第989章

There is an end to a domestic inquisition. The excise man no longer pounces in on the housewife to taste the pickle， to find out whether the ham has been cured with bogus salt， to certify that all the dutiable salt has been used in "the pot and the salt-cellar." The wine-inspector no longer comes suddenly on the wine-grower， or even on the consumer， to gauge his casks， to demand an account of what he drinks， to make an affidavit in case of deficit or over-consumption， to impose a fine should a bottle have been given to a sick person or to a poor one. The 50，000 customs officers or clerks of the ferme， the 23，000 soldiers without a uniform who， posted in the interior along a line of 1200 leagues， guarded the heavily taxed salt districts against the provinces which were less taxed， redeemed or free， the innumerable employees at the barriers， forming a confused and complicated band around each province， town， district or canton， levying on twenty or thirty different sorts of merchandise forty-five principal duties， general， provincial， or municipal， and nearly sixteen hundred tolls， in short， the entire body of officials of the old system of indirect taxation has almost wholly disappeared. Save at the entrance of towns， and for the octroi the eye no longer encounters an official clerk. The carters who， from Roussillon or Languedoc， transport a cask of wine to Paris， are no longer subject to his levies， humiliations and moods in twenty different places， nor to ascribe to him the dozen or fifteen days' useless extension of their trip due to his predecessor， and during which they had to wait in his office until he wrote a receipt or a permit. There is scarcely any one now but the inn-keeper who sees his green uniform on his premises. After the abolition of the house-inventory， nearly two millions of proprietors and wine métayers are forever free of his visits；[49] from now on， for consumers， especially for the people， he seems absent and non existent. In effect， he has been transferred one or two hundred leagues off， to the salt-establishments in the interior and on the coasts， and on the frontier.

There only is the system at fault， nakedly exposing its vice， - a war against exchanges， the proscription of international commerce， prohibition pushed to extreme， the continental blockade， an inquisition of 20，000 customs officials， the hostility of 100，000defrauders， the brutal destruction of seized goods， an augmentation in price of 100 % on cottons and 400% on sugar， a dearth of colonial articles， privation to the consumer， the ruin of the manufacturer and trader， and accumulated bankruptcies one after the other in 1811 in all the large towns from Hamburg to Rome.[50] This vice， however， belongs to the militant policy and personal character of the master；the error that taints the external side of his fiscal system does not reach the internal side. After him， under pacific reigns， it is gradually modified； prohibition gives way to protection and then changes from excessive protection to limited protection. France remains， along with secondary improvements and partial amendments， on the course marked out by the Consulate and the Empire； this course， in all its main lines， is clearly traced， straight， and yet adapted to all things， by the plurality， establishment， distribution， rate of taxation and returns of the various direct and indirect taxes， nearly in conformity with the new principles of political economy， as well as in conformity with the ancient maxims of distributive justice， carefully directed between the two important interests that have to be cared for， that of the people who pays and of the State which collects.

Consider， in effect， what both have gained. - In 1789， the State had a revenue of only 475 millions； afterwards， during the Revolution， it scarcely collected any of its revenues； it lived on the capital it stole， like a genuine brigand， or on the debts it contracted， like a dishonest and insolvent bankrupt. Under the Consulate and during the first years of the Empire， its revenue amounts to 750 to 800 millions， its subjects being no longer robbed of their capital， while it no longer runs in debt. - In 1789， the ordinary taxpayer paid a direct tax to his three former or late sovereigns， namely， to the King， the clergy and the seigniors， more than three-quarters of his net income.