s, there is something _which is not seen_. The fifty
millions expended by the State cannot be spent, as they otherwise would
have been, by the tax-payers. It is necessary to deduct, from all the
good attributed to the public expenditure which has been effected, all
the harm caused by the prevention of private expense, unless we say that
James B. would have done nothing with the crown that he had gained, and
of which the tax had deprived him; an absurd assertion, for if he took
the trouble to earn it, it was because he expected the satisfaction of
using it. He would have repaired the palings in his garden, which he
cannot now do, and this is _that which is not seen_. He would have
manured his field, which now he cannot do, and this is _what is not
seen_. He would have added another story to his cottage, which he cannot
do now, and this is _what is not seen_. He might have increased the
number of his tools, which he cannot do now, and this is _what is not
seen_. He would have been better fed, better clothed, have given a
better education to his children, and increased his daughter's marriage
portion; this is _what is not seen_. He would have become a member of
the Mutual Assistance Society, but now he cannot; this is _what is not
seen_. On one hand, are the enjoyments of which he has been deprived,
and the means of action which have been destroyed in his hands; on the
other, are the labour of the drainer, the carpenter, the smith, the
tailor, the village schoolmaster, which he would have encouraged, and
which are now prevented--all this is _what is not seen_.

Much is hoped from the future prosperity of Algeria; be it so. But the
drain to which France is being subjected ought not to be kept entirely
out of sight. The commerce of Marseilles is pointed out to me; but if
this is to be brought about by means of taxation, I shall always show
that an equal commerce is destroyed thereby in other parts of the
country. It is said, "There is an emigrant transported into Barbary;
this is a relief to the population which remains in the country," I
answer, "How can that be, if, in transporting this emigrant to Algiers,
you also transport two or three times the capital which would have
served to maintain him in France?"[4]

The only object I have in view is to make it evident to the reader, that
in every public expense, behind the apparent benefit, there is an evil
which it is not so easy to discern. As far as in me lies, I would make