THE FATE OF 1C IO DO RUM. 2OI 



Absinthe octroi one franc per bottle. 



Accoutrements " five francs per set. 



Acids " one franc per litre. 



Alcohol " five francs per litre. 



Alligators " five francs each. 



Animals (not otherwise specified) " ten centimes per kilogramme. 



Arnica " five centimes per kilogramme. 



Artichokes " five centimes each. 



And so on, down to zinc and zoophytes. 



The general effect of this law was like that of a 

 refreshing rain upon a thirsty field. Everybody 

 took heart, and general confidence in the future is 

 the chief element in financial prosperity. But the 

 law had some curious results. 



The octroi on elephants was so high as to be 

 prohibitory, and the Italian organ-grinder thanked 

 his stars that he and his monkey were well inside 

 the city gates before the law went into effect. 

 The combined tax on quadrumana and musical 

 instruments was more than he could pay. Once 

 within, however, he enjoyed a full monopoly; and 

 this, so the schoolmaster told him, was just what 

 the law originally intended, for octroi is spelled in 

 Latin " auctoritas," " by authority," an authorized 

 monopoly. The manufacturers of dolls were much 

 encouraged. Christmas was coming on ; the 

 children must have dolls; and the pauper doll- 

 makers of Jonas, with whom Saint Nicholas had 

 been in the habit of trading, were by no means 

 able to pay the octroi. 



But, on the other hand, the trade in looking- 

 glasses was nearly ruined. The octroi on glass, 

 quicksilver, wood, tin, varnish, and glue, drove the 

 mirror-maker distracted. The people took to 



