第821章

The national agents are ordered to draft the necessary number of men to break the ice around the water-mills.[134] A requisition is made for "all the barley throughout the length and breadth of the Republic， " this must be utilized to produce "the mixture for making bread，"while the brewers are forbidden to use barley in the manufacture of beer； the starch makers are forbidden to convert potatoes into starch， with penalty of death against all offenders "as destroyers of alimentary produce；" the breweries and starch-factories[135] are to be closed until further notice. Paris must have grain， no matter of what kind， no matter how， and at any cost， not merely in the following week， but to-morrow， this very day， because hunger chews and swallows everything， and it will not wait. - Once the grain is obtained， a price must be fixed which people can pay. Now， the difference between the selling and cost price is enormous； it keeps on increasing as the assignat declines and it is the government which pays this. "You furnish bread at three sous，" said Dubois-Crancé， Floréal 16， year III，[136] "and it costs you four francs. Paris consumes 8，000quintals of meal daily， which expenditure alone amounts to 1，200millions per annum." Seven months later， when a bag of flour brings 13，000 francs， the same expenditure reaches 546 millions per month. -Under the ancient régime， Paris， although overgrown， continued to be an useful organism； if it absorbed much， it elaborated more； its productiveness compensated for what it consumed， and， every year， instead of exhausting the public treasury it poured 77 millions into it. The new régime has converted it into a monstrous canker in the very heart of France， a devouring parasite which， through its six hundred thousand leeches， drains its surroundings for a distance of forty leagues， consumes one-half the annual revenue of the State， and yet still remains emaciated in spite of the sacrifices made by the treasury it depletes and the exhaustion of the provinces which supply it with food.

Always the same alimentary system， the same long lines of people waiting at， and before， dawn in every quarter of Paris， in the dark， for a long time， and often to no purpose， subject to the brutalities of the strong and the outrages of the licentious！ On the 9th of Thermidor， the daily trot of the multitude in quest of food has lasted uninterruptedly for seventeen months， accompanied with outrages of the worst kind because there is less terror and less submissiveness， with more obstinacy because provisions at free sale are dearer， with greater privation because the ration distributed is smaller， and with more sombre despair because each household， having consumed its stores， has nothing of its own to make up for the insufficiencies of public charity. - And to cap it all， the winter of 1794-1795 is so cold[137] that the Seine freezes and people cross the Loire on foot.

Rafts no longer arrive and， to obtain fire-wood， it is necessary "to cut down trees at Boulogne， Vincennes， Verrières， St. Cloud， Meudon and two other forests in the vicinity." Fuel costs "four hundred francs per cord of wood， forty sous for a bushel of charcoal， twenty sous for a small basket. The needy are seen in the streets sawing the wood of their bedsteads to cook with and to keep from freezing." On the resumption of transportation by water amongst the cakes of ice "rafts are sold as fast as the raftsmen can haul the wood out of the water， the people being obliged to pass three nights at the landing to get it， each in turn according to his number." "On Pluvi？se 3 at least two thousand persons are at the Louviers landing，" each with his card allowing him four sticks at fifteen sous each. Naturally， there is pulling， hauling， tumult and a rush； "the dealers take to flight for fear， and the inspectors come near being murdered；" they get away along with the police commissioner and "the public helps itself."Likewise， the following day， there is "an abominable pillage；" the gendarmes and soldiers placed there to maintain order， "make a rush for the wood and carry it away together with the crowd." Bear in mind that on this day the thermometer is sixteen degrees below zero， that one hundred， two hundred other lines of people likewise stand waiting at the doors of bakers and butchers， enduring the same cold， and that they have already endured it and will yet endure it a month and more.