Such are the two results of the system： not only is the food which is supplied to Paris scant and poor， but the regular consumers of it， those who take their turn to get it， obtain but a small portion， and that the worst.[76] A certain inspector， on going to the corn market for a sample of flour， writes "that it cannot be called flour；[77] it is ground bran，" and not a nutritive substance； the bakers are forced to take it， the markets containing for the most part no other supply than this flour." - Again， three weeks later， "Food is still very scarce and poor in quality. The bread is disagreeable to the taste and produces maladies with which many citizens are suffering， like dysentery and other inflammatory ailments." The same report， three months later during the month of Niv？se： "Complaints are constantly made of the poor quality of flour， which， it is said， makes a good many people ill ； it causes severe pain in the intestines， accompanied with a slow fever. - During Vent？se， "the scarcity of every article is extremely great，"[78] especially of meat. Some women in the Place Maubert， pass six hours in a line waiting for it， and do not get the quarter of a pound； in many stalls there is none at all， not "an ounce" being obtainable to make broth for the sick. Workmen do not get it in their shops and do without their soup； they live on "bread and salted herrings." A great many people groan over "not having eaten bread for a fortnight；" women say that "they have not had a dish of meat and vegetables (pot au feu) for a month." Meanwhile "vegetables are astonishingly scarce and excessively dear. . . . two sous for a miserable carrot， and as much for two small leeks." Out of two thousand women who wait at the central market for a distribution of beans， only six hundred receive any. Potatoes increase in price in one week from two to three francs a bushel， and oatmeal and ground peas triple in price. "The grocers have no more brown sugar， even for the sick，" and sell candles and soap only by the half pound. - Afortnight later candles are wholly wanting in certain quarters， except in the section storehouse， which is almost empty， each person being allowed only one. A good many households go to rest at sundown for lack of lights and do not cook any dinner for lack of coal. Eggs， especially， are "honored as invisible divinities，" while the absent butter "is a god."[79] "If this lasts，" say the workmen， "we shall have to cut each other's throats， since there is nothing left to live on."[80] "Sick women，[81] children in their cradles， lie outstretched in the sun，" in the very heart of Paris， in rue Vivienne， on the Pont-Royal， and remain there "late in the night， demanding alms of the passers-by." "One is constantly stopped by beggars of both ***es， most of them healthy and strong，" begging， they say， for lack of work.
Without counting the feeble and the infirm who are unable to stand in a line， whose sufferings are visible， who gradually waste away and die without a murmur at home， "one encounters in the streets and markets"only famished and eager visages， "an immense crowd of citizens running and dashing against each other，" crying out and weeping， "everywhere presenting an image of despair."[82]
V. Revolutionary Remedies.
Revolutionary remedies. - Rigor against the refractory. - Decrees and orders rendering the State the only depositary and distributor of food. - Efforts made to establish a conscription of labor. -Discouragement of the Peasant. - He refuses to cultivate. - Decrees and orders compelling him to harvest. - His stubbornness. -Cultivators imprisoned by thousands. - The Convention is obliged to set them at liberty. - Fortunate circumstances which save France from extreme famine.
This penury only exists， say the Jacobins， because the laws against monopoly， and sales above the "maximum" prices are not being obeyed to the letter of the law. The egoism of the cultivator and the cupidity of dealers are not restrained by fear and delinquents escape too frequently from the legal penalty. Let us enforce this penalty rigorously； let us increase the punishment against them and their instruments； let us screw up the machine and give them a new wrench.
A new estimate and verification of the food supply takes place， domiciliary searches， seizures of special stores regarded as too ample，[83] limited rations for each consumer， a common and obligatory mess table for all prisoners， brown， égalité bread， mostly of bran， for every mouth that can chew， prohibition of the ****** of any other kind， confiscation of boulters and sieves，[84] the "individual，"personal responsibility of every administrator who allows the people he directs to resist or escape providing the demanded supplies， the sequestration of his property， imprisonment， fines， the pillory and the guillotine to hurry up requisitions， or stop free trading， - every terrifying method is driven to the utmost against the farmers and cultivators of the soil.
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.