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quire what the Americans might do to forward this inquiry, since it is certain that they have hitherto done nothing at all. There does not exist a single individual at the present day, in America or in Europe, who can inform us what each citizen of the Union annually contributes to the public charges of the nation.[1]
Hence we must conclude, that it is no less difficult to compare the social expenditure, than it is to estimate the relative wealth of France and of America. I will even add, that it would be dangerous to attempt this comparison; for when statistics are not founded upon computations which are strictly accurate, they mislead instead of guiding aright. The mind is easily imposed upon by the false affectation, of exactitude, which prevails even in the mis-statements of the science, and adopts with confidence the errors which are apparelled in the forms of mathematical truth.
We abandon, therefore, our numerical investigation, with the hope of meeting with data of another kind. In the absence of
- ↑ Even if we knew the exact pecuniary contribution of every French and American
citizen to the coffers of the state, we should only come at a portion of the truth.
Governments not only demand supplies of money, but they call for personal services,
which may be looked upon as equivalent to a given sum. When a state raises an
army, beside the pay of the troops which is furnished by the entire nation, each
soldier must give up his time, the value of which depends on the use he might make of it
if he were not in the service. The same remark applies to the militia: the citizen
who is in the militia devotes a certain portion of valuable time to the maintenance of
the public peace, and he does in reality surrender to the state those earnings which
he is prevented from gaining. Many other instances might be cited in addition to
these. The governments of France and America both levy taxes of this kind, which
weigh upon the citizens; but who can estimate with accuracy their relative amount in
the two countries?
This, however, is not the last of the difficulties which prevent us from comparing the expenditure of the Union with that of France. The French government contracts certain obligations which do not exist in America, and vice versa. The French government pays the clergy; in America the voluntary principle prevails. In America there is a legal provision for the poor; in France they are abandoned to the charity of the public. The French public officers are paid by a fixed salary: in America they are allowed certain perquisites. In France contributions in kind take place on very few roads: in America upon almost all the thoroughfares: in the former country the roads are free to all travellers: in the latter turnpikes abound. All these differences in manner in which contributions are levied in the two countries, enhance the difficulty of comparing their expenditure; for there are certain expenses which the citizens would not be subjected to, or which would at any rate be much less considerable, if the state did not take upon itself to act in the name of the public.
by the municipal expenses of America. The organization of the municipal bodies or townships differs in the several states: Are we to be guided by what occurs in New England or in Georgia, in Pennsylvania or in the state of Illinois?
A kind of analogy may very readily be perceived between certain budgets in the two countries: but as the elements of which they are composed always differ more or less, no fair comparison can be instituted between them.
