illions of crowns, and diminish
the army by so many thousands of soldiers. Napoleon is not the man to
deprive himself without reason of either a soldier or a franc; above
all things, he wants his army complete and his treasury full; to supply
their deficits he seizes whatever he can lay his hands on, both taxable
material as well as recruitable material. But all material is limited;
if he took too little on the one hand he would be obliged to take too
much on the other; it is impossible to relieve these without oppressing
those, and oppression, especially in the matter of taxation, is what,
in 1789, excited the universal jacquerie, perverted the Revolution,
and broke France to pieces.--At present, in the matter of taxation,
distributive justice lays down a universal and fixed law; whatever the
property may be, large or small, and of whatever kind or form, whether
lands, buildings, indebtedness, ready money, profits, incomes or
salaries, it is the State which, through its laws, tribunals, police,
gendarmes and army, preserves it from ever ready aggression within and
without; the State guarantees, procures and ensures the enjoyment of it.
Consequently, property of every species owes the State its premium of
assurance, so many centimes on the franc. The quality, the fortune, the
age or the sex of the owner is of little importance; each franc assured,
no matter in whose hands, must pay the same number of centimes, not one
too much, not one too little.--Such is the new principle. To announce it
is easy enough; all that is necessary is to combine speculative
ideas, and any Academy can do that. The National Assembly of 1789 had
proclaimed it with the rattling of drums, but merely as a right and with
no practical effect. Napoleon turns it into a reality, and henceforth
the ideal rule is applied as strictly as is possible with human
material, thanks to two pieces of fiscal machinery of a new type,
superior of their kind, and which, compared with those of the ancient
Regime, or with those of the Revolution, are masterpieces.

III. Formation of Honest, Efficient Tax Collectors

Direct real and personal taxation.--In what respect the new
machinery is superior to the old.--Full and quick returns.--
Relief to taxpayers.--Greater relief to the poor workman and
small farmer.

The collection of a direct tax is a surgical operation performed on
the taxpayer, one which removes a piece of his substance: he suffe