The 30th Annual New England Regional Gathering of
War Tax Resisters and Supporters will be held
in Amherst,
Massachusetts.
The conference will focus on “strategizing new directions for war tax
resistance,” and features a Friday evening presentation by Frida Berrigan. The
gathering is open to the public. If you’d like more information, ask
Jason Rawn or
Daniel Sicken.
The following month, , the national gathering of NWTRCC will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada.
More details and registration information will become available on this page.
Today’s mystery resister? A Monsieur Bidault of Rambouillet. From the
Sheffield Evening Telegraph on
:
Tax Resister.
Barricades Himself Against the Collector.
“Fort Bidault,” at Rambouillet, in which
M. Bidault has
barricaded himself against tax collectors, has not yet been taken (says a
Paris message ).
The villa is surrounded by police, and the authorities hope to starve the
proprietor into surrendering.
It is said at Rambouillet that
M. Bidault had
anticipated this manœuvre by laying in an immense stock of provisions and
fuel, and as he is a vegetarian it is thought likely he may be able to hold
out for some time yet.
The brief article seems to assume the reader knows all about this saga from
earlier installations, but I haven’t been able to find much. A later
dispatch, from the
Hull Daily Mail reads:
M. Bidault, the landed proprietor who is defying French tax-collectors at Rambouillet has not yet surrendered, and, secure in his barricaded villa, declares he will shoot anyone who attempts to enter the premises.
The tax levied upon M. Bidault amounts to £12.
I did eventually find an article about the case in a French paper (the Journal du Loiret of ).
It says that Bidault tried to sneak out and replenish his food stocks from the local meat market, whereupon the authorities swept in and arrested him on the way home.
They appointed a psychiatrist to inquire into Bidault’s mental health:
Le contibuable récalcitrant
Rambouillet. — Le commissaire de police de
Rambouillet a mis hier en état d’arrestation
M. Bidault, le propriétaire
ennemi du fisc qui, lors de la visite du commissaire de police et de
l’huissier chargé d’instrumenter contre lui, sur la réquisition du percepteur,
avait tiré un coup de fusil et s’était ensuite barricadé chez lui.
A midi, Bidault quittait sa villa et se rendait dans une charcuterie proche de
la gare de Rambouillet, pour y acheter diverses marchandises. Averti par la
bonne d’un voisin, le commissaire de police, se rendit en hâte rue Gambetta,
pour se saisir du contribuable récalcitrant, à son retour. Quand celui-ci
parut, le commissaire de police, aidé de
M. Toubault, jardinier, et de
M. Massé, employé à la mairie
de Rambouillet , s’assura de la personne de Bidault, lui passa le cabriolet au
poignet droit et, craignant, qu’il ne fût porteur d’armes, le fouilla
immédiatement… Mais il ne trouva sur lui que deux côtelettes et un mauvais
couteau de poche.
Un médecin aliéniste sera désigné pour examiner l’état mental de cet ennemi du
fisc.
