Evening star., 1951-03-25

vernments with remarkable con-
The investment effort in these
their wings rather than making
things awkward for them by pay
ing wages they could not afford.
Protectionism has facilitated this
development of formal and in
formal cartelS: the creation of
industrial associations with power
over the distribution of scarce i'm
ported materials during the war
has consolidated it to a point
where the official abolition of
these "groupements" no longer
made any difference.
But perhaps the most powerful
retrograde factor is the tax
system. The widespread opinion
that no Frencllman ever pays
taxes is sadly mistaken: the total
tax burden is as heavy as any,
where-and sufficient to finance a
very substantial budget-but it
falls quite overwhelmingly on the
wage and salary Garner and the
consumer. Sixty per cent of all
revenue is drawn from the big
indirect taxes-a production tax"
and a turnover tax which are
wholly passed on to the consumer
and are estimated to reduce real
wages by Is per cent below what
they would otherwise be. Yet
large numbers of retailers, not
being legally forced to keep ac-
counts, do not, in fact, pay this
tax. though they add it to the
price, and many small producers,
though keeping accounts, manage
to evade part of it by agreement
with the workers to keep down the
Official payroll. In such cases,
the tax amounts to cash subsidy
to the small (and fraudulent)
firm. '''
On the other hand, the farmers
income tax is based on indices OF
land value fixed by annual par
Iliamentary resolution in relation
to land register of 1911-at pres
|ent somewhere between one-tenth
and one-eighth of the farmers
unions own estimate of what their
income really is. The tax on per-
sonal incomes from industry and
trade is based on self assessments
conducted in such way that for
whole branches the average in
come stated is between $500 and
5000 a year-while the workers
S per cent wage tax is easily and
regularly deducted. In the cir
Icumstances, it is natural that no
| farmers and very few traders pay
the progressive tax" for income
above a certain minimum-but
considerable number of salaried
people do. In this way, the tax
system not only distorts the eco
nomic structure and effects the
opposite Of leveling of real in
comes-it also helps to prevent
/ the formation of modern mana
gerial class and to protect the
family firm. Yet reform would
not only be politically unpopular
with the farmers-it would require
a transitional increase of adminiS-
trative expenses and perhaps a
temporary fall in total revenue
which no government can afford
h1o fiv,an
Prices Uncontrolled
In the economic climate created
by these factors it has not so far
been possible to create a general
public interest in the increase Of
productivity; even the very real
progress in the key industries has
taken place without arousing such
interest, let alone sense of COM
mon effort. The inf1ationary pres
sure now generated by the world
armament boom tends to make
matters worse, because no price
control prevents its exploitation
for the maintenance of unproduc-
tive units. and it will be very diff
cult to reinstall one now that the
whole control machinery has been
dismantled for years. Even within
the planned sector. unproductive
coal mines and inefficient steel
plants previously marked for clos
ing down will now be kept alive
by armament requirements, so
that the modernization achieved
will bear no immediate fruit in
the price structure. Yet the fact
that France now has the most
modern rolling mills of the conti-
nent. improved methods at least in
the Northern coal fields and a
greatly increased electric power
capacity, cannot fail to benefit the
country. and the whole of Europe,
in the long run.
Progress in Agriculture
Perhaps the most striking prog
ress, and that arouSing the great
est sense of popular participation,
has been achieved in agriculture.
Until recently mechanization was
virtually unknown outside some
very limited areas, largely because
half of Frances arabic land was
still titled on a kind of open-field
system. with each of the separate
strips, cultivated by one farmer,
too small to make mechanization
worth while. Legal provision for
agreed exchanges of land to form
continuous plots existed before
the war, but traditional resistance
was very strong. Under postwar
legislation, the government has
more power to initiate a change,
but also the farmers attitude
has improved-thanks largely to
the experience of younger gen.
Grafton which has seen more mod
ern methods in other countries
during the war. Enclosures agreed
and initiated in the last two years
affect more than 5 million acres,
-, 49,. >1nA @R 49, l.