Ferme générale
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The ''ferme générale'' (, "general farm") was, in ''
ancien régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...
''
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, essentially an
outsource Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity which otherwise is or could be carried out internally, i.e. in-house, and sometimes involves transferring employees and ...
d customs, excise and indirect tax operation. It collected duties on behalf of the
King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
(plus hefty bonus fees for themselves), under renewable six-year contracts. The major tax collectors in that highly unpopular
tax farming Farming or tax-farming is a technique of financial management in which the management of a variable revenue stream is assigned by legal contract to a third party and the holder of the revenue stream receives fixed periodic rents from the contract ...
system were known as the ''fermiers généraux'' (singular ''fermier général''), which would be ''tax farmers-general'' in English. In the 17th and 18th centuries the ''fermiers généraux'' became immensely rich and figure prominently in the history of cultural patronage, as supporters of French music, major collectors of paintings and sculpture, patrons of the '' marchands-merciers'' and consumers of the luxury arts in the vanguard of Parisian fashions. In his 1833 novel '' Ferragus'', writer
Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...
attributes the sad air that hangs about the
Île Saint-Louis Île Saint-Louis (), in size, is one of two natural islands in the Seine river, in Paris, France (the other natural island is the Île de la Cité, where Notre-Dame de Paris is located). Île Saint-Louis is connected to the rest of Paris by ...
in central Paris to the many houses there owned by fermiers généraux. Their sons or grandsons purchased patents of nobility and their daughters often married into the aristocracy. Especially members of impoverished aristocratic families were eager to marry daughters of the ''fermiers généraux'' in order to restore the wealth they had prior to their ruin. This was called in popular French ''redorer son blason'' (literally "to re-gild one's coat of arms").


History

Before the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
in 1789, the public revenue was based largely on the following taxes: *The ''
Taille The ''taille'' () was a direct land tax on the French peasantry and non-nobles in ''Ancien Régime'' France. The tax was imposed on each household and was based on how much land it held, and was directly paid to the state. History Originally o ...
'' – Direct land tax imposed on French
peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...
and non-noble households, based on how much land they held. In some provinces, the principle of ''taille réelle'' was used, which meant that the tax was based on the actual market value of the real estate. In a majority of provinces the ''taille personnelle'' was applied: the tax level was the result of an arbitrary and gross estimation of the real estate value. Noblemen, public office holders and the inhabitants of the large cities were exempt from the ''taille''. *The ''Taillon'' – Tax for military expenditure. *The ''Vingtième'' (''one-twentieth'') – Based solely on revenue (5 percent of net earnings from land, property, commerce, industry and from official offices). *The ''
Gabelle The ''gabelle'' () was a very unpopular tax on salt in France that was established during the mid-14th century and lasted, with brief lapses and revisions, until 1946. The term ''gabelle'' is derived from the Italian ''gabella'' (a duty), itself ...
'' – A very complicated system of taxes and outsourced regional monopolies on salt, with enormous price disparities between the different provinces (e.g. the salt price in Paris was thirty times higher than in Brittany) that were a strong enticement to smuggling. *The ''Aides'' – National tariffs on various products, including wine and tobacco. *The ''Traites'' – Custom duties for either the import or export of goods to and from France, or for the transport of goods from one French province to the neighbouring one (internal customs). *The ''Octroi'' – A local tariff levied on products entering the cities, especially Paris. *The ''Droits féodaux'' (feudal rights), a long list of petty duties for every possible event or activity in a peasant's life (the right to marry, to inherit, to use the mill, to use the roads of the local aristocrat, to be exempt from doing mandatory chores for the local lord, etc.), to be paid to the local lord, the King or both and generally considered by the peasant to be arbitrary and humiliating. *The ''Dîme'' ("the tenth
art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
– A mandatory
tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more r ...
to support the state church and its clergy, collected by the local vicars, monks or bishops (and so, not a tax in the legal sense). The ''Dîme'' had to be paid either in legal tender (money) or in material assets by all residents regardless of their religion.


