The Lancaster news. (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, January 16, 1907, Page 6, Image 6
6
Letters From Abroad.
tie;
Holland's Unique Revenue lll<
Raising System?How Taxes
are Levied?And How A
Justice is Dispensed-The bei
Dutchman and his Cart and Th
Dogs?Other Matters of Inaft
terest Observed by the Mon- }qi
roe Lawyer. m?
by
foi
IJY A. M. STACK.
(Copyrighted, ltHM, by K. F. Ueas'.ey ) .
CIS
NO. 4. f0,
The Dutch do some very 6eriou* na
matters iu a funny way. In pij
nothing are they so funny, per- to
haps, as in their methods of wi
raising revenue for public pur- cai
poses. They tax bicycles? which art
* % - * - I)
is all ngtit?Out tins tax is not du
uniform oil individuals. The on
amount of a person's bicycle tax mt
depends upon how much house cei
rent he pays. His house rent art
depends upon how many win ro<
dows and doors in his house, ma
The person with four windows in Po
his house pays four times as wi
much tax on his bicycle as the ro<
person with one window. The p?
window and door taxes are paid an
by the tenant and not by the tir<
owner of the house. The door ab
tax causes many business houses bli
to be singu'arly constructed. Of- lef
ten you see a business house in it
which are several tenants, each mi
dealing in a separate line of goods, th
with only one front door. This Di
door on the street opens into a cei
small hall, then a door to the ti\
right will go into one snop, a is
door to the lett into another, and tw
a door straight forward into pli
still another. The tax is only
on a door opening on the street, a J
The occupants upstairs and those '*c
on the ground lloor apportion to<
this front door tax among them- itij
selves. For some reason or other we
unknown to me, they call this in|
a personal tax. If you a id an- nn
other window or enlarge an old bi;
one in a house, it requires a pet- an
mit. The owner pays no real sp
estate tax unless his property is Gi
worth over $5,200* He then in- to
eludes that tax in the rental. It ?u
? j> v
is easy to see wnat class 01 peo i <
pie has to bear the burden of Hi
taxes under such a system. It in
is no wonder, then, that "de bet- te
ter man*' can drina gin, beer and sp
wine instead of water. wt
There is another amusing fea- m
ture of their revenue laws. Every co
person who earns over $240 per wj
year must pay an income tax. th
The rate varies in different local- co
ities or cities, but in Amsterdam as
the rale is per cent, ol allien
one's annual income. Buttheman se
with a large family gets a reduc- tn
tion, the amount depending up- nc
on how many children lie hasiBa
under eighteen years old. lie i
gets a reduction or abatement i er
in hi9 taxes tor each and every co
child under eighteen. ( Under! wi
such a system, I know some men co
who would not only be exempt w:
from taxes altogether, but who tic
would draw a bonus from the vc
government ) Then, also, there ci
is another tax which is intended T!
to encourage the growth of popu- dr
lation. It is a tax on aged tin- at
married men. This tax i9 levied gi
for a specific purpose and must le
be so used. It is devoted en H
tirely to the public edcoation of dt
THE LAN
f? children of Holland. Thi
u see President Roosevelt
;?s about the lurge family ai
aroughly Dutch. They belie*
encouraging marriage, an
iy *ie the knot so it will sticl
person must bo married twic
lore it is a valid marriag?
ere is a civil ceremony in tli
>rning and a religious in th
eruoon. The former is pe:
med by the secretary of tli
tyor of the city and the l?.tt?
a preach r. On Sunday b<
e the names of the contrac
i parties must be publicly pr<
timed at the town hall, an
' a week afterwards the;
mes are posted up at the sam
ree. If persons are not abl
pay tor the ceiemonies the
11 be performed tree. In sue
ses, otten ten or fitteen couph
} married at the same tim
it they can only get marrie
Wednesday. People of mear
irry on any day. When tl
emony i6 to be paid for, fin
? made up and the marriat
om made comfortable, if th
irriage occurs in the winte
or people must be contei
tli no fire. # In the marriaf
>m ot the town hall are elegm
lutings illustrating marriaj
d married lite. Just over tl
eplace is a beautiful worn a
out to marry. She is painte
udfolded, as marriage is
ip in the dark for her. Whi
is uncertain as to whether tl
irriage will be a happy on
ere are some events which tl
itch look for with reasonab
rtaintv : jnet over the prospe
re bride and a little to the rei
painted a pair of tat, chufl
ins. On each side ol the fir
ace is a brass stork.
1 was very anxious to witne
Dutch lawsuit and went to ti
ourt of justice" one day.
:>k my stand outside the rai
g near the door, where the
ire a number of people stain
g. Pretty so?n a burly polic
in, with many buttons and
g mili'ary cap on, came u
d touched me on the art
oke a few words that we
"eek to me and nodded for n
come on. 1 felt innocent
y crime and declined to go,
lidn"t like his looks anywa
it he insisted. I called for nr
terpretor and ordered him
ii me omcer mai i was omy
ectator, but if my presen
is objectionable then I wou
ake myselt mighty rare in li
urt He told my parrot that ]
iis taking mo to a good seat <
e inside ot the railing where
uld hear better. I thanked hi
best I could in several diffe
it languages?but I tailed
e any benefit there was in g<
lg near the court, as I cou
>t understand a word that w
id.
