Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/569

The Eve of the French Revolution 429 hesitate to interfere in the government when she wished to help one of her favorites or to make trouble for someone she disliked. 745. Turgot, Controller General (1746-1777). At first Louis XVI took his duties very seriously. He almost immediately placed the ablest of all the French economists, Turgot, in the most im- portant of the government offices, that of controller general. The first and most natural measure was economy, for only in that way could the government be saved from bankruptcy and the burden of taxation be lightened. Turgot felt that the vast amount spent in maintaining the luxury of the royal court at Versailles should be reduced. The establishments of the king, the queen, and the princes cost the State annually about twelve million dollars. Then the French king had long been accustomed to grant "pensions" in a reckless manner to his favorites, and this required nearly twelve million dollars more. Any attempt, however, to reduce this amount would arouse the immediate opposition of the courtiers, and it was the courtiers who really governed France. They were constantly about the monarch from morning until night ; therefore they had an obvious advantage over Turgot, who only saw him in business hours. In May, 1776, the king finally consented to dismiss Turgot, and most of his reforms were undone. 746. Necker's Financial Report. Necker, who after a brief interval succeeded Turgot, contributed to the progress of the coming revolution in two ways. He borrowed vast sums of money in order to carry on the war which France, as the ally of the United States, had undertaken against England. This greatly embarrassed the treasury later and helped to produce the financial crisis which was the immediate cause of the French Revolution. Secondly, he gave the nation its first opportunity of learning what was done with the public funds, by presenting to the king (February, 1781) a report on the financial condition of the king- dom ; this was publicly printed and eagerly read. There the people could see for the first time how much the taille and the salt tax actually took from them, and how much the king spent on himself and his favorites.