A DOMESTIC TYRANT,

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9305, 4 August 1908, Page 2

A DOMESTIC TYRANT,

♦ THINGS THAT VIENNESE HAVE TO PUT UP WITH. It would seem that tlio resident of Vienna who does not wish to be out of pocket must keep early hours, for after 10 o'clock, we read, ho is taxed on catering his- own house or apartment, or, for the matter of that, any house. The sperrgeld, or door-opening tax, is hot peculiar to Vienna, but is also found in other capitals of the Continent. The two million residents oori r the Aus- j trian city are practically imprisoned in their own strongholds from ly o'clock in the evening until 6 the next morning. They may go in or out only by paying the equivalent of twopence to the janitor, or, as he is styled there, the "housemaster." . , _. , Vienna is built on the flat plan. Rich people and working people % alike live in quarters of this description. A" 6 houses are large, having five or six floors, with four flats on a. floor ; so it is not unusual to find upward of a hundred persons living under one root. There is a common entrance from, the street, and after 10 o'clock at night this door is bolted and barred. From 10 to 12 all that go in. or out must pay the tax of twopence. After 12 the charge is doubled. The tax must bo paid every time one passes through the doorway without exception. •• One who has dined with a friend must, if ho stays late pay twopence to get out of his friend's house, and twopence to get into his own. A telegram in the night requires the payment of the tax before- the messenger boy can enter. .. The housemaster also collects ana keeps duplicate copies of forms, on which every individual in the house must report to the police his age, birthplace uind religion, his exact occupation, and other personal details that the Austrian authorities insist, on knowing. Nor does the power of this important personage ©nd even here. From the little guard room that he occupies at the foot of the stairs he sees everyone that goes in or out. Ho pscertains with amazing accuracy the amount of each tenant's income, the events of his family life, and the character of his visitors. His far-reaching power enables him to terrorise every servant in the house into entering his intelligence department, and time ho spies on the innermost -life of the subjects in his five-store^r kingdom.