Tax farming before Colbert

The ''Ferme générale'' developed at a time when the monarchy suffered from chronic financial difficulties. The ''Affermage'' (leasing,
outsourcing Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity which otherwise is or could be carried out internally, i.e. in-house, and sometimes involves transferring employees and ...
) of the collection of the ''traite'' (customs duties and taxes) had the advantage of guaranteeing the Treasury foreseeable and regular receipts, while reducing the perception of its role in tax-collection. The rights were initially contracted separately to various tax farmers, who were named ''traitants'' (who had the right to collect the ''traite'') or ''partisans'' (who had a share (''partie'') in the collection of the ''traite''). They were obliged to pay to the Royal Treasury the sum stipulated in their lease, and they received a share of the income and a share of any "unexpected" surplus. Each right was leased separately, which caused great administrative complexity: the taking of goods out of bond could involve several tax farms. Prior to 1598, this system had developed so that the tax farms were allocated among five ''pays'' (parts of France). In 1598 the
Superintendent of Finances The Superintendent of Finances (french: Surintendant des finances) was the name of the minister in charge of finances in France from 1561 to 1661. The position was abolished in 1661 with the downfall of Nicolas Fouquet, and a new position was cr ...
, the Duke of Sully, entrusted tax collection to one farm instead of five separate ones, and subjected the collection of duties raised in the provinces to the rights of the King. The single tax farm was called the ''Cinq Grosses Fermes'' (five large farms). In 1607, he issued new rules (''Règlement Général sur les Traites'') on the collection of duties in an attempt to harmonize procedures. He also attempted to constitute the whole of France into a single customs area, but was without success, as the provinces "considered foreign" (i.e. which became part of France after the foundation of the Kingdom; especially the south and Brittany) refused to merge with the zone covered by the ''Cinq Grosses Fermes''. By the middle of the 17th century, France was divided for tax purposes into three principal zones: *Provinces of the ''Cinq Grosses Fermes'' without any internal customs duties (since 1664 by decision of Colbert) *Provinces "considered foreign" and therefore had negotiated lower rates on some taxes *Provinces "effectively following the example of the provinces considered foreign" (i.e. the last to become part of France; especially Lorraine and Alsatia) which formed tax-free zones when doing trade with the neighbouring foreign countries. Not all ''fermiers-généraux'' constrained their viewpoint to their own enrichment:
Pierre-Paul Riquet Stele in Toulouse Cathedral Pierre-Paul Riquet, Baron de Bonrepos (29 June 1609 (some sources say 1604) – 4 October 1680) was the engineer and canal-builder responsible for the construction of the Canal du Midi. Background Paul Riquet was b ...
, appointed collector in
Languedoc-Roussillon Languedoc-Roussillon (; oc, Lengadòc-Rosselhon ; ca, Llenguadoc-Rosselló) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania. It comprised five departments, and ...
in 1630, used his fortune to build the
Canal du Midi The Canal du Midi (; ) is a long canal in Southern France (french: le Midi). Originally named the ''Canal royal en Languedoc'' (Royal Canal in Languedoc) and renamed by French revolutionaries to ''Canal du Midi'' in 1789, the canal is considere ...
that links the Mediterranean coast of France to
Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
and then on to the system of canals and rivers that ran across to the
Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...
on the Atlantic coast, considered to be one of the great engineering feats of the 17th century.


The farm under Colbert: ''traitants'' and ''partisans''

The process was further developed under the aegis of
Jean-Baptiste Colbert Jean-Baptiste Colbert (; 29 August 1619 – 6 September 1683) was a French statesman who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His lasting impact on the organization of the countr ...
, Minister of Finance to King
Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...
. To reduce the number of these farmers and to increase the share of the collection transferred to the Royal Treasury, Colbert sought to gather a great number of rights together in ''fermes générales'' (general farms). The first ''fermes générales'' was instituted in 1680 to collect ''gabelles'', ''aides'', ''taille'' and ''douane'' . Although sometimes of obscure origin, the financiers which took these rights often quickly accumulated immense fortunes which enabled them to play a significant political and social role. Their greed and excesses shocked the public and were often turned into objects of ridicule in literature, for example by playwright
Alain-René Lesage Alain-René Lesage (; 6 May 166817 November 1747; older spelling Le Sage) was a French novelist and playwright. Lesage is best known for his comic novel '' The Devil upon Two Sticks'' (1707, ''Le Diable boiteux''), his comedy ''Turcaret'' (170 ...
in his 1709 comedy ''
Turcaret ''Turcaret'' (or ''Le Financier'') is a comedy by Alain-René Lesage, first produced on 14 February 1709 at the Comédie-Française in Paris. It is considered one of Lesage's most important works. The play shows clear signs of having been writte ...
'', which was inspired by financier
Paul Poisson de Bourvallais Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
.


