The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-09-06
new DUKE MUST ECONOMIZE
4 BIG ENGLISH ESTATE GRIP
PIED BY DEATH DUTIES.

Feet-The Two Best Ciocks-Free
dom for Turkish W0men-Race Sui
eide in France-Revolutionary Whea
Growing King Edwards Amer
lean Double -Leprechaun Caught
LONDON, Aug. 2e.-The new Duke o
Devonshire made q very pointed refer
ence a few days 6 to the effect OF tn
death duties on estates such as he hal
Just inherited.
The great houses and estates Of terri
torial magnates like the late Duke Of
Devonshire, the Derbys, Norfolks ano
Westminsters, are kept up at enormous
In fact, one may well suppose
that unless In these estates Is included
much valuable town property or mineral
bearing lands their existence would hav
ceased long before this.
The late Duke of Devonshire used to
say that Chatsworth House, whose myriad
windows with their gilded beading make
n,oh a splendid spectacle in the setting
sun, cost him el. 0ooa year in putty. The
upkeep OF these places is on the same
scale all through. Sir William Harcourt'e
death duties have crippled many OF the
owners. But for a while the new inheri-
tor always suffers, and as must be the
case many suffer with him.
The late Duke of Devonshire only
held the estates for some twelve years.
After that comparatively short time his
mooessor has TO pay out the heavy duties
once more, and this time on q higher
scale. for he succeeds a a nephew, and
the moro distant the relationship the
higher are the duties.
So it Ia that at Eastbourne the other
day the new Duke announced to his East
bourne tenants that he had been COM
PEELED by the heavy death duties to cur
tail considerably the scale Of expenditure
maintained by his predecessor. The
occasion was the sale of the entire herd
of pure Southdown sheep bred by the
late Duke.
Il can assure you said he Duke,
that it is through no wish Of my own
that I have found it necessary very con-
siderably to curtail my operations in
many respects. and l hope you will be-
Ueye that, although these focks and
herds have beer dispersed, 1t does not
show. any feeling of Mkewarmness or
lack OF interest in agriculture. / hope
that later on it may be possible for me
to Go something on the lines on which
M uncle proceeded"
Nrch interest was aroused recently
hv tho publication of the will Of Col. Pix
iretln, a man Of large estates. He
devised his landed estate to his sons
On condition that they and their success
eor, should not permit any public house
..tI;.b~,o - o~xy Lind Tor thn AL.
OF Intoxicating liquor to be built or car
yiNt en- upon 1t during the lives Of any
6escendants OF Queen Victoria living
now end tw%enty-one years thereafter.
Many people thought that this ardent
tesToislIef Vas eccentric in tXs fosAn-uf
time limit he instituted. 1t was even
suggested that he might have invalidated
his will. But as a matter OF fact the
somewhat cumbrous phrase during the
lives Of any descendants OF Queen Vic
toria now living and twenty-one years
thereafter" il almost common form.
The English law does not allow the
dead hand to retain its grip on property
In perpetuity. The owner Of unentailed
property may leave it as he pleases at
his death, and direct it to be employed
in almost any way. however fanciful.
But he may not burden II with ~restric-
tons in perpetuity. Any restriction he
may place upon the user and disposition
Of his land" il void unless it ome to an
end after the life Of some person living
at the ~testator's death with the addition
Of twenty-one years after that person
dies.
Now the living descendants Of Queen
Victoria are legion. Many Of them are
babes Of whom some will surely live some
fourscore years. They are convenient
lives to select. as their careers are public
property and the dates Of their birth and
death easily to be asoertained.
Has the influence OF Isadora Duncan
and Maud Allan penetrated even to the
decorous croquet lawn? According to
the Daily Mail. in country houses and in
suburban villas alike has been seen in
Q corner Of the lawn a row OF deserted
shoes and stockings whose owners are |
threading the maze Of hoops In bare
feet. Even a Duchess, a y the Mail,
has sucoumbed to barefooted oroquet.
or course. granted that It has been
done by a Duchess. It is not surprising
10 go on ana T6du uiat Il CTOquet parry
last weekend at m Of the best known
and most h%ospitable seats In Surrey
comprised "a leading society beauty,
a prominent literary woman. the COM
mander Of one Of his Majesty Is destroy ers
and a city merchant prince" all OF whom
In pare feet. The contact Of the
bare sole with mother earth is said to be
distinctly soothing to the nerves, In
addition to which the unshod foot takes
a better grip of the turf than india rubber
or leather.
One may well doubt. however, II the
practice lie very general. An exile who
read and believed all that is written of
modc-n fads and fashions might well
think that the fashionable vehicle Of
1919 is the balloon. the most ordinary
%. tune for a lady the d%iroctoire gown
stl-tiing sheathiness. and 30 on through
tn Countless topics Of the ingenious
Ptragrapher whose custom 1t ever is
t. argue from the particular to the gen.
c'al.
The oldest chestnut Is new to some
For that somebody is set down
tho story Of the clergyman's little daugh-
to- who broke into her IN st,dy