It was judgment d?y for se
al who had been previous
evicted. The judgments a
ritteu out and read by t
urt to the prisoner, who stan
hile the doom is being pi
>unced. The judgments a
iry lengthy, and evidently i
to the evidence in the cai
le first unfortunate was a w*
eased woman. Slie hadtosta
least five minutes, and w
ven three years in prison. 8
ft the room weeping bitter!
er crime was permitting
lughter under fourteen years c
CASTER NEWS, JANUARY 16,
is to engage in immorality. The
's next was convicted of begging
e and wag sent to the work house
e for three years. The Dutch be(1
lieve in industry and ' virtue.
i. Then came a tellow whohad had a
:e fight. He got fourteen days in
*. prison, several judgments were
le read by the court and the fine
ie culled out into and adjoining
r room. These^were students and
ie people able to pay fines; they
jr are not required to go in the
2- tombs for sentence. These part
ties had been tried several days
a- before, perhaps thirty days bed
fore. The court takes time to
ir prepare the judgments and often
ie there is an interval of thirty or
le forty days between trial and seny
tence?and the defendants In
ih jail all that time. And impri3on?s
ment before trial is at the please.
ure of the court. There is no
id writ of habeas corpus in Holland
is and no way to force a speedy
ie trial. An instance was told me
?s of one man lying in prison two
;e years before he could get a trial,
e This happened within the last
r. seven years. Ihere is 110 trial by
it jury and no such thing as a grand
:e jury. Prosecutions are set on
it toot by the officers, the court or
;e at the instance of a private or
ie aggrieved party. The judges try
in all issues of fact. Their laws are
d mainly taken from the civil law
a of Rome, introduced by Louis
le Napoleon when he was King of
ie Holland. The Dutch are not
e, troubled with a multiplicity of
ie courts. Their system is simplicle
ity itself?the canton or distric'
c courts anu the appellate court at
*r The Hague. The first has origin
fy al jurisdiction and trom it ap
e- peals are carried to The Hague
Supreme Court. There are no city
ss courts.
ie After the judge had read all
1 his sentences, I straightened up
il- to witness a trial. The only thing
? !? . J . 1 1.
re i witnessed was anotner great
(1- American principle go down
e- Trials are not public in Holland
"k and we had to get out. The mills
ip of justice grind in private, only
n, the sentences are pronounced in
re public They have imprisonment
ie for debt. A creditor may keep
of his debtor in jail as long as he
as will pay the board bill in ady.
vance. The only property ex
iy empt from execution is one bed,
to one table and a chair tor each
a member of the family,
ce There is only a limited sufld
frage here. A man must pay so
lis much tax before he can vote,
lie The poor man is simply not in
an it. There is but one law-making
i 1 body in the kingdom, the Nation
m al Assembly. The upper cham.
;r- ber was not in session, but J
to visited the lower or second chain.
3t ber and heard a fat, sleek Dutch
Id man make a speech. The othei
as members were writing, talking
to each other and paying no at
v- tention to ids jabber. A meinbei
ly gets only $800 per year. Nobodj
,re seems to p iy much attention t(
he the government or to politics. Tin
ds great mass of the people havt
o never had much to do with tin
re administration of public afFairs
e- and they take things as a mattei
te. ol course and attend to their own
)J1 private atrairs. The Dutchmar
nd loves a dollar too well to wash
as his time on politics. He loves t
he dollar as well as the American
ly. does, only he does not chase il
a as fast as the American,
dd The Hague is the capital anc
1907
is the cleanest, neatest city in the En|
whole country. Near it, are many Le)
I interesting places which can be'the
i? i ? I i
ira^'liru *jy cirV/U it ?uu Btcniii uuii
trains. Only a short distance is for
Scheveningen, the famous sum- the
mer resort on the sea. It is strictly Am
for the ,4four hundred '' To enjoy cliu
the ozone of 'he s*h there you 4ibi]
must have''a pile." In one of the neb
grand hotels a room alone costs poii
$250 per day. I should want only boo
a few minu'es at that house. and
The first Peace Conference at sucl
The Hague met in an old palace den
erected in 1647 by the grand war
mother of William of Grange.? the
The palace is beautiful on the in- the
side, one room fit'ed up and fur- her
: nislied by China, one by Japan nev
and one by India. The exquisite I w
needle work and hand carving ami
bailie desori nt inn It. was in this mei
house that John Lothrop Motley in e
wrote the Rise of the Dutch Re* waj
public, while he was amb isBador yea
to Holland. in t
In passing through Holland one sou
is reminded ot the days of Span- I di
ish rule and the Inquisition. In beg
an old prison you can see the in- me.
