The Birmingham age-herald. [volume], April 20, 1913, MAGAZINE SECTION, Image 53

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_1 Wealthiest Men of Germany Squirm Under Taxes 1 I
BERLIN, April 19.—(Special.)—'Two
and 20 sovereign German princes
are hesitating between the rival
virtues of patriotism and thrift. They
cannot decide whether It Is eweeter to
pay the new war tax. or to put their sat -
ings into sound brewery stocks. Between
these temptations they resemble the vacil
lating lover who says, “How happy could
I be with either.’* The trouble Is that
this is the first time the 22 kings, grand
dukes, dukes and princes have ever been
asked to pay a pretty stiff tax on their
accumulations. So, while patriotic con
science bids them make the secrlfice, their
hon*»< pocket interests whisper: Do not
pay.
There would he no such dilemma if
Europe's sovereigns were ordinary men.
I So far from being ordinary they enjoy
the privilege of “Steuerfrelheit.” “Steuer
frehelt" Is freedom from tax paying: and
sovereigns and their families have It to
gether with freedom, If they wish, from
military service. In addition to the sov
ereigns there are «00 odd members of
mediatised, ex-sovereign, families who are
exempt from local taxation and from mili
tary service. These privileges are stead- •
lastly opposed by progressive Germans,
who say that In hard up times the aver
age sovereign can as well afford to pay
his taxes as can a lawyer with 96COO a
year. All the more so because, If sov
ereigns go Into bankruptcy their subjects
. help them out, os Wilhelm II discovered
' iwo years ago when Prussia's diet raised
his salary by three quarters of a million.
But so far the thrifty princes always
stoutly resisted being taxed: and until
recently Wilhelm ri resisted most of all.
Now, In a fit of patriotism begotten of
the 1X1S centenary, Wilhelm II has for
sworn his resistance; he la ready to be
taxed, and the other one and twenty sov
ereigns have had to follow him. All that
is now’ known Is that there will be a
“non-recurring contribution” from the
capital of real and personal property; and
that It will probably amount to 1 per cent.
This the soveeigns must pay. There may
also be a new imperial income tax; and
this the sovereigns may have to pay also.
Naturally the sovereigns are facing the
crisis like gentlemen and feeling intense
ly virtuous. But at heart they arc sore,
and they are not blessing Kaiser Wil
helm. Rumors of discontent come from
various august palaces. A Dresden of
ficial newspaper criticises the scheme, and
this means that King Friedrich August
does not like it. Of all German princes,
except the young Duke of Saxe-Coburg
Gatha, Friedrich August is the thriftiest.
Another sovereign known for the unprince
liest virtue is the Grand Duke of Hesse,
but this grand duke Is relatively a hard
up man and his every odd pfennig goes
on on artists’ colony at Darmstadt. Even
sovereigns w’ho are willing to pay are said
to feci uneasy. For it is the inltal step
that counts. For the first time in history
the sacred principle that royalties are
tax tree is broken.
“If we may be taxed for an army in
crease," reason the sov ereigns, “why may
we not for a navy increase, for an adu
lation increase, or even for old age pen
sions for bens? If we have to pay a
I non-recurring tax, why shall we escape
a recurring one? if we are to pay im
perial tuxes, won't we soon have to pay
fc:ate and even municipal taxes?” And
having so argued, the 22 sovereigns strike
a patriotic pose, and profess their Joy at
suffering for their country’s greatness.
The sovereigns feel all the more
BY BASIL SANDWYCH
Top—Secretary of tfie Treasury Keehn. Bottom—Duke of Sase-Weimar,
Who Has a Fortune of $15,000,000
Top—Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, One of Germany's Wealthiest
Men. Bottom—Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, Hichest of AH ihe German
Sovereigns, Not Even Excepting the Kaiser
doubtful because each complains of
suffering from chronic poverty, and
therefore feela that hia miserable tax
ation mite will not help the expensive
empire. Kaiser “Wilhelm, It seems, feels
this most. He has the biggest Income,
but he Is only the fifth richest Indi
vidual in Prussia. Richer than him are
Frau Bertha Krupp, who possesses *71,
000,000: Prince Henckel von Donners
niarck, who has *63,000,000; Baron von
Goldschmldt-Rothschlld of Frankfurt
with *40,000,000, and the Duke of Ujest
with **7,000,000. After these come poor
Kaiser Wilhelm with a miserable *35.
