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were disappointed. The mass of the people, who are the great consumers both of domestic and of foreign products, would gain so much in their consuming power as to cause the revenue from dutiable imports to become greater than it had ever been before, even if we take off fifty million dollars of taxes now derived from such foreign imports as have been named above.

Again, while the ordinary expenditures of the Government may increase with the population, the burden of interest and of pensions will soon rapidly diminish; therefore I am justified in predicting that if this policy should be adopted and continue for fifteen years or during the life of existing machinery, in which interval all our processes of manufacturing would be readily adapted to the new conditions at a diminishing cost, we might then, if we chose, relieve every article of import from foreign countries from taxation, except spirits, beer, tobacco, and sugar, and perhaps relieve sugar by substituting some other less onerous tax, as the people of Great Britain have done within a very few years.

We might come to these conditions sooner if it were expedient, provided the mass of the people could be persuaded to put a moderate duty on tea and coffee as a substitute for duties on some other commodities. This, however, can hardly be expected; the great objection to the present removal of the duty on sugar is that, once off, it would be difficult to put it on again even if the public should become convinced that they had better put a tax on sugar than on wool, hides, lumber, leather, tin plates, salt fish, potatoes, and other articles of like kind.

Strange as it may seem, a small part of the members of the Senate and House of Representatives seem to believe that the dogma of "protection with incidental revenue" has some foundation in right and justice-notably the author of this catch-word or phrase, who has been pushed into temporary prominence as Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means by the very sincerity of his convictions.

The greater part of the support of this measure is, however, given by the mis-representatives of their respective States, who can only be designated as political lacqueys or time-servers, many of whom are known to vote against their own convictions.

It happens that most of the representatives on the Democratic side who have not heretofore agreed with the majority of their own number upon this question, have either been removed by death or by failure to be re-elected. Hence comes the necessity for a choice of parties, if this question is to be the paramount one in politics. It is a pity, even a shame, that a plain, practical business question can not be taken out from party politics to be settled on its merits. What is there that we can do to bring this about? This is a meeting of representative business men who have here

tofore voted, some with one party, some with another. Some are called protectionists, some are classed as free-traders, yet all may come to a practicable agreement on practical methods of tariff reform. If that agreement could be brought into effect both here and elsewhere, to the end that every candidate for election to Congress or to the Senate of the United States, whether named Republican or Democratic, would be given to understand that his election would depend upon his giving his support to methods of tariff reform which are consistent with common sense, such as I have attempted to bring before you, we might feel perfectly sure that the average candidate on either side would hasten to get the benefit of the first conversion to these views.

In the great struggle by which personal liberty was established, the men at arms knew no difference between Republican and Democrat. Loyalty to the principle of liberty was the sole test by which men were justified or condemned. May we not establish the same test in the struggle for relief from the burden of obstruction and destructive taxation?

When in the fullness of time, with due preparation, with careful consideration, and with consistent regard to all existing conditions, the object may be attained which is aimed at by every intelligent protectionist, tariff reformer, and free-trader alike; when all the conditions precedent have been safely established on the lines upon which we may now enter-we may begin the next century free from slavery, free from debt, free from destructive taxation, free from the cruel burden of great standing armies and navies. Then may the people of Massachusetts and all her sister States conduct their work and serve all nations as they serve themselves, sustained and governed by the principle which is engraved upon her own great seal:

Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem.

[Concluded.]

TAKEN

SOME NATIVES OF AUSTRALASIA.*

BY ELISÉE RECLUS.

AKEN collectively, the Dayak populations differ from the civilized Malays by their slim figure, lighter complexion, more prominent nose, and higher forehead. In many communities the men carefully eradicate the hair of the face, while both sexes file, dye, and sometimes even pierce the teeth, in which are fixed gold buttons. The lobe of the ear is similarly pierced for the insertion of bits of stick, rings, crescent-shaped metal plates,

* From Oceanica, the fourteenth volume of Reclus's great illustrated work on The Earth and its Inhabitants, now in course of publication by D. Appleton & Co.

and other ornaments, by the weight of which the lobe is gradually distended down to the shoulder. In several tribes the skulls of the infants are artificially deformed by means of bamboo frames and bandages.