The ''Ferme générale'' (1726–90)

In 1726, all the existing farms were gathered in a single lease. The forty farmers-general, who held guarantees as contractors of the lease, became powerful and fabulously rich. Examples of the first generation of these tax farmers include
Antoine Crozat Antoine Crozat, Marquis du Châtel (c. 1655 – 7 June 1738), French founder of an immense fortune, was the first proprietary owner of French Louisiana, from 1712 to 1717. Career Antoine Crozat and his brother Pierre Crozat were born in Toulo ...
, the first private owner of
French Louisiana The term French Louisiana refers to two distinct regions: * first, to Louisiana (New France), colonial French Louisiana, comprising the massive, middle section of North America claimed by Early Modern France, France during the 17th and 18th centu ...
, the four Pâris brothers, and
Alexandre Le Riche de La Poupelinière Alexandre Jean Joseph Le Riche de La Pouplinière, sometimes also written Popelinière ou Poupelinière (Paris, 1693 – 5 December 1762) was an immensely wealthy '' fermier général'', the only son of his father, Alexandre Le Riche (1663-17 ...
. Increased criticism of the ''Ferme générale'' system led the government to introduce new regulations in 1769, which turned the collection of taxes and the administration of the service to which taxation was entrusted to public organisations, with their managers receiving a fixed remuneration. The public career of the reforming economist
Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de l'Aulne ( ; ; 10 May 172718 March 1781), commonly known as Turgot, was a French economist and statesman. Originally considered a physiocrat, he is today best remembered as an early advocate for economic libe ...
began with his appointment in 1761 as ''intendant'' of the ''généralité'' of
Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...
. In 1780, at the initiative of
Jacques Necker Jacques Necker (; 30 September 1732 – 9 April 1804) was a Genevan banker and statesman who served as finance minister for Louis XVI. He was a reformer, but his innovations sometimes caused great discontent. Necker was a constitutional monarchi ...
, finance minister to
Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...
, indirect taxes were distributed between three tax farm companies: the ''Ferme générale'' (for customs duties), the ''Ligue générale'' (for taxes on alcohol) and the ''Administration générale des domaines et des droits domaniaux'' (for land taxes and fees for land registration). By the end of the 18th century, the ''Ferme générale'' system became a symbol of an unequal society. The ''Ferme générale'', and the great wealth of its proprietors, was seen as encapsulating all the perversions of the political and social system. People blamed the injustices and annoyances – which actually arose from the complexity of the tax system – on the company itself, including the brutality of tax collecting troops and the brutal repression of smuggling. The ''
gabelle The ''gabelle'' () was a very unpopular tax on salt in France that was established during the mid-14th century and lasted, with brief lapses and revisions, until 1946. The term ''gabelle'' is derived from the Italian ''gabella'' (a duty), itself ...
'' (tax on salt) was the most unpopular of all the taxes. The ''Ferme générale'' was thus one of the institutions of the ''
Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...
'' which was most criticised during the 1789
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
. It was depicted as a group of predatory tyrants; the
Girondist The Girondins ( , ), or Girondists, were members of a loosely knit political faction during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnard ...
politician Antoine Français de Nantes, made an early reputation for himself attacking this prominent target. The ''Ferme générale'' was then suppressed in 1790, with farmers-general paying the price at the scaffold: 28 former members of the consortium were
guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at th ...
d on 8 May 1794. Among them was
Antoine Lavoisier Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier ( , ; ; 26 August 17438 May 1794), When reduced without charcoal, it gave off an air which supported respiration and combustion in an enhanced way. He concluded that this was just a pure form of common air and th ...
, the father of modern
chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
, whose laboratory had been supported by income from his administration of the ''Ferme générale''. His wife, the chemist
Marie-Anne Pierrette Paulze Marie-Anne Pierrette Paulze Lavoisier (20 January 1758 in Montbrison, Loire, France – 10 February 1836) was a French chemist and noblewoman. Madame Lavoisier was the wife of the chemist and nobleman Antoine Lavoisier, and acted as his laborator ...
, who escaped the guillotine, was herself the daughter of another farmer-general, Jacques Paulze.


