Evening star., 1936-01-12
Louis FOurteenth's
Brain Trust
BY Frederic ]. Haskin.

of the struggle was the crop of political
economists. From the time the problems
of war financing began and, more
especially, through the long -drawn-out
discussions incident to the peace nego-
tiations and the many international con-
ferenceS ensuing, that man could not
enter a street car or an elevator without
being hedged in on either side by an
economist or, at least, one who believed
that he was.
Yet that period was nothing to the
period of the great depression. The ag-
gregate numbers were probably doubled.
These, with the surviving economists OF
the previous period, produced an over
flowing leaven in the body polite. The
Towering came in the appointment by
President Franklin Roosevelt of the
Brain Trust. Other Presidents had
sought the advice of scholars and
scientists, but not to the extent that Mr..
Roosevelt did. The New Deal called for
new measures and especially for new
ideas. A public accustomed to Office
holders of political stamp was some.
what aStonished to find the Federal staff
more closely resembling the PROFESSIONAL
staff of a university, but the star of the
New Deal was in the ascendant and
everything went.
Now it appears interesting to note that
once upon a time there was a sort of
prototype of the Brain Trust. Louis XIV
was probably the greatest King France
ever had. A military commander Of
genius, he also was keenly interested in
the economic and fiscal aspects of his
rule. But he did not appoint his Brain
Trust. 1t consisted of one man who,
more or less, appointed himself.
X \ X
The Seigneur Pierre lie Pesant de Bois-
guilbert was born at Rouen February II.
1916, and destined to live almost exactly
the same span as Louis. He was the son
of a wealthy lawyer who also had been
ennobled. At an early age he became
magistrate of Rouen and councillor to
the King This latter title was regarded
by many provincial holders of it as
mere decoration. The young Boisguil-
bert took the appellation seriously and,
over period Of years, wrote series Of
letters to the Kings minister, Chamil-
lart, and successors, which have survived
as constituting perhaps the first COM
prehensive study of modern political
economy known. He also wrote lie De-
tail de la France" His letters and this
work are recognized as the source books
of such later political economists as
Adam Smith, who many have believed to
be the pioneer in this field. Smith was
almost 100 years late.
The tenor of Boisguilberts political
dictates is almost the reverse of some Of
those of the American New Deal. His
contention was that some of the inno-
vations which had been put into prac-
tice by ministers of the kingdom should
be abolished. and that stress should be
laid on the improvement of the condi-
ton Of the people through abolition Of
Offices and the increase Of production.
Conditions in the American Middle
West have been looked upon as bad in
the last few years. Delega lions have
come to Washington with tales of heart
stirring privation, and enormous num-
bers of once prosperous farmers have
been or are on relief. This can scarcely
be regarded as so bad as were agricul-
tural conditions in France in the seven
teenth century. La Bruyere, writing at
the very time, said:
Scattered over the country certain
wild animals, males and females. dark,
livid, and all Sun-burned, are seen bent
over the ground which they work and
which they turn with an invincible per-
They have articulate voices
and when they stand upright they dis
close human faces and, in truth, they
are men. At night they retire into dens,
where they live on black bread, water
and roots. They spare other men the
pain of sowing, of cultivating and Of
reaping."
Also, contemporaneously, ,Fenelon wrote:
The cultivation of the land is almost
the cities and the country
are depopulated all trades languish and
no longer nourish the workmen. All
is destroyed. Instead of draw
ing money from these poor people it is
necessary to give them aims and to feed
them. All France is no more than a
great almshouSe without provisions"
* x x
Boisguilbert's criticisms were directed
in large part against the bureaucracy
which had been built up among the rul-
ing class, and especially against the
taxes and the unbalanced budget. A
survey of the Orleans district showed
that, at the time, there were more off,
cialS than there were merchants still in
business. The officials numbered 7,747
and the merchants, 6,182 Within a few
years the population of Rouen, the great
industrial center, diminished from 10000
to 10000.
1t is questionable whether it is proper
to compare the multiplication of Offices
in seventeenth century France with the
of Offices under the New
Deal. There is one very large difference.
In France Offices were multiplied in
order that they might be sold to ambi-
tious persons, bringing revenue into the
treasury. Voltaire, who was born in this
period, noted that there were such Offices
as controllers in the piling of wood,
counSellorS of police, officers of barber
hairdresserS, controller visitors of fresh
butter and taSters of Salted butter. The
sorry thing about this situation, BoiS-
guilbert noted, was that these indi-
vidualS were themselves in a position to
take prerequisites and impose incidental
taxes for their own pockets. Moreover,
when a man bought an Office, he was
exempt from many taxes. Therefore,
every time a new Office was sold, while
It brought an immediate revenue to the
Crown. it narrowed the tax base and
the real producers.
Sales taxes were imposed on certain
staple articles and because the people
were too poor to pay the price of the
article and the sales tax, too, the industry
that article was ruined and its
workers thrown into unemployment.
Many of the taxed items were of agri-