登陆注册
14926100000191

第191章

Accordingly, lean cattle, poor implements, and bad manure-heaps even among those who might have been better off."[30] - " If I earned any more," says a peasant, "it would be for the collector." Annual and illimitable spoliation "takes away even the desire for comforts." The majority, pusillanimous, distrustful, stupefied, "debased," "differing little from the old serfs,[31]" resemble Egyptian fellahs and Hindoo pariahs. The fisc, indeed, through the absolutism and enormity of its claims, renders property of all kinds precarious, every acquisition vain, every accumulation delusive; in fact, proprietors are owners only of that which they can hide.

V. INDIRECT TAXES.

The salt-tax and the excise.

The tax-man, in every country, has two hands, one which visibly and directly searches the coffers of tax-payers, and the other which covertly employs the hand of an intermediary so as not to incur the odium of fresh extortions. Here, no precaution of this kind is taken, the claws of the latter being as visible as those of the former;according to its structure and the complaints made of it, I am tempted to believe it more offensive than the other. - In the first place, the salt-tax, the excises and the customs are annually estimated and sold to adjudicators who, purely as a business matter, make as much profit as they can by their bargain. In relation to the tax-payer they are not administrators but speculators; they have bought him up. He belongs to them by the terms of their contract; they will squeeze out of him, not merely their advances and the interest on their advances, but, again, every possible benefit. This suffices to indicate the mode of levying indirect taxes. - In the second place, by means of the salt-tax and the excises, the inquisition enters each household. In the provinces where these are levied, in Ile-de-France, Maine, Anjou, Touraine, Orleanais, Berry, Bourbonnais, Bourgogne, Champagne, Perche, Normandy and Picardy, salt costs thirteen sous a pound, four times as much as at the present day, and, considering the standard of money, eight times as much[32]. And, furthermore, by virtue of the ordinance of 1680, each person over seven years of age is expected to purchase seven pounds per annum, which, with four persons to a family, makes eighteen francs a year, and equal to nineteen days' work: a new direct tax, which, like the taille, is a fiscal hand in the pockets of the tax-payers, and compelling them, like the taille, to torment each other. Many of them, in fact, are officially appointed to assess this obligatory use of salt and, like the collectors of the taille, these are "jointly responsible for the price of the salt." Others below them, ever following the same course as in collecting the taille, are likewise responsible. "After the former have been seized in their persons and property, the speculator fermier is authorized to commence action, under the principle of mutual responsibility, against the principal inhabitants of the parish." The effects of this system have just been described. Accordingly, "in Normandy," says the Rouen parliament,[33] "unfortunates without bread are daily objects of seizure, sale and execution."But if the rigor is as great as in the matter of the taille, the vexations are ten times greater, for these are domestic, minute and of daily occurrence. - It is forbidden to divert an ounce of the seven obligatory pounds to any use but that of the "pot and the salt-cellar." If a villager should economize the salt of his soup to make brine for a piece of pork, with a view to winter consumption, let him look out for the collecting-clerks! His pork is confiscated and the fine is three hundred livres. The man must come to the warehouse and purchase other salt, make a declaration, carry off a certificate and show this at every visit of inspection. So much the worse for him if he has not the wherewithal to pay for this supplementary salt; he has only to sell his pig and abstain from meat at Christmas. This is the more frequent case, and I dare say that, for the métayers who pay twenty-five francs per annum, it is the usual case. - It is forbidden to make use of any other salt for the pot and salt-cellar than that of the seven pounds. "I am able to cite," says Letrosne, "two sisters residing one league from a town in which the warehouse is open only on Saturday. Their supply was exhausted. To pass three or four days until Saturday comes they boil a remnant of brine from which they extract a few ounces of salt. A visit from the clerk ensues and a procès-verbal. Having friends and protectors this costs them only forty-eight livres." - It is forbidden to take water from the ocean and from other saline sources, under a penalty of from twenty to forty livres fine. It is forbidden to water cattle in marshes and other places containing salt, under penalty of confiscation and a fine of three hundred livres. It is forbidden to put salt into the bellies of mackerel on returning from fishing, or between their superposed layers. An order prescribes one pound and a half to a barrel. Another order prescribes the destruction annually of the natural salt formed in certain cantons in Provence. Judges are prohibited from moderating or reducing the penalties imposed in salt cases, under penalty of accountability and of deposition. - I pass over quantities of orders and prohibitions, existing by hundreds. This legislation encompasses tax-payers like a net with a thousand meshes, while the official who casts it is interested in finding them at fault. We see the fisherman, accordingly, unpacking his barrel, the housewife seeking a certificate for her hams, the exciseman inspecting the buffet, testing the brine, peering into the salt-box and, if it is of good quality, declaring it contraband because that of the ferme, the only legitimate salt, is usually adulterated and mixed with plaster.