Organisation

The lease of the ''Ferme générale'' was regulated by six-year contracts between the King and an individual who acted as a figurehead for the company. The ''Ferme générale'' held guarantee for the contractor. The number of partners was fixed at 40, after having reached nearly 90 earlier. The contractor committed himself to paying the Royal Treasury the amount of the lease and received in return any surplus. In 1780 an upper limit was set for this remuneration. The ''Ferme générale'' had its headquarters in Paris. In its central offices it employed nearly 700 people, including two
chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...
s. Its local operations included up to 42 provincial offices and nearly 25,000 agents distributed in two branches of activity; that of the offices which checked, liquidated and charged the fees and that of the guards' brigades which sought and suppressed smuggling with very severe punishments (such as hard labour or hanging). The employees of the ''Ferme générale'' were not royal civil servants but they acted in the name of the king, and therefore benefited from particular privileges and the protection of the law. In addition, members of the guards' brigades had the right to bear weapons. The managing of the company was handled collectively by the ''Ferme générale''. They met as committees of experts and had control of the company's external services. The day before the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
in 1789, almost all the rights of indirect drafts and rights (like the ''gabelle'', the tax on tobacco, and a number of local taxes) were awarded. On the other hand, the Royal Treasury's income from the ''Ferme générale'' represented more than half of the total public revenue. The company had also built the 24-kilometre
Wall of the Farmers-General A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or, is decorative. There are many kinds of walls, including: * Walls in buildings that form a fundamental part of the supe ...
between 1784 and 1791 in Paris to ensure the payment of taxes on goods entering the city.


Criticism of tax collection methods

The ''Ferme générale'' was one of the most hated components of the ''
Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...
'' because of the profits it took at the expense of the state, the secrecy of the terms of its contracts, and the violence of its armed agents. Criticism of the ''Ferme générale'' also include: *Public bodies were deprived of a resource *Service rendered was not always better in the long term *The cost could be higher for the taxpayer, who paid his taxes plus the margin taken by the ''Ferme générale'' *The recovery of debts (of tax arrears) by the ''Ferme générale'' could be brutal *Depriving itself of a resource, the community became involved in debt, and had to find new taxes to obtain additional money Therefore, at the end of the 18th century, the French state had become involved in considerable debt, which factored among the
causes of the French Revolution There is significant disagreement among historians of the French Revolution as to its causes. Usually, they acknowledge the presence of several interlinked factors, but vary in the weight they attribute to each one. These factors include cultural c ...
.


Cultural role of farmers-general

The farmers-general of the ''Ancien Régime'' figure prominently in the history of cultural patronage in France. The enlightened farmer-general Le Normant de Tournehem was the legal guardian of
Madame de Pompadour Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and rema ...
, responsible for her education - in turn, thanks to her influence, he was made director-general of the ''
Bâtiments du Roi The Bâtiments du Roi (, "King's Buildings") was a division of the Maison du Roi ("King's Household") in France under the Ancien Régime. It was responsible for building works at the King's residences in and around Paris. History The Bâtiments ...
'' in December 1745, and held the post, overseeing royal building works at the King's residences in and around Paris, until his death in 1751. As American architect
Fiske Kimball Sidney Fiske Kimball (1888 – 1955) was an American architect, architectural historian and museum director. A pioneer in the field of historic preservation, architectural preservation in the United States, he played a leading part in the re ...
observed, “Without artistic prejudices, he was a man of ability, honesty and simplicity, who devoted himself to efficient administration". Farmers-general also figured among prominent supporters of French music and collectors of paintings and sculpture, such as
Pierre Grimod du Fort Pierre Grimod du Fort (1692 – October 1748) was a fermier général and art collector under Louis XV, and a member of the Grimaud, or Grimod, family. One of the richest fermiers, he was also superintendent of the Post Office. Biography He marri ...
, and as patrons of the '' marchands-mercier'', a type of merchants who dealt with decorative art objects. As consumers of luxurious art the farmers-general were at the vanguard of Parisian fashion, like
Ange Laurent Lalive de Jully Ange-Laurent de La Live de Jully (2 October 1725 – 18 March 1779) was an 18th-century French financier and patron of arts. On 30 June 1741, he married Louise-Elisabeth Chambon, reputed to be more than promiscuous. Madame d'Épinay tells us she ...
, a patron of arts who embraced the early form of
neoclassicist Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...
style in decorative arts called the ''
goût grec The French term ''goût grec'' (; "Greek taste") is often applied to the earliest expression of the Neoclassical style in France and refers specifically to the decorative arts and architecture of the mid-1750s to the late 1760s. The style was more ...
'' (lit. "Greek taste"). Others merely made themselves notorious for their squander, like Ange Laurent's brother Denis Joseph de La Live d'Épinay, the estranged husband of the writer and '' saloniste''
Louise d'Épinay Louise or Luise may refer to: * Louise (given name) Arts Songs * "Louise" (Bonnie Tyler song), 2005 * "Louise" (The Human League song), 1984 * "Louise" (Jett Rebel song), 2013 * "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929 *"Louise", by Clan of ...
. The
gourmand A gourmand is a person who takes great pleasure and interest in consuming good food and drink. ''Gourmand'' originally referred to a person who was "a glutton for food and drink", a person who eats and drinks excessively; this usage is now rare. ...
Alexandre Balthazar Laurent Grimod de La Reynière Alexandre-(Balthazard)-Laurent Grimod de La Reynière (20 November eptember?1758 in Paris – 25 December 1837), was a lawyer by qualification who acquired fame during the reign of Napoleon for his sensual and public gastronomic lifestyle. Son ...
was the son of the farmer-general Laurent Grimod de La Reynière. Sons or grandsons of farmer-generals often purchased patents of nobility, with their daughters marrying into aristocracy.