000.000. Kelser Wilhelm's forests and
fields are valued at *17.500.000: h!s 40
palaces, country houses, castles and
ehpoting boxes at *10.000,000, and his
land sites in Berlin at *4,500,000. That
accounts for *32,000,000 out of the *35.
000,000. Wilhelm If also has land in
Westphalia and the Rhine province of
unknown value. Altogether he has 7 4
different estates in seven different
Prussian provinces. Wilhelm If has no
power to dispose of this property as
it is a family trust. Only the model
farm at Canlden, and some small farms
(Purchased by himself he can do as ho
likes with. Ilis trust properties are
liable to property tax.
Wilhelm II will have to pay on oth
er property. There Is *3,750,00 left by
Friedrich Wilhelm III. to wilicit lias
been added about *1,000,000 presented by
the empire to Wilhelm I after the war
with France: *20,000,000 left by Wil
helm I, and large sums gained by
Kaiser Wilhelm from the sale of his
land In Berlin. Unluckily for Germany's
treasury, Wilhelm has always spent
mere titan he received, and the result
Is all the treasure now amounts to only
*20.000,000. The land and the money
funds altogether are worth $37,000,000.
Out of this, says the Berliner Tageblatt,
Kaiser Wilhelm will pay the non-re
curring tax on only about $35,000,000,
and he may also have to pay 5 per
cent income tax every year on his in
come of $5,500,000.
No other sovereign or prince will
pay anything- like Kaiser Wilhelm. The
crown prince is worth $3,700,000. This
is chiefly made up by the crown es
tate of Oels, which came to the Hob
< r.zollerns 30 years ago from Duke
Wilhelm of Brunswick. Kaiser Wil
helm's kinsman. Prince Friederich
Heinrich of Prussia Is worth $7,500,000,
and at 1 per cent he will have to pay
$75,000; Prince Friedrich Leopold, an
other kinsman, will pay on $3,500,000.
Kaiser Wilhelm’s brother, Henry, lias
estates in Posen. Brandenburg and
Schleswig-Holstein, which are worth
$2,000,000. Altogether the Kaiser and
these relatives are worth $51,500,000.
The younger sons of the Kaiser and
Hie other junior Hohenzoilern princes
have no property worth mentioning.
A sum of $53,000,000 would cover all
the Hohenzollern wealth, and $530,000
is the utmost they will pay in tax.
Rudolph Martin’s Dictionary of Mil
lionaires'* says the wealth of the King
of Saxony is $6,250,000. Most of It
consists of vast Silesian estates which
came from the Duke of Brunswick, who
died in 1884. The Duke of Saxe-Wei
mar, who has big properties in Silesia
end Posen, is worth $15,000,000; and ho
is the richest sovereign after tho
Kaiser, as far as German property Is
concerned. Th Bavarian royal family
is hard up. The King of Wuerttemburg
is worth $2,500,000; tHe Grand Duke
of Hesse $1,250,000, mostly Prussian
realty. All the other sovereign fam
ilies are worth about $50,000,000, count
ing German lands. The richest of all,
richer even than the Kaiser, Is ihe
Prince of Schaumburg-Lipe. But his
estates are in Austria, and under the
Austro-German agreement they will
pay no tax. The prince is the only Ger
man sovereign whoso main source of
wealth will not be taxed. The total
wealth of all 22 sovereigns is $125,000,
000, which gives an average property
of only about $5,750,000. It is moder
ate compensation for the work of a
minor German sovereign, who .ias per
haps seven flower shows to open in
the course of a summer. Frau Bertha
Krupp and Prince Henckel von Don
nersmarck could buy up all the 22, and
some American milionaires could buy
them lip several times over.
