, 1876-01-29

ton. Money must be had, and the machinery
which brings it in most swiftly and certainly
Is the best for the time. The Assembly has
promptly voted the taxes as proposed because
1t had 30 practical alternative. There is no
reason that the coming Parliament, which will
succeed to power in a restored and liberated
country, should not revise the financial sys-
tenn at its leisure. What we are now con-
cerned with rs the fact that the two great
difficulties which confronted M. THEIRS four
years ago have been surmounted. France has
raised money to pay for the war and she has
been able to meet the annual liabilities pro-
ducsd by that operation.
Success IN this respect has been beyond q
doubt for the last two years, but one thing still
remained to be made sure-vhether the taxes
could be paid without excessive oppression and
suffering to the mass of the people. There
may be taxation which takes the elasticity
out of a people and Weakens even the springs
of enterprise. What is seer in the extreme
under an Eastern tyranny may manifest itself
in any State which, without new opportunities
of advance in wealth, adds suddenly and large
IL to its burdens. Even Great Britain felt the
financial burden left by the great war for q
quarter of a century after its close. With res
peet to France, the answer must be as favour
able as on the former point. The country is
not only able to raise the revenue demanded by
its present situatiOn-a revenue far larger than
that Of any State in the world,-but this sum is
paid with a obeerfulneSs and good will which
seem to show that no excessive sense of OPP
preston ,pervades, society. 1t would certainly
be useless. to pretend that there is no burden,
no straitness, no distress, and that France trips
lightly under its new imposts and hardly feels
them. Multitudes have gone through great
rpiuafiouc duripn tho Loot Svo vaoPo oD1 still
find 1t hard to live. The necessaries of life
have increased in price, rent is heavy, there
has been stagnatien in many trades, ruiz in
some, and these effects are in part due to the
increase OF taxation which the war has caused.
But, taking the country as a whole and the
masses rather than one or two strata among
the bo0rgeoiSse, the recovery has been beyond
all hope. The ease with which the taxes are
collected must be wonderful in the eyes of the
Ministers who proposed them, and they in
crease In product ~iveness, for the most part,
through the advance of the country in prOsperi-
ty. According to the official statement, the
Customs Revenue during the FIRST four months
Of the present year amounted to 242, 100000
francs. against 200, 900, 1000 francs during the
corresponding period of 1874. The indirect
taxes yielded q milliard, against 835, 000, 900
francs In 1874. The total Revenue Of the
State amounted to 1857, 100000 francs, against
1896, 000, 900 francs in the first four months Of
last year. These figures show the astonishing
amounts with which a French Minister of FL
NANCE now has to deal, and also the increase
wuich, is possible between one Budget and
another. The causes of this elasticity in the
resources of France have often been pointed
out in their main principles, but there is still
room for research and reflection on the subject.
The industry and frugal habits of the people,
and the peculiar gifts of their soil, are, no
doubt, the basis of the great fabric of ~solvenoy
which we behold but there are particular
influences that have operated since the war,
partly from the favour of fortune, partly from
causes due to the nature of the war itself.
The country has been favoured with ~bountiful
harvests, and with vintages both abundant and
choice the general prosperity of the world,
and even of Germany itself, has caused a great
demand for French productions, and it is evil
dent that this trade will grow largely year
by year. On the other hand. the French
have practised even more than their usual eco
nomy. People have set to work to save their
taxes by cutting down conventional expendi-
ture. and, as each mans neighbours have
Joined him, there has been. no social difficulty
in efecting q real financial relief In private
life. These and, perhaps, other causes, unite
TO produce one OF. the most remarkable vic
tories over misfortune ever achieved by a ma
ton.