The simple Dayak costume of blue cotton with a three-colored stripe for border is always gracefully draped, and the black hair is usually wrapped in a red cloth trimmed with gold. Most of the Dayaks tattoo the arms, hands, feet, and thighs, occasionally also the breast and temples. The designs, generally of a beautiful blue color on the coppery ground of the body, display great taste, and are nearly always disposed in odd numbers, which, as among so many other peoples, are supposed to be lucky. Amulets of stone, filigree, and the like, are also added to the ornaments to avert misfortune. In some tribes coils of brass wire are wound round the body, as among some African peoples on the shores of Victoria Nyanza.

Many Dayak tribes are still addicted to head-hunting, a practice which has made their name notorious, and which but lately threatened the destruction of the whole race. It is essentially a religious practice-so much so that no important act in their lives seems sanctioned unless accompanied by the offering of one or more heads. The child is born under adverse influences unless the father has presented a head or two to the mother before its birth. The young man can not become a man and arm himself with the mandau, or war-club, until he has beheaded at least one victim. The wooer is rejected by the maiden of his choice unless he can produce one head to adorn their new home. The chief fails to secure recognition until he can exhibit to his subjects a head secured by his own hand. No dying person can enter the kingdom beyond the grave with honor unless he is accompanied by one or more headless companions. Every rajah owes to his rank the tribute of a numerous escort after death.

Among some tribes, notably the Bahu Trings, in the northern part of the Mahakkam basin, and the Ot-Damons of the upper Kahajan, the religious custom is still more exacting. It is not sufficient to kill the victim, but before being dispatched he must also be tortured, the corpse sprinkled with his blood, and his flesh eaten under the eyes of the priest and priestesses, who perform the prescribed rites. All this explains the terror inspired by the Dayaks in their neighbors, and the current belief that they are sprung from swords and daggers that have taken human form. With the gradual spread of Islam the Dayaks of the British and Dutch possessions are slowly abandoning their bloodthirsty usages. At the same time the head-hunters themselves, strange to say, are otherwise the most moral people in the whole of Indonesia. Nearly all are perfectly frank and honest. They scru

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pulously respect the fruits of their neighbors' labor, and in the tribe itself murder is unknown.

The population of New Guinea, variously estimated at from half a million to two millions, comprises a very large number of groups differing greatly from each other in stature, complexion,

VOL. XXXVII.-43

shape of the skull, and other physical features, as well as in their usages and mental qualities. Several tribes approach the Indonesian type, as found in Borneo and Celebes, while others resemble the Malays, and are described by travelers as belonging to this race. But, although there is no ethnical uniformity, as seemed probable from the reports of the early explorers, the Papuan element, whence the great island takes the name of Papuasia, certainly predominates over all others.

On the whole the Papuans are somewhat shorter than the Polynesians, the average height being about sixty-two to sixty-four inches. They are well proportioned, lithe, and active, and display surprising skill both in climbing trees and in using the feet for prehensile purposes. Most Papuans have a very dark skin, but never of that shiny black peculiar to the Shilluks of the White Nile, the Wolofs of Senegal, and some other African peoples. The eyebrows are well marked, the eyes large and animated, the mouth large but not pouting, the jaw massive. Among the northwestern Papuans, regarded by Wallace as representing the type in its purity, the nose is long, arched, and tipped downward at the extremity, and this is a trait which the native artists never fail to reproduce in the human effigies with which they decorate their houses and boats. Another distinctive characteristic of numerous tribes is their so-called mop-heads, formed by superb masses of frizzly hair, no less abundant than that of the Brazilian Cafusos, and, as in their case, possibly indicating racial interminglings.

However backward they may be in other respects, most of the Papuans are endowed with a highly developed artistic feeling, and as carvers and sculptors they are far superior to most of the Malayan peoples. Having at their disposition nothing but bamboos, bone, banana-leaves, bark, and wood, they usually design and carve with the grain-that is, in straight lines. Nevertheless, with these primitive materials they succeed in producing extremely elegant and highly original decorative work, and even sculpture colossal statues representing celebrated chiefs and ancestors. Thanks to this talent, they are able to reproduce vast historic scenes, and thus record contemporary events. Numerous tribes have their annals either designed on foliage or depicted on rocks in symbolic writing. The skulls of the enemies slain in battle, which are carefully preserved to decorate the houses, are themselves often embellished with designs traced on masks made of wax and resin. On the banks of the Fly River these skulls. are also used as musical instruments.

The island of Tasmania has already been completely "cleared" by the systematic destruction of its primitive inhabitants, who were estimated at about seven thousand on the arrival of the

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