A PIANO FOR A FARTHING.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1260, 23 April 1896, Page 10

A PIANO FOR A FARTHING.

The Socialists of Amsterdam are jusl now adopting a rather amusing course of tactics which is putting the Government in a bit jf a quandary. At. the instigation of their leaders, many of the rank and file have emphatically refused to pay the Pcrsonlij!;. or poll-tax. This is universal, quit amounts to ten gulden annually, or about Ids 81. Now, the Dutch law provides that in case of any refusal to pay, the tax collector may seize all the household goods of the defaulter, no matter how valuable or worthless they may be, and sell them by public auction m the nearest open marketplace.

The notice that there is a “ Socialist sale " on hand brings up these advanced politicians from all parts of the city. The auctioneer, surrounded by a protective posse of polico, mounts the van containing the household chattels, and announces to the thousands assembled that “As Mr , of street, has neglected to pay his Bdasteu (legal taxation), he lias been declared a defaulter, and bis goods are now to be sold without reserve." Accordingly, he puts up Lot 1, say/a cottage piano or half-a-dozen chairs and'a sofa.

Then tho fun commences. The Socialist leader, mounted on tho shoulders of one of his stoutest henchmen, announces

! that he intends to buy, and starts the bidding, which (despite the proverbial I phrase, “ A Dutch auction') is conducted exactly in English fashion. “ One cent- for the first lot," otters the ringleader of the crowd. The auctioneer smiles (for a cent is a fifth of a penny), but no more bids are forthcoming. In vain does lie extol the tone of the piano, the strength of the chairs and the springiness of their cushions ; no one in the company will improve on the first bid. Should an unsophisticated bystander happen to fancy he can get a bargain and “ go one better," bis hat. gets aoei lentally off or his voice drowned in vociferous cries of “ One cent ! one cent I" and in the confusion the auctioneer cannot recognise who it is that has made the oiler. With patience exhausted and temper sorely tried, tho official's hammer J descends at last’ and Lot No. I is gravely | booked as having rea'ised “ one cenr." j The succeeding lots fare no better ; tho same solitary cent is the highest for each, and in the end the waggon-load of furniture that has perhaps fetched fourpeuce in all, is dragged away by the triumphant Socialists to their “comrade's" house, leaving the Government to pay the auctioneer and all the costs of cartage and advertising.