Page:Studies in socialism 1906.djvu/103

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Revolutionary Majorities
53

nobility. It knew how to put a stop to all that. The memorials addressed to the throne all agree in proclaiming that the man and the citizen has rights, and that no prescription can hold good against these immortal titles to equality. And they specify the necessary guaranties. The king will continue to be the chief executive, but the national will is to make the laws. This sovereign will of the nation will be expressed by permanent and periodically elected national assemblies. Taxes shall only be levied when they have been voted by the National Assembly. Taxes will bear equally upon all the citizens. All privileges of caste shall be abolished. No man shall be exempt from taxation. No one shall have exclusive hunting and shooting rights. No one shall have the right to appear before a special tribunal. The same law for all, the same taxation for all, the same justice for all. Those feudal rights which are contrary to the dignity of man, those which are the sign of ancient serfdom, are to be abolished without indemnity. Those which encumber rural property and keep it unimproved are to be abolished by purchase. Every employment shall be open to all, and the highest rank in the army shall be attainable by the member of the middle class and the peasant, as well as by the noble. All forms of economic activity shall also be open to all. The permission of the guild and the authorisation of the government shall no longer be necessary before a man can take up this or that