Paris in the Year 2000

by Tony Moilin

  3. Agriculture

  While occupying itself with the cities, the Government did not forget the rural areas, and too all appropriate measures to encourage the development of Agriculture.

  The first and most important of these measures was to give the land to those who cultivated it and to suppress the entire class of landowners who rented their land to others instead of exploiting it themselves.

  Here again the Government proceeded in the customary manner, by expropriation. All the lands that had been rented for farming or husbandry were bought by the state and paid for in annual income and were then assigned to the credit of the peasants, with the provision that, in future, each of them would be obliged to cultivate his land himself or sell it to someone else.

  In all the terrains of so-called large-scale cultivation, however, where agriculture had something of the industrial about it, the Administration retained possession of the lands it had expropriated and leased them on a long-term basis to intelligent farmers who earned a good living therefrom while paying a substantial rent to the State.

  Similarly, the Government retained property in all the forests, as in all the heath-land that seemed appropriate for reforestation. Woods were recognized as indispensable to prevent floods; it was in the highest interests of the State to retain possession of them. Moreover, far from suffering, forestry exploitation had never been as intelligent and advantageous; thanks to the Administration’s zeal, immense areas previously abandoned were soon seen covered in plantations that would eventually become vast forests.

  The general expropriation of all the farmland had the most fortunate consequences for France. To begin with, it brought a great deal of money into the Treasury, because, of course, the income tax functioned as usual and mercilessly consumed all the allotted incomes that surpassed twelve thousand francs. On the other hand, as soon as the land was in the possession of those who cultivated it, its fecundity was multiplied tenfold; it furnished massive supplies of agricultural foodstuffs to the populations of the cities, which, for their part, inundated rural areas with manufactured goods. From that mutual exchange emerged abundance and wellbeing for everyone, and the peasants, appreciating all the benefits of Socialism, became its most ardent defenders.

  But it was not enough to put the land in the hands of cultivators; it was also necessary to give them the means of developing it.

  The National Bank provided that. Every peasant who wanted to clear ground, drain it, build, buy feed, animals or agricultural equipment, was able to borrow money on a long-term basis—the only kind of loan appropriate to agriculture. The Bank never reclaimed reimbursement of its advances from anyone who paid the interest regularly. The cultivator, liberated from his hereditary enemies, lack of money and usury, could therefore carry out all the desirable improvements and renounce the spirit of routine that had previously held Agriculture back for so long.

  In sum, rural areas profited greatly from all the reforms carried out by the Socialists. New railways, canals and roads, lowering the costs of transportation, facilitated the movement of agricultural produce and rendered their sale easier. On the other hand, since Commerce was organized, the countryman went to the city, and bought all the manufactured goods he needed at a low price there, while he sold his merchandise much more cheaply than before. Thanks to the suppression of courtiers, speculators and all unnecessary intermediaries, agricultural products reached the hands of the consumer directly, and although the latter got them at a much better price than previously, that low price rewarded the cultivator greatly and gave him profits to which the old regime had not accustomed him.

  4. Wages

  All organization of labor can be summarized into a single question: that of wages. The Socialists were well aware of that, so, as soon as they were in power, they hastened to promulgate a law that fixed the wages of the entire population and gave its poorest members the certainty of living honorably on the product of their work.

  These were the principal provisions of that law:

  All the employees of the Government—and they are very numerous in the Republic of the year 2000—are paid by the State with money brought in by taxes. Their wages vary between 2,400 francs and 12,000 francs per year. Some have fixed wages, which they collect on a monthly basis. Others, especially the workers, are paid by the day at a rate varying between eight and forty francs, and receive what is due to then every ten days. Finally, when practicable, work is paid on a piecework basis according to tariffs calculated on the basis that a day’s earnings cannot be more than forty francs or less than eight.

  Naturally, workers are paid more highly if they are more highly skilled in their profession, do their work more carefully or complete more tasks in a given time. It is precisely to make that estimation of individual merit easier that it is always preferable to pay piecework rates, and reward people according to what they have done, rather than the time they spent doing it. In any case, every time there is the slightest dispute over the tariffs applicable to some kind of work, the Government submits the question to a committee composed of workers in that trade, and complies fully with their decision, which is always in conformity with justice and properly motivated.

  The workers and the employees of the State are submissive to foremen, managers, department heads and directors, who are paid more as they have a more numerous personnel under their orders, but without their wages ever surpassing the maximum figure of twelve thousand francs.

  It is the Government that appoints employees responsible for giving instructions to others, and it is eager to choose, not only the most skilful workers, but those who also know how to make their comrades obey them and to be held in high esteem by them. As those sorts of individuals are uncommon, however, and there are not enough of the to fill all the places between foreman and department head, a good number of those employments are made on the basis of seniority—which is to say, to individuals whose sole merit is being older than others and having had more experience.