同类推荐
  • 天地八阳神咒经

    天地八阳神咒经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 戴施两案纪略

    戴施两案纪略

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 施公案

    施公案

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 专治麻痧初编

    专治麻痧初编

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • CLOTELLE

    CLOTELLE

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 通仙宝典

    通仙宝典

    被师妹欺压,被长老陷害,她狼狈不堪。三年之后,灵力回归,赚得稀世萌宠,她要让那些人十倍偿还!————一句话简介——————————————————一本通仙宝典成就通天仙路。
  • 王的理想乡

    王的理想乡

    什么样的世界才算是完美的。什么样的人生才算是完整的。什么样的生活才算是幸福的。没有妳的世界一切都不该存在。
  • 封尘歌

    封尘歌

    或许你在逃避,或许你已麻木,或许你会祈祷。但遗忘并不能解决问题。那抹夜色将从光明深处升起,当它降临时,醒悟也终究得不到宽恕。到那时,你只有颤抖……
  • 宇宙是棵树

    宇宙是棵树

    人类仰望的宇宙到底为何物?宇宙之中为何会产生人类?人类产生的意义是什么?人在宇宙金字塔中是否是顶端的主宰?是否金字塔的位置永恒不变?本书讲为你一一揭晓答案。
  • 少年的奇幻旅程

    少年的奇幻旅程

    选自《20世纪·成神传》,此人生来一屌丝,平时只好打游戏,一次莫名穿越,从此在异界大陆中一路成名。并且不仅仅一个位面记载过他,他也是位面之中的旅行者,不管到哪里,总会掀起一片风雨……
  • 神医庶妃:冥王独宠腹黑妻

    神医庶妃:冥王独宠腹黑妻

    她忘却前尘,以为自己便是原身。一朝梦醒,才发现这只是一场玩笑。她爱的那个人一直在她身边保护他原来不过是一场互相利用的戏她就说嘛,就她这样的棋子在各大世家里不计其数,怎么会有人注意到她呢?再次卷土重来,为的也不过是不再被人当做棋子,仅此而已……我爱你,你却不知道。当真相揭开,她却还是神界圣池中那一朵没有灵识红莲。从此他与她再无半分联系。再来,也不过是落得一个如万年之前一样的结局。
  • 怎样办好农家乐

    怎样办好农家乐

    本书内容包括:了解农家乐文化的重要性、了解农家乐市场特点、开办我的农家乐、农家乐经营理念及经营方式、农家乐规划与设计、餐饮服务内容与技巧、客房服务内容与技巧。
  • 天尘迹

    天尘迹

    顺则尘,逆弑仙。一念踏天,一念化尘。万卷书阅尽,千朝纸下魂,辰芸苍茫缘渡己,众生平等方度人。
  • 娇女毒妃

    娇女毒妃

    京都贵女满目鄙夷:“你一个乡下来的无知村姑,你有霓云坊的衣服吗?你见过熠宝轩的首饰吗?你知道人人追捧的钺王有多英俊霸气吗?”沐云瑶神色懒散:“霓云坊?我开的。熠宝轩?我开的。至于钺王……欠我的银两什么时候还?”
  • 顺水推周

    顺水推周

    一个学宋史的研究生穿越回到公元954年,本想冷眼旁观见证一段波澜壮阔的历史,但是一件件意外让他卷入了历史的浪潮之中。历史发生改变,是顺着浪潮推周驶向历史的彼岸?还是推周驶入历史的旋涡……