the artisan the shop employe are, in the vast
majority of cases hotel dweilers- Their meagre
budgets would become unbalanced even IL they
had 10 pay 81 or 81 80 month, which the new
rsx would entail. They would deduct this sum,
o. a least portion OF x. from the traditional
tips which they pay TO the hotel servants, with
the result that the latter would strike for q
higher wage
The cost Of living. which constantly increases
IL Paris already weighs so heavily on the poorer
cl==se= tsgt this new imposition would cause the
most widespread discomfort. AS for the wealth
ier customers, they would either protest against
tlis new and et first sight incomprehensible,
charge being included il the biL, the hotel
keeper would secretly anger them, and thereby
endsree- his own interests, by using the new
tax gs ( pretext for slightly raising the prices
q al MS commodities or reducing their quality.
The union OF hOtelkeepers declares that it's
ul=ut=-s are IN e position te prevent the re
election Il ~ least Ihirty-fye members Of the
Paris Municipal COuncil-a number sufficient 20
disyscs The majority. This may be exeE-
geratio1 FOR the history OF recent French leg
isla-lou goes 10 show that when tax IS
seriously proposed by tbs governing authorities
il Is noJ long IN becor-ug Law, however bitterly
II nay be opposed TIE Paris Municipal Council
is il need OF S1ys5OOO0 for works Of real
urgency, chief arnoIas which is the cleansing Of
the streets The money VIII have to be raised
in one way OF another. and the hotelkeepers, in
spite of :heir protests, may quite likely be forced
10 contribute al most OF this sum. II II
should 80 happen. another page would be closed
IN the record Of the oId-fashioned easygoing
ways C Paris c J. B.