SAY, JEAN BAPTISTE LEON French statesman and economist, the grandson of J. B. Say (q.v.) and the son of Horace Emile Say (1794-1860), was born in Paris on June 6, 1826. Descended from a long line of distinguished economists, Leon Say established his reputation by his brilliant criticisms of Haussmann's financial administration of the Seine, published in the Journal des Debats of which he was one of the proprietors. On taking his seat in the Assembly of 1871 for the Seine, he was chosen as reporter of a commission on the state of the national finances. The statements which he published attracting the atten tion of Thiers he appointed Say prefect of the Seine (June 5), and in December 1872 promoted him minister of finance. This was a remarkable tribute from Thiers, who, as a protectionist, was op posed to Say's free trade views. After the fall of Thiers (May 1873), Say held office in the Buffet ministry, although in profound disagreement with its leaders, and was minister of finance under Dufaure and Jules Simon, in the Dufaure ministry of Dec. 1877, and in the Waddington ministry till Dec. 1879. During this period, in which he was practically the autocratic ruler of the French finances, he directed the payment of the war indemnity with con summate skill, completing it long before the prescribed time.
Say's general financial policy was to ameliorate the incidence of taxation and to enrich the country, and therefore the Treasury, by removing all restrictions on internal commerce. He accordingly reduced the rate of postage, repealed the duties on many articles of prime utility, such as paper, and fought strongly, though un successfully, against the system of octrois. In 188o he visited England to negotiate a commercial treaty between France and England, but the presidency of the Senate falling vacant, he was elected to it on May 25, having meanwhile secured a preliminary understanding. In Jan. 1882 he became minister of finance in the Freycinet cabinet, which was defeated in the following July on the Egyptian question. Say's influence waned before the at
tacks of Socialism and the revival of protectionism, against which Say vainly organized the Ligue contre le rencherissement du pain. He had, however, a large share in the successful opposition to the income-tax. In 1889 he quitted the Senate to enter the Chamber as member for Pau, in the belief that his efforts for Liberalism were more urgently needed in the popular assembly. Throughout his career he was an indefatigable writer and lecturer on economics, and in both capacities exerted a wide influence. Special mention must be made of his work, as editor and con tributor, on the Dictionnaire des finances and Nouveau Diction noire d'economie politique.
Say's style was easy and lucid, and he was often employed in drawing up important official documents, such as the famous presidential message of Dec. 1877. He was for many years a prominent member of the Academie des Sciences Morales et Politiques, and in 1886 succeeded to Edmond About's seat in the Academie Francaise. He died in Paris on April 21, 1896. A selection of his most important writings and speeches has since been published in four volumes under the title of Les Finances I de la France sous la troisieme republique (1898-1901).
See Georges Michel, Leon Say (Paris, 1899) ; Georges Picot, Leon Say, notice historique (Paris, i9o1), with a bibliography.
By the convention of 1898 Say and a considerable tract of terri tory south and east of the town were ceded to France. The dis trict of Say covers 18,500 square kilometres and has 69,00o inhabi tants ; after having formed part of the colony of the Upper Volta, it was again attached in 1927 to that of Niger (q.v.).