Show o D fu P fJ 1 D C o oD a Farm Lands of Liechtenstein Prepared by the tha N National Geographic So So- clety Washington Wahington I D C It U is a contented people indeed who hen their monarch would abdicate inn nd make them free tree Insist that he till lUll remain their ruler Such Su h an at at- empted abdication and the refusal to It occurred recently In of ot Europe's tiniest In Inde Inde- e. e states Liechtenstein Is tucked away In he lie eastern Alps south of ot Lake Contance Con Con- tance along the upper Rhine where hat hut stream runs in a deep valley be be- Switzerland and Austria Be Be- ore the tile World war Austria was more than a neighbor The It Ittle tie domain had a customs and pos pos- al agreement with the larger state nd ul in a u very limited sense sen e therefore functioned auctioned as a part of ot It But It had hadis ts is own hereditary ruler Prince olian fohan II Its own little duly elected of ot 15 members and Its wn ova hl high h courts and lesser governmental govern govern- mental machinery There was another tie with Austria hough lough In a wa way it was ryas o only PrIce Johan owned extensive states In Austria and by virtue of heir ownership hiI sat In the Austrian apper house But Dut Joh Johan n also owned Large irge estates In Germany In fact the he 10 aggregate acreage acreage of ot his estates n various countries amounted to fifty Mmes Imes mes the area of f f land Im of which hea he heas hems a ms as monarch with with Its 42 square miles Its s greatest length of ot 15 13 miles mUes and Its Its' greatest width of 6 9 S. C Cynics or even en mere economists may find I In Johans Johan's extensive land landholdings holdings a reason reason for his high place ji n II the affections affections' of his I people Without With With- out Dut ut seriously feeling the drain on his large arge Income he has hns virtually f run LIechtenstein from his hi private purse so so- o that only the most nominal taxa taxa- tion on Is la known In the little land v Three-quarters Three of a century ago the inhabitants petitioned for tor nn an entertainment enter enter- fund and the prince granted a subsidy perhaps with a smile It was as used thereafter fo to decorate and illuminate luminate Vaduz the Paris of Liechtenstein Liecht- Liecht enstein when he visited there Overlooked by Bismarck In the Prussian Austro-Prussian war back In Inthe Inthe the he sIxties eighteen Liechtenstein cast caster her er lot with her hel ally Austria Her lIeI entire population bravely said sald good-by good I to o her soldier boys bos and the entire standing landing army of four score men marched of off to battle But the they arrived nr- nr rived Ived after the war was was was' over yer When It came to making peace terms erms Bismarck nodded ed for once and little Liechtenstein was completely forgotten otten It was Gras just as well or she mIght not I have I e retained her freedom But ut apparently she site is determined not noto notto notto to o he be Ignored again Her IIer army mart marched 1 home again tacked stacked their muskets and hun hung their leather helm helmets ts ta tie tte buglers bugler's trumpet and nd th the captains captain's sword In ha the ancient castle astle of Vaduz where here the they remain today oday The Informed the tAlC prince they wanted no more of war lIe e abolished military service Iceo and n since Ince then dl disarmament ha has been heen complete In Liechtenstein thou though h the country has hns been at war with Prussia la since 1866 Not only are nrc there virtually no taxes axes In Liechtenstein but the C country coun- coun try ry has hus r ro o public debt A small leI le levy levys I is s made marle for or keeping up the dikes lest lestle the le Rhine overflows her fields IB lu springtime Customs and the ready i generosity of her monarch keep her I treasury fined filled This quaint hut but lighted electric-lighted nation naon nation na- na tion on with Its roadside shrines and modern t typewriters te Is somewhat smaller mailer than the District of Columbia It t Is elongated as If by pressure of at J Jb ts neI neighbor nations Austria and Switzerland su suggesting Mark larl Twains Twain's complaint about another lan l where he e said sald people had to sleep with their heir knees pulled up lP because they couldn't stretch out without a passport pass pass- S- S port ort Travelers Pats It By Two fiefs of at the Roman Homan empire Schellenberg rod Vaduz make up the theatter latter atter da day Liechtenstein Both come carne Into P possession lon of ot the Liechtenstein r faulty while their previous overlords overlords over over- lords were financially embarrassed ed Many travelers tr passed through the Ittle state within a sight of ot the castle mounted on its white lire p pedestal for the route to Davos PS es that way avay But hardly any of ot the stopped When Robert nobert nd th there thre re not man many years ago ngo he was welcomed a as the tho first American to set foot toot In th thi country Yet Liechtenstein small as ns It is Is It larger than titan the oft visited Monaco or the much written about Marino 1 Its peasants are simple sturdy shrewd folk Intensely proud of their bright stone of ot the Alps There are areg gc g cu co schools even to kindergartens md and the abundant water ater power makes electricity available to the humblest residents of ot Vaduz or the smaller tc towns Cattle Cuttle raising and a agriculture are two In Industries The stalwart men are ure not to b be misjudged by the fact tact that nearly nil all of ot them wear earrings a custom which probably found Its Us way up from Italy The people of Liechtenstein speak German but It Is a n German bereft of ot much of ot Its harshness and containing man many romance words Only a very er few of the ten thousand inhabitants S are more than titan moderately well to There are aIe scarcely any servants Most 1 of the members of parliament saw caw w their own wood and do their own chores Hardly ever eer Is an Indigent person seen and crime Is reduced to a minimum Farms In the Rhine Valley Most ost of ot the villages of ot Liechtenstein Liechtenstein stein well built and and scrupulously clean are to be found In the Rhine valley r. r On the valle valley floor are farms and gardens and meadows while up the hillsides extend lne vineyards and orchards and pasture lands Farther back rise the Liechtenstein Alps from whose slopes and peaks one may maps survey sur survey sur vey nearly the whole of the little principality and look far off of Into Switzerland to the westIn west In the matter of ot governmental ma machinery machinery chinery little Liechtenstein Is completely com cone fitted out with a nearly up to the minute mod model l. l Of Ot the fifteen L members of parliament the prince names s three and the remainder are elected In the election every manover manover man over oyer twenty-four twenty years of ot age votes and proportional representation presentation IJ Is I practiced A governor go sits as the the princes prince's representative e and about him Is la grouped grouper his little cabinet whose members bear benr such hl high h sounding I names as ns secretary of of state chancellor chancel lor for of the exchequer chief Justice state te engineer eminently and eminently fitting In dl di- di In hr mountainous Liechtenstein dI rector lector of forests And as a n last Jast word wordIn th h council In 11 modern government o their cr chanil-cr is fitted up with a a long long tance telephone so that lr monarch long I Pan an an- an sit lt In Vienna Ienna or Munich or Ber Bel Berlin lira lin or ot Paris and still have hare a n prince princely 1 ly finger in the political r pie gle Ie prInce 1 I |