In fact they drink water only， use rape-seed oil for soup and for light， never taste butter， and dress themselves in materials made of the wool and hair of the sheep and goats they raise. They purchase nothing save the tools necessary to make the fabrics of which these provide the material. On another metayer-farm， on the confines of la Marche and Berry， forty-six laborers cost a smaller sum， each one consuming only the value of twenty-five francs per annum. We can judge by this of the exorbitant share appropriated to themselves by the Church and State， since， at so small a cost of cultivation， the proprietor finds in his pocket， at the end of the year， six or eight sous per arpent out of which， if plebeian， he must still pay the dues to his seignior， contribute to the common purse for the militia， buy his taxed salt and work out his corvée and the rest. Towards the end of the reign of Louis XV in Limousin， says Turgot，[3] the king derives for himself alone "about as much from the soil as the proprietor." In a certain election-district， that of Tulle， where he abstracts fifty-six and one-half per cent. of the product， there remains to the latter forty-three and one-half per cent. thus accounting for "a multitude of domains being abandoned."It must not be supposed that time renders the tax less onerous or that， in other provinces， the cultivator is better treated. In this respect the documents are authentic and almost up to the latest hour.
We have only to take up the official statements of the provincial assemblies held in 1787， to learn by official figures to what extent the fisc may abuse the men who labor， and take bread out of the mouths of those who have earned it by the sweat of their brows.
II. LOCAL CONDITIONS.
State of certain provinces on the outbreak of the Revolution. - The taille， and other taxes.- The proportion of these taxes in relation to income.- The sum total immense.
Direct taxation alone is here concerned， the tailles， collateral taxes， poll-tax， vingtièmes， and the pecuniary tax substituted for the corvée[4] In Champagne， the tax-payer pays on 100 livres income fifty-four livres fifteen sous， on the average， and in many parishes，[5]
seventy-one livres thirteen sous. In the Ile-de-France， "if a taxable inhabitant of a village， the proprietor of twenty arpents of land which he himself works， and the income of which is estimated at ten livres per arpent it is supposed that he is likewise the owner of the house he occupies， the site being valued at forty livres."[6] This tax-payer pays for his real taille， personal and industrial， thirty-five livres fourteen sous， for collateral taxes seventeen livres seventeen sous， for the poll-tax twenty-one livres eight sous， for the vingtièmes twenty-four livres four sous， in all ninety-nine livres three sous， to which must be added about five livres as the substitution for the corvée， in all 104 livres on a piece of property which he rents for 240 livres， a tax amounting to five-twelfths of his income.
It is much worse on making the same calculation for the poorer generalities. In Haute-Guyenne，[7] "all property in land is taxed for the taille， the collateral taxes， and the vingtièmes， more than one-quarter of its revenue， the only deduction being the expenses of cultivation； also dwellings， one-third of their revenue， deducting only the cost of repairs and of maintenance； to which must be added the poll-tax， which takes about one-tenth of the revenue； the tithe， which absorbs one-seventh； the seigniorial rents which take another seventh； the tax substituted for the corvée； the costs of compulsory collections， seizures， sequestration and constraints， and all ordinary and extraordinary local charges. This being subtracted， it is evident that， in communities moderately taxed， the proprietor does not enjoy a third of his income， and that， in the communities wronged by the assessments， the proprietors are reduced to the status of simple farmers scarcely able to get enough to restore the expenses of cultivation." In Auvergne，[8] the taille amounts to four sous on the livre net profit； the collateral taxes and the poll-tax take off four sous three deniers more； the vingtièmes， two sous and three deniers；the contribution to the royal roads， to the free gift， to local charges and the cost of levying， take again one sou one denier， the total being eleven sous and seven deniers on the livre income， without counting seigniorial dues and the tithe. "The bureau， moreover， recognizes with regret， that several of the collections pay at the rate of seventeen sous， sixteen sous， and the most moderate at the rate of fourteen sous the livre. The evidence of this is in the bureau； it is on file in the registry of the court of excise， and of the election-districts. It is still more apparent in parishes where an infinite number of assessments are found， laid on property that has been abandoned， which the collectors lease， and the product of which is often inadequate to pay the tax." Statistics of this kind are terribly eloquent. They may be summed up in one word. Putting together Normandy， the Orleans region， that of Soissons， Champagne， Ile-de-France， Berry， Poitou， Auvergne， the Lyons region， Gascony， and Haute-Guyenne， in brief the principal election sections， we find that out of every hundred francs of revenue the direct tax on the tax-payer is fifty-three francs， or more than one-half[9]. This is about five times as much as at the present day.
III. THE COMMON LABORER.
Four direct taxes on the common laborer.
