At the General Farm, Lavoisier had
accumulated a wealth of information concerningdemography,
agricultural resources, the crafts industry, trade and financial
life inFrance.His functions at the Gunpowder Administration and
the DiscountBank had complemented his knowledge.Furthermore, the
goal of his activities as a landowner had still another objective
whichhe regarded"as just as important, that of providing the field
of economics with accurate results on the distribution of
territorial wealth."(Annales de
chimie , vol.xv, p.312.)
The association with intellectual circles close to the
Encyclopédists, developed in Lavoisier a keen interest in
analyzing the political and economic situation in France.Frequent
contacts with the Controllers General of Finance - Terray, Turgot,
Necker, Calonne (1734-1802), Loménie de Brienne
(1727-1794)- led him to hope that he might participate in that
profound liberal-inspired revitalization of the economy of which
the enlightened bourgeosie was dreaming.
But the repeated failures of administrative, fiscal and banking
reforms were, for him an indication that society was blocked.Soon
he was seized by a passion for politics, and inopen-minded
Parisiancircles such asthe Société des Trenteand the
Société des Amis des Noirshe began toreflect on the
great changes that everyone was expecting from the States
General.
Between 1776 and 1781, he had assisted Necker in his program of
philanthropic reform: modernization of hospitals, prisons and
slaughterhouses, the transferral of the Hôtel Dieu, the
setting up of orphanages, pension funds, health and old age
insurances andcharity workshops for the unemployed were all
projects for intervening in social matters and public health.But
very few of these potentially beneficial ideas promoted by Necker
were ever realized.Necker's successors, Calonne and Loménie
de Brienne, had too many financial worries to pursue them.
The
Committee on Agriculture
However, hoping to help stimulate the economy, that is,
essentially agriculture, Lavoisier began in 1783 to take part in
the work of the Paris branch of the Society of Agriculture,
sharing with his colleagues the results os his agronomical
research.The exceptionally dry spring of 1785 provided the
opportunity for him to create aroundVergennes, a high official at
the Ministry of Finance, a permanent working group which became
known as the Committee on Agriculture.Joined by his friend Du
Pont, he was able to give the Committee the importance of an
actual ministry and to envisage a vast program of financial,
fiscal and technical reforms."It is beginning," he wrote, "to hope
that it can contribute to the national prosperity by acting on
public opinion through publications and examples andby engaging
large landowners, capitalistsand the affluent population to invest
their surplus capital in the cultivation of land."(Lavoisier,
Oeuvres, vol. II, p. 822.)Calonne's downfall in 1787 brought an
end to the Committee's ambitions, which had upset the power
structure because they were considered too bold.
The
Provincial Assembly of Orleans
In September 1787, Brienne created the Provincial Assemblies, a
belated attempt at decentralization.The French at last
obtainedregional representation and couldparticipate in the
administration of their provinces.Lavoisier, a property owner in
the region ofBlois was one of the leaders at the Assembly held in
Orléans.As a member of the Commission of Public Welfare and
Agriculture, hepresented a series of proposals for economic and
social reform.His papers, the most important of which dealt with
taxes (Mémoire sur les impositions), were all published in
Orléans, except for the one dealing with the abolishment of
the corvée, which displeased the
nobility.(Lavoisier, Mémoire
sur les impositions, read at the
ProvincialAssemby of Orléans, September 1, 1788, in
8°, 88 p., tableau. B.N., cote: Lk 15 47.)
In February 1789, as a candidate torepresent Bloisat the States
General, he used the "Cahier des doléances" (Register of
Grievances)to repeat his proposals regarding individual liberty, a
fairer tax system, and reforms in judicial and regional
administration.He summarized them in six points: "1) The salaries
of country priests should be included in the clergy's general
budget.2)A single standard forcoutumes (??), weights and measures
shouldbe used throughout the kingdom.3) A plan for national
education should be established for all classes of
society.4)Titles of nobility should not be purchased , but
accorded only as a recompense for services renderedto the King and
State. 5) All domestic customs duties should be abolished.6) The
harsh system of military punishments should be reformed,
abolishing all those thatdegradethe subject in his own eyes and
reflect badly on the character of the Nation."
