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第70章

the origins of contemporary france-2-第70章

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comprises about all the men who labor with their hands or with their

heads。  The law exempts only domestics devoted to personal service

or common laborers who; possessing no property or income; earn less

than twenty…one sous a day。  Every journeyman…miller; the smallest

farmer; every village proprietor of a cottage or of a vegetable…

garden; any ordinary workman; votes at the primary meetings; and may

become a municipal officer。  Again; if he pays ten francs a year

direct tax; if he is a farmer or yeomen on any property which brings

him in four hundred francs; if his rent is one hundred and fifty

francs; he may become an elected elector and an administrator of the

district or department。  According to this standard the eligible are

innumerable; in Doubs; in 1790;'29' they form two…thirds of the

active citizens。  Thus; the way to office is open to all; or almost

all; and the law has taken no precaution whatever to reserve or

provide places for the elite; who could best fill them。  On the

contrary; the nobles; the ecclesiastical dignitaries; the members of

the parliaments; the grand functionaries of the ancient regime; the

upper class of the bourgeoisie; almost all the rich who possess

leisure; are practically excluded from the elections by violence;

and from the various offices by public opinion: they soon retire

into private life; and; through discouragement or disgust; through

monarchical or religious scruples; abandon entirely a public career。

… The burden of the new system falls; accordingly; on the most

occupied portion of the community: on merchants; manufacturers;

agents of the law; employees; shopkeepers; artisans; and

cultivators。  They are the people who must give up one…third of

their time already appropriated; neglect private for public

business; leave their harvests; their bench; their shop; or their

briefs to escort convoys and patrol the highways; to run off to the

principal town of the canton; district; or department; and stay and

sit there in the town…hall;'30' subject to a deluge of phrases and

papers; conscious that they are forced to gratuitous drudgery; and

that this drudgery is of little advantage to the public。 … For the

first six months they do it with good grace; their zeal in penning

memorials; in providing themselves with arms against 〃brigands;〃 and

in suppressing taxes; rents; and tithes; is active enough。  But now

that this much is obtained or extorted; decreed as a right; or

accomplished in fact; they must not be further disturbed。  They need

the whole of their time: they have their crops to get in; their

customers to serve; their orders to give; their books to make up;

their credits to adjust; all which are urgent matters; and neither

ought to be neglected or interrupted。  Under the lash of necessity

and of the crisis they have put their backs to it; and; if we take

their word for it; they hauled the public cart out of the mud; but

they had no idea of putting themselves permanently in harness to

drag it along themselves。  Confined as this class has been for

centuries to private life; each has his own wheelbarrow to trundle

along; and it is for this; before all and above all; that he holds

himself responsible。  From the beginning of the year 1790 the

returns of the votes taken show that as many are absent as present;

at Besan?on there are only nine hundred and fifty…nine voters out of

thirty…two hundred inscribed; four months after this more than one…

half of the electors fail to come to the polls;'31' and throughout

France; even at Paris; the indifference to voting keeps on

increasing。  Puppets of such an administration as that of Louis XV。

and Louis XVI。  do not become Florentine or Athenian citizens in a

single night。  The hearts and heads of three or four millions of men

are not suddenly endowed with faculties and habits which render them

capable of diverting one…third of their energies to work which is

new; disproportionate; gratuitous; and supererogatory。 … A fallacy

of monstrous duplicity lies at the basis of the political theories

of the day and of those which were invented during the following ten

years。  Arbitrarily; and without any examination; a certain weight

and resistance are attributed to the human metal employed。  It is

found on trial to have ten times less resistance and twenty times

more weight than was supposed。







V。  The Ruling Minority。



The restless minority。 … Its elements。… The clubs。… Their

ascendancy。… How they interpret the Rights of Man。 … Their

usurpations and violence。



In default of the majority; who shirk their responsibilities; it is

the minority which does the work and assumes the power。  The

majority having resigned; the minority becomes sovereign; and public

business; abandoned by the hesitating; weak; and absent multitude;

falls into the hands of the resolute; energetic; ever…present few

who find the leisure and the disposition to assume the

responsibility。  In a system in which all offices are elective; and

in which elections are frequent; politics becomes a profession for

those who subordinate their private interests to it; and who find it

of personal advantage; every village contains five or six men of

this class; every borough twenty or thirty; every town its hundreds

and Paris its many thousands。'32' These are veritable active

citizens They alone give all their time and attention to public

matters; correspond with the newspapers and with the deputies at

Paris; receive and spread abroad the party watchword on every

important question; hold caucuses; get up meetings; make motions;

draw up addresses; overlook; rebuke; or denounce the local

magistrates; form themselves into committees; publish and push

candidates; and go into the suburbs and the country to canvass for

votes。  They hold the power in recompense for their labor; for they

manage the elections; and are elected to office or provided with

places by the successful candidates。  There is a prodigious number

of these offices and places; not only those of officers of the

National Guard and the administrators of the commune; the district;

and the department; whose duties are gratuitous; or little short of

it; but a quantity of others which are paid;'33' … eighty…three

bishops; seven hundred and fifty deputies; four hundred criminal

judges; three thousand and seven civil judges; five thousand

justices of the peace; twenty thousand assessors forty thousand

communal collectors; forty…six thousand curés; without counting the

accessory or insignificant places which exist by tens and hundreds

of thousands; from secretaries; clerks; bailiffs and notaries; to

gendarmes; constables; office…clerks; beadles; grave…diggers; and

keepers of sequestered goods。  The pasture is vast for the

ambitious; it is not small for the needy; and they seize upon it。

Such is the rule in pure democracies: hence the swarm of politicians

in the United States。  When the law incessantly calls all citizens

to political action; there are only a few who devote themselves to

it; these become expert in this particular work; and; consequently;

preponderant。  But they must be paid for their trouble; and the

election secures to them their places because they manage the

elections。



Two sorts of men furnish the recruits for this dominant minority: on

the one hand the enthusiasts; and on the other those who have no

social position。  Towards the end of 1789; moderate people; who are

minding their own business; retire into privacy; and are daily less

disposed to show themselves。  The public square is occupied by

others who; through zeal and political passion; abandon their

pursuits; and by those who; finding themselves hampered in their

social sphere; or repelled from ordinary circles; were merely

awaiting a new opening to take a fresh start。  In these utopian and

revolutionary times; there is no lack of either class。  Flung out by

handfuls; the dogma of popular sovereignty fall

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