THE OCTROI AT ISSOIRE. 443 



wood, iron, leather, and paint were such, that he could not com- 

 pete with Clermont manufacturers. So the wagon-shop was closed, 

 and carriages and vehicles of every description were brought over 

 from Clermont. The cost of these vehicles had been a heavy drain 

 upon the resources of Issoire. The octroi alone would not remedy 

 this, for nothing short of absolute prohibition of outside purchase 

 would revive the wagon-trade. So the mayor proposed that by an- 

 other bold stroke the dying industry should be revived, while at the 

 same time the citizens of Issoire should be prevented from paying 

 the octroi. It was enacted that no citizen of Issoire should own 

 any sort of vehicle — wheelbarrow, cart, wagon, barouche, carriage, 

 or droschke — unless said vehicle was made in all its parts at Issoire, 

 and bore the signature of the mayor and the seal of the Common 

 Council. This saved the city many thousands of francs, for, now 

 that the people no longer drove over to Clermont, the Clermont 

 merchants sent goods to Issoire : and, when they entered the gates, 

 the Clermont people paid the charges of the octroi. 



When the first Issoire wagon was finished, the maker had put 

 such a high price upon it that no one would buy, and the reviving 

 industry began to faint again. The wagon-maker said that he 

 couldn't help it. Unless he could in some way get wood and 

 nails at special prices his wagons would be out of the reach of 

 all buyers. A few of the Common Council were in favor of re- 

 leasing the wagon-maker from the octroi on articles used in the 

 manufacture of wagons, but the rest were unwilling to do this — 

 because to buy these materials outside is another drain on the 

 prosperity of a town. At last they arranged a compromise, by 

 which the city gave an order for a new street-sprinkler and twelve 

 rubbish-carts, to be paid for from the public treasury. They had 

 no need for a new sprinkler then, and five rubbish-carts would 

 have been enough. But a liberal order like this made the wagon- 

 maker contented, and a generous policy was necessary to start 

 anew the wheels of trade, which, in spite of all their care, were 

 frequently becoming clogged. 



Once more the treasury was nearly empty. The citizens of 

 Issoire, accustomed to having their taxes paid by the people of 

 Clermont and Lyons, would not submit to any form of direct tax- 

 ation. Had the Common Council said : " We must have so much 

 money ; we propose to take it from your pockets by a pro rata as- 

 sessment,'-* the people would have risen as one man and put the 

 opposition candidates into office. Direct taxation is a confession 

 of barrenness in expedients. Where money is to be raised, it 

 should always be collected from foreigners, if possible. This is 

 a maxim in political science, and all successful financiers from 

 Julius Csesar down have acted in accordance with it. 



The falling off in the Clermont trade, due to the new wagon 



