PRINCIPLES OF TAXATION. 35 



Another relic of old feudalism whicli prevailed in France 

 down to the period of the Revolution, and which, indirectly a 

 tax, was most oppressive and impoverishing to the French rural 

 population, was an obligation termed the corvee, imposed upon 

 them to keep the main roads of the kingdom in repair without 

 "being remunerated for their labor or for the services of their 

 animals. They were thus frequently forced away with their 

 teams from their fields, at the demand of any traveling noble or 

 important personage in either church or state, and often at a time 

 of sowing or harvesting, when they could be least spared ; and 

 were occasionally required to travel long distances in order to 

 reach their allotted work. While they were thus compelled to 

 keep the main roads of the kingdom in repair, which were gener- 

 ally of little use to them, the local or parish roads, on which they 

 were dependent for their communication with adjacent towns or 

 villages, were allowed by the Government to remain neglected.* 

 For many years previous to the Revolution, the institution of the 

 corvee undoubtedly meant to the French peasantry a period every 

 year of from twelve to fifteen days of forced labor for the con- 

 struction and repair of roads, for which the nobility, clergy, and 

 town merchants contributed not a sou, or an hour of work. 



And now comes an exceedingly interesting but little-known 

 chapter in French history. There were men of large hearts and 

 great intelligence in France during the reign of Louis XIV — 

 1643-1715 — who were not only keenly appreciative of the oppres- 

 sions and sufferings of the French people by reason of their hor- 

 rible system of taxation, but also of the certain destructive influ- 

 ence of this system on the industry, society, and government of 

 the kingdom, f Among these was the celebrated Marshal Vauban, 

 who, although a soldier by profession, and holding one of the 

 highest offices among the privileged nobility, had made a study 

 of the misery of his countrymen, and had discerned in a great 

 degree its cause, and was seeking for its remedy. The knowledge 

 that his office as marshal of France gave him of the necessity for 

 great expenditures — the country being almost always at war — and 

 the little hope he had that the king would retrench in matters of 

 splendor and amusement, left him no other alternative but to try 



various names, as jambage, mercheta, and mantagium,, in France in the thirteenth and 

 fifteenth centuries, and that fines in recognition and in lieu of this ancient manorial right 

 were probably paid in England almost as late as the administration of Cromwell. 



* This practice or institution of the corvee w as undoubtedly of ancient Eastern origin, 

 and until recently existed in Egypt ; a very considerable part of the labor employed in con- 

 structing the Suez Canal having been performed, in accordance with the orders of the then 

 ruling Khedive, under its conditions. 



f During the eighteenth century famine periodically decimated the rural population of 

 France, and forty million acres went out of cultivation. 



