Democracy，aboveaswellasbelow，isshort—sighted；itseizeswhateverfooditcomesacross，likeananimal，withopenjawsandheaddown；itrefusestoanticipateandtocalculate；itburdensthefutureandwasteseveryfortuneitundertakestomanage，notalonethatofthecentralstate，but，again，thoseofalllocalsocieties。Uptotheadventofuniversalsuffrage，theadministratorsappointedaboveorelectedbelow，inthedepartmentorinthecommune，kepttightholdofthepurse—strings；since1848，especiallysince1870，andstilllater，sincethepassageofthelawsof1882，which，insuppressingtheobligatoryconsentoftheheaviesttaxed，letslipthelastofthesestrings，thispurse，wideopen，isemptiedinthestreet。—In1851，[39]thedepartments，alltogether，expended97millions；in1869，192millions；in1881，314millions。In1836，thecommunes，alltogether，saveParis，expended117millions，in1862，450millions，in1877，676millions。Ifweexaminethereceiptscoveringthisexpenditure，wefindthattheadditionalcentimeswhichsuppliedthelocalbudgets，in1820，with80millions，and，in1850，with131
millions，suppliedthem，in1870，with249millions，in1880，with318
millions，and，in1887，with364millions。Theannualincrease，therefore，ofthesesuperaddedcentimestotheprincipalofthedirecttaxesisenormous，andfinallyendsinanoverflow。In1874，[40]therewerealready24departmentsinwhichthesumofadditionalcentimesreachedorsurpassedthesumoftheprincipal。\"Inaveryfewyears，\"
saysaneminenteconomist，[41]\"itisprobablethat，fornearlyallofthedepartments，\"theoverchargewillbesimilar。Already，foralongtime，inthetotalofpersonaltaxation，[42]thelocalbudgetsraisedmorethanthestate，and，in1888，theprincipalofthetaxrealproperty，183millions，islessthanthetotalofcentimesjoinedwithit，196millions。Cominggenerationsareburdenedoverandbeyondthepresentgeneration，whilethesumofloansconstantlyincreases，likethatoftaxation。Theindebtedcommunes，exceptParis，owed，altogether，in1868，524millionsfrancs[43]，in1871，711millions，andin1878，1322millionsfrancs。[44]Paris，in1868，alreadyowed1326millions，March30，1878，itowed1988millions。InthissameParis，theannualcontributionofeachinhabitantforlocalexpenseswas，attheendofthefirstEmpire，in1813，37francsperhead，attheendoftheRestoration，[45]francs，aftertheJulymonarchy，in1848，43francs，and，attheendofthesecondEmpire，in1869，94
francs。In1887，45itis110francsperhead。[46]