The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1939-09-07

Returning to a land where polyg-
amy is practiced, taxes are based on
the number of wives a native has,
pygmies are prevalent and decompo-
ed meat serves as money, Mr.. and
Mrs. Henry Seneff are leaving here
this week to resume their work at a
mission station in the heart of Dark
est Africa.
Mrs. Seneff was formerly Miss Lii
liam Welty of this place, daughter of
John Welty, of Cherry street, where
she and her husband have been visit
ing for the past week.
Working under the African Inland
mission, Mr. .and Mrs. Seneff are To-
Gated in the highlands of Belgian Con-
go, deep in the African interior.
Surprisingly enough tax problems
largely are the bane of the otherwise
carefree natives in the vicinity of the
mission where the Seneffs are located.
Tax Problems For Natives
Heavy taxes are levied on all ma
tives by the Belgian government.
Those unable to pay must work on
the roads. Since the African native
is inherently lazy and shuns work as
much as possible he rarely has money
when taxes fall due, hence works on
the roads is a common occurrance for
most tax payers.
The trait, however, has enabled the
Belgian government to proceed with
a very ambitious road program. Of
some $4,000 miles of government
roads in Belgian Congo, more than
one-third are suitable for autos.
The main tax levied by the Belgians
is the ''hut tax" which represents
about so Belgian francs per year.
The exchange rate of the franc is
about 80 for 81 of American currency.
This "hut tax" is levied on the head
of the household.
Belgian official also are using taxes
in an effort to stamp out polygamy,
which is widely practiced among the
natives.
Tax on Polygamy
There is no law to prevent ma
tive having as many wives as he
wants, consequently polygamy is COM
mon, and it has been customary for
man to have as many wives as he
could afford.
An attractive wife usually has a
market price of from four to five head
head of cattle, payable to the father
of the girl. In addition, husband
must yay one goat to the father for
each child his wife bears.
Each wife lives in separate hut,
with the husbands hut standing in the
center. In addition to the hut tax of
so francs, which is levied on the hus-
bands residence, there is a smaller
tax for each wife's hut. In attempt
ing to discourage polygamy, the gov
ernment will exempt a man from all
tax when he was only one wife and
four or more children.
Problems many times are encount-
cred by the government in collection
of taxes. Within so miles of the Sem
eff's mission station is the Ituri for
rest the largest African jungle.
Pygmies are Shy
In its depths live the pygmies,
small, shy people who flee at the ap-
proach of strangers, especially whites,
For many years, these little people
have lived a secluded life, and now the
government is attempting to force
them out of the jungle, so their clan
can be classified and taxed.
Women pygmies usually are about
four feet in height, and the men
stand about five feet. A very primi.
tive race, they are nomadic and ex.
tremely hard to trace in the jungle.
At hunting, however, they are ex-
ceedingly skillful They kill elephants
by spearing the gigantic beats from
underneath in the abdomen. The ele-
phant meat then Is eaten and the