Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1863-10-06

storing the Dhla0Cs 'DetWeen merIlan0lsc
and money. The first effects OF this maxi
muu had been most disastrous, and had oc-
ca~inned the shutting up of Il great number
of ships. by establishing o tariff for ~ tic!e-
Of prime necessity the government had reach
cl naly those goods which hai been delivered
10 tho retail dealer, and we're ready to pass
from the hand Of the latter into those Of tie
consumer. But the retailer who had bGurht
them from the wholesale dealer before Tho
maximum, and at higher price than thai Of the
tariff, suffered! enormous losses and comniain:
ed bitterly. Even whcn he had bought after
the maximum the less Sustained bv him was
not .!c less. In fact. in Tire thrift Of crm,noli
tirs. called goods Of primary necessity, they
were rot specified until wrought and ready to
hcconsanIed, and itwas not till they had arrived
at this latter stage that their price was fzel-
Bus it was not said what price they should
bear in their raw form, what price should be
paid to the workman who wrought them, to
the carrier or the navigator who transported
them. Consequently Y shoy retailer. who was
obliged In sell to :he consumer according to
tie tariff, end who could not treat with the
workman, +he manufacturer, the wholesale
dealer. according to the same tariff, could rot
possibly continue So Cisadrantageous a tradc.
Most Of the tradesmcn shut up their shops or
evadcd the law By fraud. They sold only
goods OF the worst quality at the mnrin,,,ia. and
reserved the hest for those who came secretly 10
pa for them at their proper. value.
Reform or THE MAXIMUM.
Ibid 500 The Convention urged to reform
the law Of marim"m devised new one, which
went back To the raw material. 1t required
that statement should he made out Of the
cost price of goods in 100. on the spot where
they We're rrcluccl. tn this price were t.
he added in the first place, one third nn ac.
count Of circumstances; secondly, fixed sum
rrr carriage from tie place of production to
the plac" Of consumption: thirdly and lastly
Eve per cont Cor the profit Of The wholcSalc
dealer, and ten for the retailer. Gu! Of all
these elements was to lie composed, for the
future. hc price of articles Of the first ne
cnssity. An indemnity was granted to every
retail dealer. who. pos>essin.a a capital of ten
thousand francs, could prove thnt he had lost
that capital by the m1rimnm. The communeS
were Ia Judge Of the case by actual inspcr.
rion. u method always adopted in times Of
Drtator-hip. Thus this law-without vet 20
ing back TO the production, to the raw maze
rial, ~ WORKMANSHIP ip-iiycl the price Of mcr-
cLanlisc on leaving the mandatory. RE
price of carriage. and the profit Of the whole
sale ani retail dealer. and. hv absolute rules.
made comrensaticn, for the ficklcnrSs nf ma
ture. ir M least half Of the social operations.
But all this, we repeat. proceeded inevitably
from the first mdrimum-thc first marimum
from the assiGnats, and the assgnats from the
imrerativc W. nts Of the Revolution.
HOW IT WORRIED.
Tvol 81, l24 We lav" already seen what
were the principal alincohvenienrcs resulting from
the ra0rimum-two markets. tho one public, in
which the dealers expose only their worst goods
and on the least pnssihe quantity: the other
clandestine in which they sel ell their best
commodities for money and at n FREQ price: y
general boarding Of goods, which the farmers
contrve 10 withdraw, notwithstanding the Mt
most vigilance OF the agents authorized TO make
acquisitions lastly arrangement aud stngna
ton in manufactures, because tho makers were
not indemnifed by the price fixed upon their pro
auctions for the mere cost of fabrication. All
these inccnveniencrs'of double commerce. of
the boarding articles of bsistence, Gfthn stag.
nation of manufactures had kept constantly
increasing In every trade two sorts of traffics
were established The one public and insuffi-
cient. the other secret and usurious There were
two qualities Of bread, two qualities Of meat, two
two qualities Of everything: one for the rich
who could pay in money or afford higher
price than the ma1iwum: the other for the poor
the artisan. the annnitant, who could give only
the nominal value Of the assignat. The farmers
became daily more and more ingenious in saving
their commodities they made false dccIara-
tians; they did not thresh their corn, alleging
the want OF hands-a want that was really fell,
for the war had absorbed more than fifteen
hundred thonsard men; they insisted OH tho
shortness of the harvest, which haa not turned
out 50 favorable as it had been expected to prove
in the early par; Of the year, when, at the festival
Of thc Supreme Being. thanks had heen offered
up TO Heaven. for the victories OF the Republic
and the abundance Of the crops.
AS for the manufacturers they had entirely
suspended their operations. We hare seen that
in the preceding year, the law. to avoid being
unjust to the shopkecpers, had hecn obliged to
90 back to the makers. and to fix the price Cf
goods on the spot where they were manufactured
aiding to these prices the cost of carriage. But
this law had in its turn become unjust The
raw material and workmanship having risen like
every thing else, the manufacturers could 70
longer find means to defray their expenses. and
had suspended their business. TIE merchants
had done the Same. The freight on East India
goods for example. had risen from $50 to 800
fanrs per ton: insurauces from and 6 per cent
t. ~ aud GO OF course they could no longer
sell goods brought into ports ut the price fixed by
the marimam and they declined importing alto
Cc,rr As we have had occasion to rrmark
elsewhere. i one price ,rGs .forred, aN ongh; I"
hare bcsu forrrd, and thm ~as impossible.
Time had disclosed uthcr inconvcrienres
peculiar to the marimun. The price of corn
had been fixed in uniform manner through
uut all Fr;nae. But the production of corn
being uncqually costly and abundant in. the
different provinces the rate bore no proportion
to the localities. The power left to tue mu-
inequalities to fix the prices of all merchandise,
produced an,tkcr kind "f disorder. When
commodities were scarce in ono commune, the
authorities raised their prices; goods were
then brought thithfr to the prejudice of tho
neighhnrirg communes. so. that there was
sometimes glut in one place and dearth in
another, ut the pleasure of the regulator o!
the tariff; and the movements Of commerce.
instead of being regular and natural, were
capricinus, unequal and convulsive.
THE IScoSvENIEScEs CORRECTED.
Ibid, p. lG2; The Convention then strove
to correct the more serious inconvenences of
the maximum. Some voices already cried out
for it's abolition: hut the fear of a dispropor-
Tomato rise Of prices prevented the Assembly
from yielding to this impulse of the reactors.
l. merely considered how to modify the law
The mQrimam had contributed to ruin com
lncrce, because, in conforming to the tariff,
the merchants could not recover either the
price of freight or that OF insurance. -1n con-
sequence. all colonial goods, all commodities
of primary necessity, all raw material import
ell from abroad. were released from the mari-
mnn and from acquisitions, and might be sold
at free price to any person whatever. The
same favor was granted 10 merchandise taken
in prizes. which lay in ports without finding
sale. The uniform marimum OF corn was at
tended with serious Inconvenience. The
production OF corn being more costly
and less abundant in certain provinces. th:
prices received by the farmers in these pro-
vinccs did not even repay their expenses. 1t
was decided that the price of corn should vary
in each department., according to the standard
of 100, but that it should be twc-thirds high
er.