With such doleful poverty it is thought
fair that the sovereigns should not be
too heavily assessed. They are not like
ly to be. The sovereigns will naturally
not make out their own statements of
wealth, hut will leave them to managers
and secretaries whom no fear of prose
cution will deter from stretching a point
in a hardup ruler’s favor. "As for the
ordinary German,” reason the sovereigns,
"he ‘ need not talk so much about ns
princes unpatriotioally evading taxation,
for has not our respected Professor Del
brueck said that in Prussia only a quar
ter of the rightful property tax Is col
lected, the state being defrauded of the
other three-quarters? What is the differ
ence between paying nothing and paying
a quarter of what is due?" The sov
ereigns, however, have another excuse.
This is that a low proportion of their
capital wealth brings them Income.,Their
palaces, parks, art collections bring In
nothing, and the public largely enjoys
them. Prince Friedrich Heinrich of Prus
sia has r garden to his Berlin palace
which is worth *3,750,000, and as the up
keep costa him money, and he gets no
return, w’hy should it be taxed?
Palaces, parks and collections will
most likely be left free of the tax. In
that case only about $75,000,000 of royal
capital will Pay. That will give the
treasury at most $750,000. And on the
sovereigns’ total income of $10,000,000 an
income tax of 5 per cent will perhaps
yield the treasury $500,000.
“Is It worth while,’’ ask the hardup
sovereigns, “for the sake of these beg
garly sums to roh us of our privilege,
and treat us as If we were ordinary
men?" They ask themselves this In de
cent secrecy, hut publicly plume their
royal crests, and thank God that they
have at last a chance to prove their Ger
man patriotism. The probability is that
they will get much credit for public
spirit without hearing heavy sacrifices.
The “non-recurring contributions" which
they will have to pay Is certain to be
come law hut after this Is paid they will
again be tux free. The imperial Income
tux Which threatens to burden them
permanently is not likely to become law'.
The average citizen opposes it. Already
lie has to pay state income tax and muni
cipal Income lax, and now if he has to
pay a third, imperial income tax, he will
feci himself as poor as Kaiser Wilhelm,
the Prince of Schaumburg-Llppe and the
Duke of Haxe-Weimar. It is a hardup
generation.
(Copyright, 1913. by Curtis Brown)
A Belated Surrender,
I 1 When Colonel Selden Llttlepage
\X/ of Marion found by inquiry of
* * the clerk at the Bliss house
that he could not get a train out of
rUftan, lnd», until the following day,
owing to the fact that May 30 was Sun
day. the ordinary genial face of the col
onel became distinctly overclouded.
Tiie colonel had stopped off in Clifton
to look over some oil properties pur
chased by a southern syndicate, of which
he was a member, on his way home from
New York whither he had been on the
same mission. lie had counted on being
able to transact his business In Clifton
in a single iTay—hence when he found hjs
plans disarranged bfv train schedules he
was inclined to be irritable.
The colonel was of the type so often
written of and so seldom seen. His clear
pink skin, keen bue eyes and six feet
boast was that he was “from the south,
of tiis snow white hair and moustache.
The colonel carried his 66 years well.
His manner of dress and soft speech
would have stamped him as being from
the south had he failed to proclaim that
fact—which he did not. His proudest
boast fas that he was “from the south,
*ui\, God’s country, suh/' Colonel Lit
tiepage was aggressively southern.
He was more. Although he had served
through the war, leaving an arm at
Petersburg, he had never surrendered In
spirit. His prejudice against the "yan
kees" had not been soothed by the re
gime of carpetbag rule In Alabama and
as the years passed he failed to feel the
healing hand of time.
This added to his disgust when he feund
that ho must spend another day in Clif
ton and he turned away from the clerk's
desk muttering something uncompli
mentary about the train service. Seating
himself in a corner of the broad window,
he picked up the Clifton Courier and
scanned its pagos for something of inter
est. His eye was caught by headlines on
the first page. It was a notice of Decora
tion Day exercises. As he read his
• holer increased.
“It with hail enough to have to spend a
day In this beastly town,” he muttered,
“but for it to be Decoration Day Is add
ing insult to Injury.”
However the colonel might -fume there
was no help for it. So ho secured a hand
ful of cigars and ensconseil himself in
a shady nodk where the light was good
und soon became absorbed in a magazine.
Tlie hours passed as he read. Ten o'clock
came and went.
