by the increased taxes on other property heretofore under-assessed.

The only ones to suffer would be the landlords who now receive or demand more than a fourteenth of the value for the rent. They like to receive more than other landlords and to pay taxes on less. People of this constitution might suffer acute pain but not injustice by such a plan as we propose.

A landlord may name a high figure and may secure it; but under the new plan he would be taxed accordingly. However, in order to ask an unreasonable rent or price, he must first pay taxes on fourteen times the rent asked or on the full sale price asked. Then after paying this tax, his property might remain vacant or unsold, or he might be obliged to come down to a reasonable price in order to sell or rent. The risk would be too great to be lightly undertaken and would be apt to induce moderation where rents are now excessive. At present when rent or price demanded has no effect on taxes, there is no inducement for the owner to be reasonable and nothing to risk in asking more than a fair price.

The new plan would make it risky to attempt to "raise the rent to cover increased taxes" when every attempt to raise the rent meant a certainty of increased taxes with no certainty of greater rents from such tenants as are now paying all that they are able.

In poor neighborhoods, in cheapest buildings, unhealthy, ill-kept and in bad repair, with no conveniences and crowded like cattle trains-there is where landlords pay the lowest taxes and collect the largest rents. in advance is the rule in such places and evictions are common.

Pay

There the rents cannot be increased because they are always up to the extreme limit. In spite of the threadbare joke that it is cheaper to move than to pay rent, these tenants move out or are put out simply because they have not the money in their pockets to pay the rent. It is time that the community should use the same "busi

ness methods" on these landlords that they do on their tenants and tax them proportionately.

One of the greatest factors in maintaining excessive rents is the landlord or agent controlling a large number of tenements, who figures that he will make more money by holding his tenements at say half more than they are worth even if say a quarter of them remain vacant, than he would if he rented them all at a moderate figure. A few of such men controlling a large number of tenements are sufficient to keep rents above their normal figures.

The new plan would tax them according to their demands on all their houses, including vacant ones, and after deducting the total taxes from the total rents, the extortionate landlords would be as badly or worse off than if all their houses were rented at moderate figures and taxed accordingly.

Our remedy would be applied where it would do the most good, that is, where rents are the most excessive.

The

Moderation of rents would encourage and enable poor people_to establish and maintain homes. home is the foundation on which government is built. The preservation of the home is a necessity, its regulation is a right, and its improvement is a duty of the government. In a thousand ways the government now does these things and it even reduces or subordinates the rights, liberties, and privileges of the individual to the interests of the home and the community.

For instance: In many states it grants to married men exemptions that it refuses to single men. Its laws encourage and facilitate the performance of the marriage ceremony much more than they impede or restrict it. When once a couple is married, however, no matter how discordant, miserable, and unhappy they may be, and in spite of the impossibility of harmony or even toleration, the state in every way hinders and hampers divorce or separation. The mainterance of even that excuse of a home is regarded as of more importance.

to the state than the happiness of the husband and wife forming the home.

Incidently encouraging and protecting homes, the government might wisely impose taxes as we suggest. we suggest. These might bear a little heavily though not unjustly on a few of the landlords. On the other hand, such taxing methods would lighten the load of all other taxpayers, reduce taxdodging, greediness, and deception to assessors, facilitate assessing and taxcollecting, correct present inequalities in that line, increase the public revenues, build up the vacant lots, and moderate rents. These reduced

rents would often occur where the tenants would otherwise be left homeless, penniless, and apt to become public charges of one kind or another.

Is not any one of these benefits alone worthy of the attention of any journal? When you think that all these great benefits can be accomplished without injustice to any one, can any patriotic magazine afford to ignore the subject? And you, dear reader, if you see these things as the writer sees them, then only when you have used your fullest power of word, deed, and influence to further them, may you rest serenely proud of your title a good American citizen.

A

S I have said, Nathan had great knowledge of the ways of the honey bee. He was keen for the hunt and full of resources. Part of the plowed field had been planted in corn. At that time every corn patch had also its pumpkins. In this case the pumpkin vines grew rampant underneath the corn. Their large flowers had been opened in the morning, as is their habit, but the rain had closed them. Nathan began at once to open them and look for bees that might have been caught and imprisoned when the rain closed the long tubular corrollas at the top. His search was successful,

and we soon had two bees at work in our boxes. They were somewhat benumbed and stupefied at first from their imprisonment and the coolness that followed the shower. They soon revived, however, and partook freely of the sweets which we offered them. After filling its honey-sac to its full capacity, one of them rose slowly, flying

over and around the box, and then in widening circles, and examined closely. both the box and the locality. Having completed its observation, it struck off in the same direction that the laden bee lined from the buckwheat flowers on the day before had taken. In ancther minute the second bee followed in the same line. This was what we hoped for and expected. In about fifteen minutes our first bee returned, followed closely by the second. Neither bee entered the box at once; both hovered over it and flew around it many times before alighting on the comb which was now exposed in the open box. It was a strange thing to them to

make such a discovery in such a way. Evidently they meant to be assured that it was all right. They would run no risk of an enemy or a concealed trap.

The examination having proved satisfactory, they both dropped upon the comb and began at once to take up another load to add to their stores at home. The next time back there was less hesitation about entering the box. The time taken to go and come indicated that the bee-tree was about a mile away. We had now a good general line from this point, and there was need of nothing more here. Had we remained longer we should have seen the bees alight upon the comb without hesitation, their only concern appearing to be to take possession of the whole of their find as soon as possible.

The clouds had broken away and the sun was shining. We followed the general course of our line to a point about one mile from the field where. we had lined the bees, or about the dis

tance indicated by the time taken by them to go and return. Here on an old building-place there was a clump. of rank-growing mustard in full blos

som.

There were bees on the flowers. Bees are very fond of mustard. I have known them to go three miles to work on it. We soon had some bees caught from the mustard flowers in our boxes. After filling the gathering sacs with the honey syrup and taking a little time. to examine the boxes and the surround

ings, they struck directly across a corner of the woods through which our first long line had passed. This betrayed them.

We had seen no bee-tree, but we knew it was there. Fifteen minutes

Wardsboro to Arlington, and crossing the mountain through Stratton and Sunderland.

Our wild bees led us along the old turnpike road for a hundred rods or more, and then crossed it in a direction that would strike no more cleared land until it reached the openings on the west side of the mountains in Bennington County, ten miles through the woods. On the old road at this place there had once been a meeting house. Nothing remained of it now except a

the opening in the woods was so narrow that is was impossible to make one in the open land. We judged from the manner of the bees at the box and the time it took them to go and return, that the swarm might be one-half mile or more from us through the solid woods. I suggested to Nathan that our only possible chance to find it that day was to start at once into the woods and search for it on the only line that we had. We were soon deep in the forest, glancing into the trees as we passed. I had