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Show IHrVliaiBUr1 3. il jtj - i!. " m.Mj i r y.T B3wiMwaiav aaa Bh u 2Hi 4r it - tsi 'l.14 rSM. 1 4 i -mmbi Via t 9aiKya R9BI' ctl rfcj xfctaa ! !''EBja9Bil&aCaBBE B)aT03BBWBBPa?2riViaBasVKBBBBBV sV GthcfttwooffifTtfmnoorf Ml' Farm Lands of Liechtenstein, S Prtpril by th National aeoaraphto So elf ty. Waihlnstun. D. O ) it Ih n contented peoplo Indeed, who, livn their monarch would abdicate ind make them free, Insist that ho -till remain their ruler. Such an at-empted at-empted abdication and the refusal to iccept It occurred recently In Llccht-'ttsteln, Llccht-'ttsteln, one of Europe's tiniest Independent Inde-pendent states. Liechtenstein Is tucked away In he eastern Alps south of Lako Con-itnnco Con-itnnco along the upper Rhine, where hat stream runs lu, a deep valley he-ween he-ween Switzerland nnd Austria, Re-'ore Re-'ore tho World war, Austria was lomethlng more than a neighbor. Tho Ittlu domain had a customs and pos-n pos-n 1 agreement with tho larger utate ind In u very limited sense therefore Auctioned ns a part of It. Rut It hud ts own hereditary ntlcr, Prince lohnn II, Its own little duly elected parliament of 15 members, und Its nvn high courts and lesser govern-ncutnl govern-ncutnl machinery. Tli ere was another tlo with Austria, though In a way 'It was only nccl-lental. nccl-lental. Prlace Johan owned extenslvo (states In Austria nnd by virtue of their ownership sat In tho Austrian jpper house. Rut Johan also owned largo estates In Germany. In fact the aggregate acreage of his estates .n various countries ntnouuteu to fifty times the area ef land of which ho rvas monarch with Its 42 square miles, its greatest length of 10 miles nnd its treatcflt width of . Cynics or even mere economists may find In Jolmn's extenslvo land holdings a reason for hta high plnco tn the affections of his people. Without With-out seriously feeling tho drnln on hts largo Income he has virtually "run" Liechtenstein from his private purso so that only the most nominal taxation taxa-tion Is known ln the little land. Three-quarters of a century ago the Inhabitants petitioned for an entertainment enter-tainment fund nnd the prince granted a subsidy, perhaps with a smile. It was used thereafter Co decorato and Illuminate Vaduz, the Paris of Liechtenstein, Liecht-enstein, when he visited there. Overlooked by Bismarck. In the AiiHtro-PruasInn war back In the elghteen-slxtles Liechtenstein enst her lot with her ally, Austria. Her entire population bravely said good-hy to her soldier boys, und the entire standing army of four score men marched off to battle. Rut thoy arrived ar-rived after the war waa over. When It came to making peace terms Rlsmnrck nodded, for once, and little Liechtenstein was completely forgotten. It was Just us well, or she might not have retained her freedom. Rut, apparently, sho Is determined not to be Ignored again. Her army marched homo again, stacked their muskets and hung their leather helmets, Lie bugler's trumpet nnd the captain's sword In tho ancient castle of Vaduz, where thnv rinuiln today. Tho citizenry informed Uio prince they wanted no more of war. llo abolished military services and alnre then "disarmament" has been complete In Liechtenstein, though, technically, the country has been at war with Prussia since 1800. Not only are there virtually no taxes In Liechtenstein, but the emin-try emin-try bus no public debt. A small levy Is made for keeping up the dikes lest the Rhino overflows her fields la springtime. Customs nnd the ready generosity of her monarch keep her treasury filled. This quaint, but eleclnc-Ilghted nn tlon, with its roadaide shrine nnd moOern type wi Iters, la somewhat smaller than the District of Columbia. It Is elongated, as If by pressure of Irs neighbor nations, Austria and Switzerland, suggesting Mnrk Twain's complnint about another land where, he said, "people had to sleep with their knees pulled up because they couldn't stretch out without n passport," pass-port," Travelers Paes It By. Two fiefs of the Roman empire, Schellenberg rwi Vaduz, make up the latter day Liechtenstein. Roth rami Into p.iHKCHsion of the Liechtenstein fiuxlly while fhelr previous overlords over-lords were financially einbarrnsfed. Jinny travelers pasoetl through '.? little fctale. within a sight of the Vntlui castle mounted on Its white cliff pedestal, for the route to Davos Jloa that way. Rut hardly any of the) trnveliTs stopped. When Robert Bliiukli'to Klfcpd thre not many years ngo ho was welcomed aa tho Br first American to set foot In th 9Jr country. Br Yet Liechtenstein, small ns It K B larger than the oft visited MoiMeo Bt or tho much written about MarhMk MB Its pennants nro simple, stwrdy, B shrewd folk, Intensely proud at Uwtr Br "brlght stone of tho Alps," There tra jBJ Eoi schools, even to kindergartens, BJ and the abundant water power Make. BJ (dectrlclty Available to the huiuhltat BJ residents of Vaduz or the atttakVar flj tdwna. BJ' Cattle ralhlng -and agriculture ar BJ (w Industries. The stalwart me V ure not to lw misjudged by the fact HJ that nearly all ot them wear carrra. BJ n custom which probably fol Mat BJ way up from Ituly. BJ The people of I.lcchtcnstcla apeak BJ German, but It Is n German .bereft t BJ much of Its harshness and coatamloc BJ many romance words. Only a very M few of the ten thousand InhabHaMa BJ nro mora than moderately weR-te-4. BJ There nro scarcely any servanda. BJ Most of tho members of parltaaMMt BJ snw their own wood nnd do their own HJ "chores." Hardly ever Is an indigent HJ person seen, add crime la reduced te a HJ minimum. I Ha Farms In the Rhine Valley. ', Most of tho villages ef LlecMea HJ Btcln, well built and acrupuloaaly HJ clean, nro to be found In the Rhine HJ valley. On the valley floor are fanagi HJ nnd gardens nnd meadows, wkHe n HI the hillsides extend vineyard and H orchards nnd pasture lands, farther HJ back rise the Liechtenstein Alps fren- HJ whose dopes nnd peaks one may ar HM vcy nenrly the whole of the HtlM- HJl principality nnd took far off Into H Switzerland to tbe west, j HU In tho matter of goivrnmcntal ma He cblnery little Liechtenstein Is cow HJ pletely fitted out with a nearly up-to- HI tlic-minuto model. Of tho flfic?a H member of parliament the prince HW names throe and tho remainder an Bt elected, In the election every man B over twenty-four yeuin of age vetca Bj nnd proportional representation Is Bj practiced. A governor sits an the flj prince's representative and about htm Bj Is grouped his little cnltlnet whom Bj mcmhoi-H dear such high sotwdlmc B names nn wrrctnry of state, chancel B lor of the exchequer, chlor Justice. flj state engineer, and eminently MM Bj In mountainous Liechtenstein J- fl rector of forests. And ns a last store! fl In modern government, their eanncH H chamber Is fitted up with n long-!l. toncc telephono so thnt their raonarrh fl can sit in Vienna, or Munich, or Rer- B tin, or Paris, and still hnve a prlnoa- B ly finger in the political pie. fl |