The sound of shrilling fifes forced Itself
into his ears and he threw aside his maga
zine to listen better. The tune was tho
. "Battle Hy'mn of the Republic.” A thin
Lime of withered figures came swinging
™M> Main street with a pathetic attempt
to keep step and time To the music as
cnee they had done. At the head of the
column there floated the insignia of tho
Grand Army of the Republic and beside
it fluttered the Stars and Stripes. 'In
terest crept Into the colonel's face despite
tk# sneer on hie lipe and when the tune
changed to “Yankee Doodle" his foot un
consciously kept time.
Behind the veterans came the local
celebrities in carriages. And behind them
marched the school children. On came
the parade, the old men striving to step
Jauntily despite their years. The column
swung Into courthouse square, formed
opposite a platform and halted, l^he chil
dren drew up behind the veterans and
the crowd which had gathered pressed
closer.
As the Bliss house faced the court
house square the colonel had an unre
stricted view of the proceettlngg. The
orators for tho day mounted the platform.
The preliminary speeches were delivered
and the principal speaker of the day was
Introduced amid applause.
The colonel could hear plainly but after
the first few sentences Ills interest waned.
He was perfectly willing to admit that the
"yankees" could and would fight. His
body bore mute, but eloquent testimony
to that fact but further than that he
would not go. So when the speaker
launched Into an enthusiastlo eulogy of
the north and the cause for which It
fought Colonel Dittlepage resumed his
magazine with a shrug of disgust.
He did not look up until the column re
formed for the outward march. Ilis mind
turned away to the south to other re
unions and a Decoration Day knpwn un
der a different name. In his mind he
compared his comrades, the parade with
which he was familiar, and in his egotism
lie saw nothing to admire In the war
scarred veterans that had passed before
him.
His attention was attracted by the
eager face of the hotel clerk at his side.
His eyes were following the parade envi
ously.
"They are going to the new cemetery,”
lie vouchsafed, "but the main exercises
won't be held until tills afternoon at
the old cemetery where most of the old
fellows are burled. Thank goodness, I'm
off and will get to see that."
The colonel grunted.
The clerk eyed him ih silence for a
second and then asked:
"Aren't you going? Everybody will be
there. Captain Havlland will speak and
there will be the salutes.”
"I have no Intention of going to see
people who ought to know better than to
muke fools of themselves, was the col
onel's reply.
Tlie clerk turned away with a trace of
color in his face for the glance that ac
companied tlie words, had not been
friendly. The colonel resumed his story.
But his mind was no longer on the
printed page. He gave himself up to his
thoughts. His mind strayed back to the
stirring days of the sixties. He seemed
to see again the ranks upon ranks of
of his gray clad men and above them
proudly fluttering the flag so like but yet
unlike the enBign he had Just looked upon.
The unfamiliar sound of the fife had
touched a spring in hfs mind and a flood
of memories overwhelmed him. Once
again lie lived the days of war and 4
flood of bitterness enveloped him. Why
had not the north been content with volun
tary member* of the union. Instead of
/
» •
BY JACK BETHEA
seeking to force unwilling states to re
main under intolerable conditions he
mused. What right had the uncouth Lin
coln to meddle with personal property.
The dinner bell interrupted his uncom
fortable thoughts and he made his Wffy
to the dining room. With an impatient
sigh he dismissed the bitter thoughts
and turned his mind to the oil properties
which he had seen. If he had not been
mistaken there was much money for the
taking and he would have a glowing
report to give his associates.
With the intention of making another
trip to the land, which lay on the out
skirts of the town, he went to telephone
for a* horse when the sight of the clerk's
face recalled his curt dismissal of the
man. Perhaps he hud been rude to him.
He would apologize.
He went directly to the desk and ex
pressed his regret that he had been
sharp in his answer to the clerk.
“That’s all rigid, sir,’’ was the hearty
response, “but you had better come out
this afternoon.’’
With a gesture of dissect and a cour
teous word the colonel turned away an<i
deciding to wait until it was cooler be
fore going to the oil property made his
way to liis room where lie was soon
asleep.