Rejected by the Third Estate, since he was a Farmer General, he
was able to obtain a position as an alternate deputy representing
the nobility. The disappointments he experienced in his reforming
efforts wereinstrumental in his determination to play a political
role and his subsequent commitment to the revolutionary
process.But here, too, his attempts at intervention failed.In
Paris, he was chosen as one of eight membersof the nobility to
represent the Hôtel de Ville section at the Assembly of
Electors, but, in the end, he withdrew, for reasons not altogether
clear.1789 was an extremely difficult year for him, including such
sensitive tasks as transferring to the Bastille gunpowder stored
at the Arsenal on the eve of July 14 and serving the new power.On
August 6,he was accused of shipping gunpowder to
counter-revolutionary armies and almost lost his ife in a popular
riot.In September, he supervised the demolition of the
Bastille.
The Discount
Bank
He was after all better suited to the field of finances.He played
a crucial role at the Discount Bank,a powerful private institution
which habitually lent important sums to the Royal
Treasury.President of its Board of Directors when Necker was
recalled to power in 1788, Lavoisier advanced him considerable
sums for replenishing the State's empty coffers.When the loans
totaled150 millionlivres (the equivalent of more than 30 billion
francsin 1995), thebank's directors grew nervous.Necker and
Lavoisier then proposed to nationalize the Discount Bank and
replace it by a Banque de France.The stockholderswould be
reimbursed by the Caisse de l'Extraordinaire (Special Bank), which
would have funds supplied by regional grants andthe issuing of
assignats guaranteed byconfiscated Church property.The Constituent
Assembly,opposed to having such a powerful institution in the
hands of royal power, refused nationalization and moved towards
the uncontrolled creation of assignats.
Reflections
on Assignats
Within the Society of 1789andother circles composed of financiers
and liberalaristocrats favoring a constitutional monarchy,
Lavoisier attempted in 1790 to define a policy conforming more
closely to monetary orthodoxy and the views of the Discount Bank:
assignats should be used exclusively for reimbursingthe short-term
debt; they should be guaranteed by national property and their
total should not exceed 900 million livres. In spite of the
support of Du Pont and Necker, he was not heeded.The
Assemblyrecklesslyembarked on thecreation of unguaranteed paper
money. Paradoxically, at the beginning of 1793, Lavoisier would
devote three months of his activity at the Advisory Board for Arts
and Trades toperfecting the fabrication of
uncounterfeitableassignats.Drawing on hisbanking experience, he
defined the principles: the assignats should be easily
identifiable by everyone and rigorously identical.But the greatest
possible number of unrelated techniques should be used in their
fabrication.For each technique, the best and most difficult to
copy craftsmen should be employed.
Seven paper manufacturers provided him with samples.He compared
their quality, strength and cost, and then asked each of the seven
to produce a specific paper to be used for a particular
denomination of assignat.He envisaged using Berthollet's method
for bleaching the paper-making pulp, and carefully chose the inks,
investigated ways of coloring paper, and learned the techniques
for engraving, typography and producing watermarks.He recommended
printingby polytypage, which usedsteel platesand made it possible
to produce rapidly up to 20,000 proofs at a time.
The National
Treasury
After Necker's departure, the Constituent Assembly took over the
control of public finances.In March 1791, it abolished the General
Farm and replaced the Royal Treasury by a Public Treasury, which
would thereafter manageall the revenues and expenses of the State.
In April, it appointed six commissioners, of whom the two most
important were Condorcet and Lavoisier.But Condorcet, who had been
elected to the National Assembly, served only briefly.For ten
months, Lavoisier assumedconsiderable responsibilities.He
organized the administration and introduced modern management
methods.He verified the receipts and expenses, centralized the
bookkeeping, paid out pensions and the interest on the debt,
oversaw the payments to the Special Bank, ensured the exchange of
assignats,and bought currency from English, Belgian and Dutch
banks.It was he who assessed the yield of the new fiscal policy
based on a general direct tax, presented the first assessments of
the national income and the first budget estimate.
The
Territorial Wealth of the Kingdom of France
This document was Lavoisier's most important contribution as an
economist. The first modern study of the demographic and economic
resources of the nation, it was innovative in calling for the
creation of two entirely new institutions for France: a National
Bureau of Statistics and a center for centralized accounting.But
his moderate opinionsas a constitutionalmonarchist were out of
step with the political evolution.Both the radical Jean-Paul Marat
(1743-1793) in l'Ami du Peupleand theroyalist newspapers
Ultraspursued him with their condemnation and in February 1792
forced him to withdraw from both the Discount Bank and the Public
Treasury.There remained only one possibilityopen to him: to place
himself in public service and prove that scientists couldbe
socially useful.