FARMERS-GENERAL (Fr. fermiers-gene raw"). The name given to the members of a privileged association in France, who farmed or leased the public revenue of the nation under the old regime. This peculiar system of tax-gather ing dated from the early fourteenth century, when the gabelle or salt tax was farmed out in order to raise money for the war against England. In time other taxes were instituted and farmed out, until in the year 1720 there was a special admin istrative board formed, presided over by one of the farmers-general, or by one of his assistants, for each class of imposts. The Minister of Finance selected the farmers-general at his pleasure. tuft his choice was generally influenced by bribes (pot de-vin). The royal favorites were frequently given control of various imposts in lieu of pen sions. The number of farmers-general was ordi narily 40, but shortly before the Revolution it had risen to GO. The entire sum which it was necessary to place in the national treasury— or, in other words, the annual national revenues —amounted to 180,000,000 livrcs. All returns
above this suns went into the pockets of the farmers-general, many if not most of whom ac enmulated large fortunes. Those in power were bribed to support this corrupt and ruinous finan cial system, though Turgot and Necker sought to change it. The Constitution of 1791 did away with the farming of the revenues, while the 1:evolutionary Tribunal sent many of the ex-farm ers-general to the guillotine. Consult: De Nervo, Lcs finances francaises sous l'anciennc monarchic, etc. (Paris, 1863) ; Lemoine, Les derniers fer miers-generaux (Paris, 1873) ; Vuitry, Etudes saw le regime financier de la France arant la revolu tion do 1789 (Paris, 1883) ; Bouchard, Sys0m-(3 financier (le l'ancicnnc monarchic (Paris, 1891) ; Toequeville, France before the Revolution of 1789, English translation (London, 1888) ; Taine, The Ancient Regime, English translation (London, 1876) ; Lowell, The Eve of the French, Revolution (Boston, 1892).