At Tours,[43] the bourgeois militia
refuse to give assistance to the employees, and "openly protect
smuggling," "and contraband tobacco is publicly sold at the fair,
under the eyes of the municipal authorities, who dare make no
Opposition to it." All receipts, consequently, diminish at the same
time.[44] From the 1st of May, 1789, to the 1st of May, 1790, the
general collections amount to 127 millions instead of 150 millions;
the dues and excise combined return only 31, instead of 50 millions.
The streams which filled the public exchequer are more and more
obstructed by popular resistance, and under the popular pressure,
the Assembly ends by closing them entirely. In the month of March,
1790,[45] it abolishes salt duties, internal customs-duties, taxes
on leather, on oil, on starch, and the stamp of iron. In February
and March, 1791, it abolishes octrois and entrance-dues in all the
cities and boroughs of the kingdom, all the excise duties and those
connected with the excise, especially all taxes which affect the
manufacture, sale, or circulation of beverages.
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