When lie awoke the shadows were
lengthening and lie descended to the street
with the intention of seeking a livery
stable. A shady avenue looked inviting
and he turned down for a short walk to
breathe the delightful May air. As lie
walked he became immersed in thought,
leturning to the strain of the morning.
Softly there stole to his oar th© sound
of fifing and the muffled roll of the drum.
Turning a corner lie saw in the distance
the gleam of tombstones and the music
grew clearer. Walking leisurely h© came
FRANCE’S NATIONAL MONUMENTS
- - -- - - ■--- - —■ ■■ - - -
ARIS, ' rll 19.—(Special)—All Am
erica who know Paris, and all
those who are coming over this
year to have their first look at the Gay
City will be interested in the result of
a curious inventory which has Just been
taken by the French government. The
objects inventoried were the national
monuments of France, the actual cash
value of each of whieh lias been figured
out. so now, for the first time, it Is
possible for the visitor to this country
to realise, when he stands before the
T.ouvre, the Pantheon or the Elysee
palace, exactly what sum of money It
represents.
Many of these figures are stupendous,
and, huge as they are, they represent
merely the brick anil mortar value of
each BTtjlding and monument, "as if."
to quote the official report, "there were
a question of constructing them at the
present day, without taking into account
the value of the site." Nor, it might be
added, of the In many cases priceless
value of the contents of the buildings.
As a result of this inventory, the
whole value of the national monu
ments—from the Ixiuvre itself to the
'east, valuable one In the list—the me
morial to Marshal Ney—is 1,795,246.498
francs, or. roughly, 5359,049,280. Tho
most valuable Item in the list Is not
the Louvre, but the famous former
royal palace at Versailles, which, as a
building alone, is worth over 914 4.
000,000 The Louvre and what Is left of
the Tuilerles represent 556.674,400 anil
the famous Paris opera house 510,000,000.
one mould, it seems, rebuild the Pan
theon for practically the- same figure,
while the Luxembourg is worth $1,025,
000 and the Elyse palace, the resi
dent* of the President of France, a
paltry 5947,600.
Not so long ago, a French million
aire desired to buy the Aro de Tri
umphs, which Napoleon built to cele
brate his victories, and under which
the Prussians marched into Paris, and
to remove it on the ground that it In
terfered with the view from her bed
room window, but was Informed that
the arch was not for sale. Now it ap
pears that the monument would have
cost her, as it stands, $4,000,000. If
nny-body wished to rebuild the gilt and
gingerbread of the Trocadero It would
cost him $2,500,000, while to replace
the Palais Royale, near which D’Artag
nan and Ills comrade fought the car
dinal's guards, would cost $C,S72iOOO.
’•»—. ..
The value of the Church of the In
valided and the tomb of Napoleon t«,
roughly $8,600,000, and thut of the
Vendome column $800,000.
The Paluce of Versailles
The Famous Palace of the L Vre
• i \
to the gate of the cemetery and passed
under the arch arriving at the outskirts
of the crowd as the opening hymn died
away.
After the chaplain's prayer a man
whom lie judged rightly to be the com
mander of the (Jrand army post arose and
introduced rapt. Richard Haniland. rap
tain Haniland appeared to be well known
and loved for he was greeted with cheers.
After listening to the opening remarks
of the speaker, Colonel Littlepage turned
away with the same sneer on ids face
that had appeared there earlier in the
clay and began scanning the monuments,
idly reading the inscriptions. A word from
Captain Haniland caught his ear, and
moving closer, lie gave his undivided at-'
tention to the speaker.
*•- battle of Petersburg,” lie was
saying, “that I always like to recall. It
is illustrative of the fact that although
we were enemies on the Held of battle
when the Hght was over we were once
more reunited by the bonds of a common
ancestry. •
“Few of you know what a horrible thing
is a battle. Still fewer what it means
to He wounded on the field after the tight.
To me have come both experiences, and
it is in this connection that I wish to
speak today. A day which sees the north
and south reunited, the scars of conflict
covered, aigl the United States a nation
of which every citizen is proud.
