After April, 1794,[85] crowds of this class are found filling the
prisons to overflowing; the Revolution has struck them also. They
stroll about in the court yard, and wander through the corridors with
a sad, stupefied expression, no longer comprehending the way things
are going on in the world. In vain are efforts made to explain to
them that "their crops are national property and that they are simply
its depositaries;"[86] never had this new principle entered into, nor
will it enter, their rude brains; always, through habit and instinct,
will they work against it. - Let them be spared the temptation. Let
us (the Jacobins) relieve them from, and, in fact, take their crops;
let the State in France become the sole depositary and distributor of
grain; let it solely buy and sell grain at a fixed rate.
Consequently, at Paris,[87] the Committee of Public Safety first puts
"in requisition all the oats that can be found in the Republic; every
holder of oats is required to deposit his stock on hand within eight
days, in the storehouse indicated by the district administration " at
the maximum " price; otherwise he is " a 'suspect' and must be
punished as such.
Pages:
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848