  Age, in fact, inspires a certain respect in itself, and simultaneously earns indulgence and makes commands seem less harsh. So, the senior personnel appointed on seniority are generally well-liked, although they are quietly deemed to be “blockheads” and no one conforms very scrupulously to their orders.

  In all the State shops, members of the sales staff are paid in a particular fashion appropriate to their profession. They do not receive fixed wages but earn a percentage of what they sell, so that they have a direct interest in maximizing the outflow of the merchandise placed in their hands. Those employees who do not make sales and are unable to earn a sufficient wage are invited to quit a career for which they are unsuited and look for another trade. As for very skillful salespersons, who succeed in making commissions in excess of twelve thousand francs, the income tax functions in their respect as for everyone else, and sets an insurmountable limit on what they can obtain.

  Commercial employees also have managers, department heads and directors appointed by the government, but here the choice is easy and there is a reliable yardstick for measuring the merit of candidates. That guide is the level of their wages itself, a faithful expression of the talent they show in sales. All the functionaries directing the State shops are inevitably, therefore, very active, highly intelligent and very knowledgeable about business, and the important positions they occupy can be entrusted to them without fear.

  It is those directors of commercial establishments who order, either from private industry or State factories, all the merchandise destined for consumption. Now, if these orders were placed by incompetent individuals and if, instead of being sold, they remained in stock and had to be disposed of at a discounted price, the Administration would incur considerable losses. Undoubtedly, the unintelligent director who was guilty of such a fault would not repeat it, for he would be immediately ruined, but thanks to the manner in which the directors of commercial organizations are selected, those sorts of miscalculations are impossible, and if some items ordered do not s
ell well and make a loss, it is amply counterbalanced by the profits made on all the other articles.

  5. Wages (Continued)

  The wages of established laborers working for themselves are not fixed by any regulation and only depend on their activity and intelligence. The Government furnishes them with raw materials at the lowest possible price, even on credit if they cannot pay cash, and then gladly buys the products of their manufacture from them at an agreed price.

  Every season, manufacturers send their specimens and their current prices to the directors of retail establishments, and the later place their orders with the manufacturers who offer them the best terms. Naturally, talented workers, who work with good taste or are able to create a specialty, have no fear of being short of work and, far from having to chase after orders from directors, are sought out by them and made advantageous offers. These privileged artisans are perfectly free to put any price on their work they please, but they are subject like everyone else to the income tax, and their skill can never procure them an annual income in excess if twelve thousand francs.

  When, instead of remaining isolated, workers find it worthwhile to come together in associations, the Government deals with them in exactly the same fashion. It furnished the with raw materials at a low price, gives them credit if they can offer sufficient guarantees of solvency, gives them orders and buys their products—but on the essential condition that the profits of all workers’ associations must be divided between the members of the association in proportion to the time worked, without taking any account of the greater or less skill of the workers. In any case, in all those associations, it is the participating members who administer themselves, appointing their director and distributing work between them as agreed. The Administration only interests itself in one thing, which is that orders must be well-executed and the price paid for goods should be divided proportionally to the hours worked by each member.

  Instead of forming associations or working for themselves, many workers in the year 2000 prefer to work for an employer who pays them an agreed wage every day. There are thus more tranquil, more exempt from worry; when they have done their day’s work they are sure that they will be paid a fixed price, while independent workers or those in associations always have the bother of obtaining tools, buying raw materials, obtaining orders, etc., and often going to a great deal of trouble to earn as much, or even less, than if they were on wages.

  The Socialist Government does not hinder in any way those workers who want to work for employers, and it respects their freedom of choice, as it respects that of workers who prefer to form associations or work independently. However, feeling responsible for the welfare of all citizens, the Authority has taken effective measures in order that wage-earners should not be exploited by their employers and should always receive a remuneration adequate to their needs. That result has been obtained by minimum salary tariffs to which employers are compelled to submit, and are obliged to pay without having permission to modify them.

  Thus if the wage-earner is employed for a year, he must receive a wage of at least 2,400 francs. If he works by the day, that can only be for between eight and nine hours, and he must be paid at least eight francs. Finally, if the artisan works on a piecework basis, the price of his products must be calculated in a manner that will produce at least eight francs for an ordinary day’s work.

  These minimum tariffs apply to all professions, without exception; they apply to male and female workers alike, to workers in the fields as well as to those in cities. In establishing them, the Government intended that poverty should never afflict a working individual and that no one could ever pay employees at a lower rate, on any pretext whatsoever. When entrepreneurs complain that the tariffs are exorbitant and do not leave them any profit, the Administration replies that no one is obliged to be a employer, and that if they find the minimum wages so advantageous, they have only to become mere workers again and go to work like everyone else. Needless to say, none of them have taken advantage of that liberty, and, by dint of activity and intelligence, they have continued to do good business while paying their workers according to the regulation tariffs.

