e fishermen, who find
it convenient to be near their nets, and to move about according to
the needs of their calling. But a goodly proportion of these boats are
inhabited by the lowest class of the population,--poor "crackers" who
have managed to scrape together enough money to buy, or enough energy
and driftwood to build, such a craft; and, near or at the towns, many
are occupied by gamblers, illicit liquor dealers, and others who,
while plying nefarious trades, make a pretense of following the
occupation of the Apostles.

Houseboat people, whether beached or afloat, pay no rent, and
heretofore have paid no taxes. Kentucky has recently passed, more as
a police regulation than as a means of revenue, an act levying a State
tax of twenty-five dollars upon each craft of this character; and the
other commonwealths abutting upon the river are considering the policy
of doing likewise. The houseboat men have, however, recently formed
a protective association, and propose to fight the new laws on
constitutional grounds, the contention being that the Ohio is a
national highway, and that commerce upon it cannot be hampered by
State taxes. This view does not, however, affect the taxability of
"beached" boats, which are clearly squatters on State soil.

Both in town and country, the riffraff of the houseboat element are in
disfavor. It is not uncommon for them, beached or tied up, to remain
unmolested in one spot for years, with their pigs, chickens, and
little garden patch about them, mayhap a swarm or two of bees, and
a cow enjoying free pasturage along the weedy bank or on neighboring
hills. Occasionally, however, as the result of spasmodic local
agitation, they are by wholesale ordered to betake themselves to
some more hospitable shore; and not a few farmers, like our friend at
Beaver River, are quick to pattern after the city police, and order
their visitors to move on the moment they seek a mooring. For the
truth is, the majority of those who "live on the river," as the phrase
goes, have the reputation of being pilferers; farmers tell sad tales
of despoiled chicken-roosts and vegetable gardens. From fishing,
shooting, collecting chance driftwood, and leading a desultory life
along shore, like the wreckers of old they naturally fall into this
thieving habit. Having neither rent nor taxes to pay, and for the most
part not voting, and having no share in the political or social life
of landsmen, they are in the State, yet not o