“It was after the battle and the dead
and wounded lay exposed to the burning
days of a Virginia sun. A mlnie ball
had pierced both my jthighs and 1 was
helpless, unable to move anything except
my arms without torture. To the wound
ed comes the craving for water above all
other things, and I was athirst I felt
that I would give anything for the water
to quench ray burning thirst. Fever set
in ami i grew lightheaded and began to
cry for the water I so craved.
"A man lay close lo nu*. »lis side and
arm were terribly mangled by a frag
ment of exploding shell. The blood was
gushing from his wounds. Am my cries
for water grew louder he raised his head
and looked In ray direction. I could see
that he wore the gray of the Confed
eracy.
"Slowly he began to crawl toward me,
ami i was afraid of l knew not what. I
•hushed thy trie and lay breathless
watching him. Closer he crept, his prog
ress slow for his strength was ebbing
fax from the gaping rips in hb body.
' Alter an eternity It seemed to me he
reached my side, and with fumbling fin
gers undid the canteen at his belt. He
offered it to me. ‘Take it, Yank.* he said,
and as 1 seized It eagerly and put it to my
lips, added softly, *i guess you need 11
worse than I do.’ '
When Captain Haviland mentioned Pe
teisburg, Cofbnel Litfttepage grew inter
ested for the scenes of that battle were
Indelibly impressed on his mind. When
the captain told of crying for water and
the response of the rebel he started vio
lently. He had pushed his way through
the crowd, ignoring the curious stares,
until he stood directly in front of the
speaker. As the captain uttered the
“l guess you need it the worst, ’
✓ i
Colonel Littlepage, unable to contain him
self longer, sprang up the few steps to
the platform, turned to the audience and
held up Ills hand for attention.
Captain Haviland halted his speech arid
regarded the colonel in amazement. Sev
eral men from the audience started to
ward the colonel. He waved them back
and began speaking.
“Captain Haviland has omitted th#
principal part of the stfor.v,* he cried in a
clear, penetrating voice that carried to
the fwrtherest <nlge of the group and
brought every eye to him for Its vibrat
ing intensity.
“Captain Haviland has neglected to tell
that when tlie rebel fainted from the loss
• of blood he bound up his womids and
staunched the flow’ of blood that was
fast sapping his life. ,^
“He has not mentioned the agony tvhich
it must have cost him.
“He did not speak of how', when the
Confederate hospital squad came on tha
field he risked capture to direct the ser
geant to take the unconscious man to a
hospital, escaping only through darkness.
“But the sergeant did not, and it is to
Hkhard Haviland that Selden Littlepage \
owes a debt which he can only publicly
acknowledge and never repay.”
For an instart after the colonel ceased
speaking there was an astonished silence
ended bv an enthusiastic cheer when It
broke upon the crowd that this was tha
man that had ministered to their hero,
and^himself had as generous a story to
tell.
Captain lluviland sprang across the
platform toward Colonel Littlepage, his
eyes shining and hand outstretched; the
colonel met him half way. There was a
warm handclasp and the men stood to
gether rnaKing no attempt to condeal the
tears in their eyes while the spectators
encored themselves hoarse. Haviland’s
companions grouped about them, the color
sergeant waving the Stars and Stripes.
A sharp command rang out, men hur
ried to their places, depfoyed in fours
and moved forward to the graves, banked
with flowup Another command and the
measured volleys rung out on the still
air.
And then the sweetest part of the day
came. Tne bugler fell out and raised hi*
instrument.
Colonel Littlepage stiffened to attention,
his heels clicked sharply and his Iona
hand rose automatically at the first notes ^
of “taps."
A sudden breeze blew’ the flag to oni^H
side, ft brushed his shoulders. And stllt^H
the bugle sobbed. jfj|
Selden Littlepage had surrendered at^H
Right
From the Weekly Telegraph.
The schoolmaster wanted to know
whether the boys had an understanding
of the functions of a British consulate.
“Suppose.” he began, framing his ques
tion on the likeliest way to arouse the
Interest of his hearers, “supposing some
one took you up in an aeroplane, and.
after a long, exciting flight dropped you
down thousands of miles from home in a
country quite foreign, whj place would
you seek out first of
An eager hand was ii ly uplifted* J
“ Well, sir, t,Ue hospit^ " 5
( 1