Evening journal., 1913-05-10

tax caused property owners to wall
up as maAy windows as possible in
order 20 reduce the amount for which
tney were liable. In spite Of thos,
however, he tax was bringing in
nearly couple of millions when il
was replealed in 1851 and the 'in-
haDlted house duty substituted.
fltt round that his attempt TO tax
fashions were is difficult as shooting
folly as it flies. There was the tax
Of 1867 on French straw hats known
as "Watteaus." These hats were an
the rage IN England. and IL was
thought tnat an enormous sum would
De realized by taxing them. But
smugglers discovered that they we're
quite as profitable cargo as brandy
or lace, and before they could be
successfully coped with Vatican
hats were out Of fashion and the tax
became a dead letter.
Perhaps the most extraordinary
budget proposal in England, however.
was that of Mr. Lowe, who in order
10 make up in a deficit of 200. 900 600
pounds In 1871 suggested a tax on
matches. A duty of a half-penny a
hundred, it was said, would produce
a large sum- Every one recognized
the truth of this, but the match
manufacturers would have none Of
II. They organized professions to
Westminster, and other proposals of
Mr. Lowe providing equally unpopu
lar. the whole budget was withdrawn
Taxation is something that one can
get accustomed to-if we are willing
to accept the evidence of Mr.. Glad
stone. Long before his day Lord
Castelreagh in a burst Of indignation
against persons who objected to hav-
ing their pockets picked by the
Chancellor of the Excheuuer. had
complained of the Ignorant impati-
ence of taxation That was when
the income tax was thrown out In
1876 When Mr.. Gladstone intro
duced his Commercial Treaty" bud
get or 1860, he instanced Lord Castle
reaghs outburst in order to show that
IN half a century John Bull has be-
come familiar with the chancellor's
ways. If, said, Lord Castle
reagh were to rise from he dead and
again take his place in this House, he
would be more likely to complain of
the Ignorant patience of taxation. ("
A man seated in his own private
carriage placed upon a truck at the
end OF railway train would prob
ably be considered a bit of a crank
nowadays Yet il was quite a con-
mon occurrence in England within the
memory of many people still living
The late Duke Of Portland always
travelled in that way between Tell
beck Abbey and London. And Sir
David Hunter Blair recollects a gem
tleman who was wont to 90 from
London to Brighton in the same
fashion. Once the. truck at the end
OF the train got disconnected, leav-
ing the exclusive passenger seated
stationary in his carriage-also in
darkness and peril
In the Japanese House of Peers
there are represented six political
parties, and in the House of Repre-
sentatives, five. No one of these, how
ever, has a majority in either house.
and not all of them are represented
in both houses.
This years art exhibit in Tokyo
I has demonstrated fully that the for
eigner, at last, has won his way
completely in old Nippon. Out of the
l,764 pieces offered there were but
forty-seven in the pure Japanese
style, and about one-half were alto
gether western in treatment Those
remaining showed western influence
to "A marked degree.
Baron Sakatari. the Mayor of Tokyo
, makes strong plea for writing Jap
anese in Roman letters, as It takes
at least year to memorize the thous-
ands of Chinese characters now in
use
The new Imperial Theater at the
4 japanese capital has been completed
at a cost of 100000, a very large
sum for Japan, which has cheapest
labor and material in the whole
world. Not only the traditional
drama Of. historic Japan has been
presented on its stage, but the plays
of Shakespeare and foreign opera
have been produced successfully
Having once had a taste what West
ern music is like, the little Japs want
none of their old-fashioned sing
song, monotous, almost dirge-like
lays,
! Copyright, 1913. by A. d. Jacobson)