Co-operation by Farmers
latter provinces, and the local public expenses in the former are the same as in the latter. In certain communes some imposts which fall upon special classes are heavier, and in others where these social classes hold the administrative power these forms of taxes scarcely exist, or do not exist at all. Thiers has remarked that in 1789 wherever the communes enjoyed some liberty they soon fell into a condition of bankruptcy. Now the acts of J888 and 1894 enlarged the power of the English local bodies, and the freedom given to these local bodies in the classic land of liberalism has produced communal socialism; that is, a prodigious development of public expense, and the administrative disorder which has doubled the public debt in a few years. In Italy, in spite of the fact that local liberty is restricted, the function of some local public bodies has increased extraordinarily, and the wealth which these local bodies demand from the citizens is increasing irregularly. It is strange that somie wish to increase this liberty, when the experience of all countries shows that, far from securing a better administration, it reduces the municipality to distress, and extorts from its citizens enormous wealth which they ought to employ in satisfying their urgent needs. This wealth the local public bodies expend on public adornment more or less stupid, sacrificing it to the new "Goddess of Hygiene " and scarcely ever using it to satisfy any true social needs.! Such, briefly, is the work of Municipal Socialism in Europe.
- DOI
- 10.1086/250516
- Volume
- 6 (3)
- Pages
- 401-403
- Language
- en
- Export
- BibTeX
- Sources
- semanticscholar openalex crossref