THE FATE OF 1C 10 DO RUM. 2IQ 



wall built up so high that no one could see out of 

 the town, and then to have the top so beset with 

 broken bottles that no one could climb over. A 

 few of the extreme devotees of the Issoire idea 

 wanted the surplus devoted to destroying the 

 roads to Clermont, that all danger from the flood 

 of cheap goods with which that city stood always 

 ready to overwhelm Issoire would be removed 

 forever. One of the Council even wished to use it 

 for the permanent closing of all the city gates ; for, 

 as he said, " if we are good citizens we will have 

 nothing to do with abroad." 



But the private secretary of the mayor remarked 

 that altogether too much had been said of this 

 matter of surplus revenue. " It is a good deal 

 easier," he remarked sagely, " to manage a sur- 

 plus than a deficit." Then the mayor said : " It 

 is much better to have too much money than too 

 little. That is what constitutes prosperity. I 

 would n't mind having a little surplus myself." 

 Then the Council laughed, and each one thought 

 of what he could do with his share of the surplus, 

 while they discussed some plans which looked 

 toward an equitable distribution of it in places 

 where it would do the most good. 



The workman Jacques, who was now a member 

 of the Council, and who had been selected as the 

 opposition candidate for mayor, rose and said : 

 " This octroi stuff is all nonsense. It is a tax to 

 make things higher, and it comes out of our 

 pockets. That is why we are so poor. The 

 mayor says that it is collected from the Clermont 

 merchants. The mayor lies. What does a Cler- 