  The minimum wages are, of course, merely a protective measure intended to ensure that workers’ needs are met, but when workers are skillful and able to obtain higher daily rates, they are perfectly free to do so, and, as noted, can received up to forty francs a day.

  As for an employer’s profits, there is no limit to them; once his workers have been paid, everything he earns belongs to him, except that he is subject, like everyone else, to income tax, and his annual income cannot exceed the sum of twelve thousand francs.

  Of all the socialist reforms that modified the old society from top to bottom in a matter of weeks, that limitation of the income of manufacturers was perhaps the one that raised the greatest number of protests against the Government. No manufacturer could understand why people wanted to restrict his profits and take away his liberty to enrich himself by enriching others.

  When it was a matter of remunerating the services of the foremost State employees—an intelligent and experienced administrator, an eminent judge, a skilled engineer, a remarkable scientist, etc.—oh, then our manufacturers could find good reasons for putting a limit on those functionaries’ salaries and never giving them more than twelve thousand francs. Many even claimed that it was too much, and declared that they were opposed to high wages that were ruining the public Treasury—but when it was a question of the income of a lemonade manufacturer, a candle-maker, a wine-producer or any other industrialist, our malcontents would no longer put any limits on their generosity. Thirty, fifty, a hundred, two hundred thousand francs in annual profits did not seem to them to be too much adequately to reward the exceptional talents of a manufacturer, and to restrict his fortune, to render him equal to the foremost State functionaries, was to commit the most revolting iniquity and to be guilty of a crime against civilization.

  The Government took absolutely no notice of these recriminations, and, as it had public opinion in its favor, it watched more carefully than ever over the strict imposition of the income tax. Rendered furious by that measure, which ate into their profits, certain large manufacturers threatened to leave the country and take their industry to England or America, but on more mature reflection, they found that such repatriation would be very risky and judged it more prudent to stay in France and to live modestly on the income of twelve thousand francs that the Socialist Republic consented to leave them.

  6. General Insurance

  The Government of the Social Republic did not limit itself to ensuring good wages to workers who worked, but it came to their aid when they were out of work and gave them the means to put a end to their unemployment.

  Unemployment, so frequent in the old industrial regime, was due to the fact that work was badly organized and that speculation created exaggerated demands, surpassing the current needs of consumption. Instead of distributing manufacture over the whole year, employers overworked the laborers during good times, making them work twelve- and fifteen-hour days, and then, once the orders were filled, they sent them away and left them without bread.

  In the Republic of the Year 2000 that sort of unemployment is never produced, because it is the Government that controls commerce and places orders, which are always regulated and calculated in such a way as to occupy manufacturers all the year round. There are, however, some causes of unemployment that nothing can prevent, such as, for example, bad harvests, commercial crises in other countries, changes in fashion, the invention of new machines, etc. In all these circumstances, the Administration immediately comes to the assistance of the workers thrown out of work, and thus gives them time to await the resumption of business or to find work in some other branch of industry.

  At other times, artisans are forced to interrupt their work in consequence of illness, precocious infirmities or injuries contracted in the exercise of their profession. In that case, the State hastens once again to co
me to their aid. It allocates them assistance throughout the duration of their illness, or a pension for the rest of their life if they remain infirm and cannot resume their occupation.

  Finally, when workers grow old and reach the age of sixty or sixty-five years of age, they retire, and once again receive a pension that permits them to end their days in idleness.

  These various kinds of help are accorded to all French people without exception, to independent workers as well as to Government employees. The aid is proportionate to the income of the individual aided, and as that income pays a proportional income tax, it is not charity, but a restitution by the State, which returns to the invalid, the infirm or aged individual the sums it has received from the young and healthy citizen. Undoubtedly, unhealthy individuals or those struck by precocious infirmities take a larger share from the produce of that tax than others do, but that is a sad privilege, which is scarcely enviable, for it is bought too early by the loss of health or premature death.

  At any rate, all the assistance allocated to individuals incapable of working is quite sufficient, and it does not require the Nation to increase it further by increasing the income tax. Thus, to cite only one example, every sick worker receives enough to be treated at home by a physician of his choice, and never needs to go to a hospice, as was necessary under the old regime. It has therefore been possible to abolish those sad hospitals, which established an injurious distinction between the rich and the poor, and delivered the latter to the experiments of physicians and the inexperience of students carrying out their medical education on the vile multitude, scalpel-fodder sacrificed to the health of the wealthier classes.