Daily Kennebec journal., 1908-08-24
Tricks to Raise Taxes

|
qucntly been adopted by the European
governments to tax their governments
| TNe method usually devised is some
so-callcd ''public safety" measure
which will bring in money if it Is 1ol-
| lowed and will still have the same et-
| feet if it is disobeyed.
In this class was one which the
| German government utilized at one
| time. 1t sent out charwomen with
Instructions to inspect and clean the
houses of everybody. If the people
objected they We're fined and II they
didn't they had to pay charge for
the services thus rendered. Alto
gether the national funds were aug
mented by s5.000o00 in this way.
On another occasion only a certain
kind of tooth powder was allowed to
be sold in the stores-that kind made
in the government factories. Rather
than pay the high price demanded the
people preferred not to use any
dentifrlce at all, and the tax failed in
it's purpose.
austria is another country that has
succeeded in raising money by forcing
cleanliness upon it's people. Under d
every householder shall have his CHM
nev swept at least once month for
fear of fire, the work to be done by the
government sweep. She found the
measure most lucrative. as she charged
a tax of As cents for every chimney
cleaned.
Italy nas a plan for raising money
that has been called "a tax on I'M
beetles" This is the state lottery,
from which she raises considerable
sum. Out of the numbers from l to
90 every Saturday night five winning
numbers are drawn. For the player
to win it is necessary to draw one or
more of these numbers. If you draw
one right you gain fourteen times
what you paid-that is, S. probabilities
in favor of the government. If you
draw two numbers you gain 250 times
what you paid, but you have only ten
probabilities in your favor, while the
government has $3.50. If you draw
three you gain 1850 times what you
risked, but while the probabilities in
your favor are still ten, those of the
government are 117.47O, and the same
proportion is maintained if you draw
four or all Of the numbers.
France succeeds in raising $4,000.
600 yearly out of stamp duties. When
you visit gay Paris your hotel bills
come to you with Il stamp on them
Every check drawn bears an extra re-
cclpt stamp across which you must
sign yuor name. Theater tickets
must be stamped. Even posters on
the boards are stamped, the value
varying with the size of the bills.
For municipal purposes it's towns
also adopt queer eXpedientS Every
morsel Of food. drink or fuel must pay
a tax, while Paris puts tax of l
penny on all spirits, besides muicting
landlords with a 212 per cent. and
tenants with a l per cent. tax.
Holland has similarly levied several
queer taxes. Besides imposing a duty
of 2 cents on every person who enters
a tavern before noon, she used to levy
taxes on those who visited places of
entertainment. on marriages and on
many other things.
If person were buried out of the
district to which he belonged his near
est of kin would have to paw twice
the an,ount that would have had to be
paid had the burial taken place in his
| own district. Even boots and shoes
were taxed, regulated by the size Of
the article--the smaller the shoe the
smaller the tax.
| In Switzerland to be exempt from
military service one must pay a tax
of S25 a year, no matter whether one
be 4 cripple or an invalid And if the
bill IS neglected, the Swiss Is pro-
hibited from entering any beer garden
| or public entertainment until the full
sum is paid.
Greece attempted to raise money by
making every smoker take out a. IL
| cense, but as the smokers objected in
| such strenuous manner, causing riots
embarrassing the government, the plan
failed But she compelled her people
to purchase the natioanl emblem in the
form Of a flying swallow. These she
had manufactured in bronze In large
quantities. charging a few cents for
them. Any person not having one in
his or her possession was liable to a
penalty.-Exchange.