strumentsof torture used by them, stic
Almost everything which could boy
inflict pain may be seen. There the
are those which have caused hor- tha
rible pangs; those with which tie
arms and legs were broken; those sori
that were heated red hot and san
upon which baro feet have trod- to t
den; instruments that have sev- wai
ered many a head from its body ; for
the blocks upon which the vie- A
tirns lay, with the indentations of reai
tVi? 5? vp in flip wnnrl In nnr lanit hut
of political and religious free- abo
dom, the people do not, aud can- J
not, conceive of what awiul bar- lan
barities were enacted under the dog
Inquisition. In looking at those are
old ius'mments of torture, one one
has the satisfaction to believe that pul
those who iniiicted such cruel woi
sufferings are still roasting in der
Hades. car
In visiting the parks in The dog
Hague one runs upon a notice har
which has become classic in har
America. It is this, "Verboden old
over de grasperken te loopeo.''? Th(
That embodt s the same tamous the
command which was given to his
, Coxe.v's army, "Keep off the arr:
grass." par
From The Hague it is but ten P^e
miles to Leyden an old city ot me
i historic interest. Tne guide books wr
i i t. i:i i , _ not
uraxKeu very iiiuuii auuui lijtuu i?b
1 t]U
. noted sights, especially of an old ^
church called St John's church,
, established by English Separa idl
tists and from which the Pilgrim tht
; Fathers set forth on their voyage a8
to the New World, a voyage that in|
. marked an epoch in religious
[ history. I reached tho city in the ln^
. afternoon and it was pouring arr
down rain. But I cared very lit on
r tie lor that just[so I saw the startt
ing point of the Pilgrim Fathers. ^
I waded through the streets en
r quiring ol everybody I met for
r St. John's church. Noone knew.
> I kept this tip till dark, when I for
i concluded tint if St. John was th<
) known in that town i' whs under Je<
s another name. I dropped into a al)
An
, nice hotel to ^et supper, tor I
t ^ ^
r wis hungry, tired and mad. The tj,(
i w.iitj-r, a tine looking man in etc
i evening dress, let fall a word or th<
s two ol English. Said lie, "We '
i spoaRs Ingleesh here in de sumi
mer time,not in de winter," That
I befuddled me and 1 eiupiired why fou
English would not hibernate in Di
II Ley den. Hia meaning was that
: c
e'ieh speaking people visited
'den only in the summer and
residents had occasion then
y to talk English. I enquired
-i 1, e U;^U
Qi. J on II s cuurun, lruni wmuu
Pilgrim Fathers started for
erica. He knew where the
rch was (and it was nearby.)
it doee Bilgrim Fadders I
ber hear ot dem before ." I
ited out to him what the guide
k said, but he shook his head
declared that a mistake, no
h people were ever in LeyThat
was the limit. I had'
lea tne streets 111 tne rain an
afternoon, out of reverence to
memory of those old religious
oes, only to find that they had
er been in the place at all.?
ent to the church anyway, exined
it by gas light, took a
ntal picture of it and started
learch of the depot. On the
r a small boy of five or six
rs ran up with me and asked,
? most pathetic voice, about
le 4 straat." I told him that
d not know what he said. He
;an to cry and trot along with
He continued to cry and
k to me, until we met a big
I interested the big boy in
little fellow and found out
t he was lost. I told the litfellow
that I was awfully
ry tor him but I was in the
le fix, and that I would love
;>ve him information but that
3 the very thing I was hungry
myself.
Vhen I get back home I shall
d more of the Pilgrim Fathers,
1 am no longer concerned
iut where they started from,
ilucli of the hauling in Hold
is done on carts drawn by a
; in harness. Sometimes there
two dogs, or even three, to
j cart. Most of the carts are
led or pushed by a man or
man with a dog harnessed un
the cart helping. I saw a
t full of sand drawn by a big
; in the shafts, a smaller dog
messed to his right, a man
messed to his lett and the
woman pushing behind.
3re is a heavy tax on dogs and
y must work. "Every dog ha9
day," but that day has not
ived in Holland yet. In one
'ticular at least dogs and peoare
alike: the idle ones are
an, trifling and commit
ongt. The dogs here which do
t work are "sassy*' and look;
lor trouble, while the labor;
dogs are well behaved, hum)
and make good citizens. The
e dog considers himself better
tn his working brothers and,
a consequence, is always try?
to "show off."
In Rotterdam, at the outside
most of the windows of dwell:
houses, are small mirrors so
anged as to enable the ladies
the inside to see all that is
ingonin the streets without
mg seen themselves. In that
y they can witness the sights
d still wear mother hubbards
any other old thing,
in the same place are schools
teaching English. The meld
is the peripatetic and ob;t
lesson. The teacher walks
out the city with his pupils
d points out objects to them,
Uing the names in English:
it is a man, that a horse, a dog
:. I have a poor opinion of
i method. I have tried it and
does not work well. They point
t a dog to me and call the
itch word for dog. When I see
log again I know he is a dog,
t I don't know what he is in
itch.
Rotterdam, Holland.