THE FATE OF ICIODORUM. 199 
own any sort of vehicle — wheelbarrow, cart, wagon, 
barouche, carriage, or droschke — unless said ve- 
hicle 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 mer- 
chants 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 releasing the 
wagon-maker from the octroi on articles used in 
the manufacture of wagons; but the rest were un- 
willing 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 fora 
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 fre- 
quently becoming clogged. 
Once more the treasury was nearly empty. 