Voltaire and the ''fermiers''

In his ''Voltaire, A Life''Davidson, Ian, 2010, Voltaire, A Life, London: Profile Books (pp. 427–31), Ian Davidson describes events on Voltaire's estate at
Ferney Ferney-Voltaire () is a commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. It lies between the Jura Mountains and the Swiss border; it forms part of the metropolitan area of Geneva. History Ferney was first ...
, north of Geneva, in the 1770s. In 1770, hundreds of watchmakers fled the political ructions in Geneva and went to make a new life at Ferney. Voltaire helped them to set up a new watchmaking business. He negotiated a tax exemption for the watchmakers with the
duc de Choiseul {{Unreferenced, date=April 2019 Choiseul is an illustrious noble family from Champagne, France, descendants of the comtes of Langres. The family's head was Renaud III de Choiseul, comte de Langres and sire de Choiseul, who in 1182 married Alix ...
, Prime Minister of France. But by 1774, the business was prospering and the tax farmers started to take an interest. Three-way negotiations between the tax farmers, Voltaire and
Turgot Turgot may refer to: * Turgot of Durham ( – 1115), Prior of Durham and Bishop of St Andrews * Michel-Étienne Turgot (1690–1751), mayor of Paris * Anne Robert Jacques Turgot (1727–1781), French economist and statesman * Louis Félix Étienn ...
ensued. In December 1775, Turgot confirmed the watchmakers' exemption from the salt tax (''gabelle'') and from road maintenance duties (''corvée'') and a figure was agreed to compensate the tax farmers for loss of revenue. Voltaire addressed a public meeting on 12 December and the watchmakers accepted the settlement. Two days later, Voltaire wrote to his friend Mme de Saint-Julien: ''... while we were gently passing our time in thanking M. Turgot, and while the whole province was busy drinking, the gendarmes of the tax farmers, whose time runs out on 1 January, had orders to sabotage us. They marched about in groups of fifty, stopped all the vehicles, searched all the pockets, forced their way into all the houses and made every kind of damage there in the name of the king, and made the peasants buy them off with money. I cannot conceive why the people did not ring the tocsin against them in all the villages, and why they were not exterminated. It is very strange that the ''ferme générale'', with only another fortnight left for them to keep their troops here in winter quarters, should have permitted or even encouraged them in such criminal excesses. The decent people were very wise and held back the ordinary folk, who wanted to throw themselves on these brigands, as if on mad wolves.'' According to Davidson, good sense prevailed despite this violence, Voltaire was appointed a tax commissioner, profits peaked in 1776 and the watchmaking business survived the revolution and continued "well into the nineteenth century".


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferme generale