OF REFORMS.The emoluments annexed to any office being shown to be in excess, and the mischiefs resulting from such an excess being ascertained, the next question which occurs is, What remedy ought to be applied? The most obvious answer is a short one: strike them off at once.But thus unqualified, this answer is far from being the proper one.
Reform is the practical conclusion expected as the reward for all the labour bestowed on the examination of these theoretic propositions.Upon this subject, nothing further remains but to point out one limitation, without which every reform can only be a greater abuse than the whole of those which it pretends to correct.This limitation is, that no reform ought to be carried into effect without granting complete indemnity to those whose emoluments are diminished, or whose offices are suppressed; ---in a word, that the only legitimate benefit to be derived by the public from economical reform, consists in the conversion of perpetual into life annuities.
Will it be said, that the immediate suppression of these offices would be a gain to the public? This would be a mere sophism.
The sum in question would, without doubt, be gained by the public, if it came from abroad, if it were obtained by commerce &c.; but it is not gained when it is taken from individuals who form a part of that same public.
Would a family be richer, because the father disinherited one of his children, that he might the more richly endow the others? In this instance, as the disinheriting of one child would increase the inheritance of the others, the mischief would not be without some countervailing advantage; it would be productive of good to some part of the family.But when it relates to the public, the emoluments of a suppressed place being divided amongst the whole community,---the gain, being distributed among a multitude, is divided into impalpable quantities; whilst the loss, being confined to one, is felt in its entirety by him who supports it alone.The result of the operation is in no respect to enrich the party who gains, whilst it reduces the party who loses to poverty.Instead of one place suppressed, suppose a thousand, or ten thousand, or a hundred thousand,---the total disadvantage will remain the same: the plunder taken from thousands will have to be distributed among millions; your public places will be filled with unfortunate citizens whom you will have plunged into indigence, whilst you will scarcely see one individual who is sensibly enriched in consequence of all these cruel operations.The groans of sorrow and the cries of despair will resound on every side; the shouts of joy, if any such are heard, will not be the expressions of happiness, but of that malevolence which rejoices in the agony of its victims.
