BENTHAM ON BOWRING.
OUR article on the Public Accounts of France has attracted the notice of the illustrious JEREMY BENTFIAM, who has adopted the somewhat roundabout course of addressing an epistle to the Editor of the Courier, in order " to submit a few observations to the re- viewer" of Dr. BowitiNo's Report in the Spectator. The letter is too long for our reprinting ; but its burthen, when translated from the sacred original to the vulgar tongue, is simply that we entertain a less exalted opinion than our venerable quasi-corre- spondent of Dr. BOWRING'S merits as an accountant. Now, notwithstanding the admiration of Mr. BENTHAM, and " of the ministers upon ministers, and diplomatists upon diploma- tists, and all those contemporaries" of ours upon whom Dr. BOWRING " may have levied an unavoidable tax of civility," a fur- ther examination of the report has only confirmed us in our here- tical opinion, that its value is confined to its general description of the system of French accounts, and of the results which the system has produced. Of the accounts themselves, it gives but little in- formation. It contains not a solitary transcript from the books used in the different offices ;* not a copy of any account is pre- sented to show the working of the system, or any part of it ; nor has any endeavour been made, by means of successive entries, to exemplify (we may add, to authenticate) the assertion of LAFITTE, that "the smallest sum that comes from the pocket of the taxed may be accurately traced up to the public Treasury." An ac- count of the French system of taxation—some detailed informa- tion upon the sources of their revenue—we still desidere.te, in order to understand a portion of the tables, and also such parts of " hitherto inaccessible information" as Dr. I3owaiNG has attempted to furnish. It is true Dr. BOWRING might not have been directed to obtain it ; yet, we doubt not, it was the very first point he mas- tered,—for he would hardly presume to pass judgment upon a system of accounts without knowing whether the business was simple or complicated which that system was adopted to meet. By the "out-of-doors working of the system"—an expression which Mr. BENTHAM seems to sneer at—we mean, not only the checks placed upon the receivers of taxes, but the mode of manag- ing and the supervisal exercised over the hewers of wood and workers of mines, the sellers of salt and manufacturers of tobacco (if we are in error here, the fault must lie with Dr. BOWRING), and the builders of bridges and makers of roads. When we ob- served that Dr. BowaiNG had originated no new views, we meant that he had offered no opinion as to the possible improvement of the French system, or its applicability to public accounts at home. In fine, we retain our opinion, that without the expense of a mis- sion to Paris, the same, or a more useful report, might have been obtained. The mission to Paris, it is true, enabled Dr. Bow- BING to pen the following paragraph ; and we have pleasure in quoting it, at a time when we see a mischievous spirit at work in England to keep up and inflame the old prejudices against France.
" I find it impossible to express my sense of the unbounded courtesies of the French authorities, and the cheerful readiness with which they lent their assistance in furtherance of the mission with which your Lord- ships honoured me. The Kin; of the French himself condescended specially to recommend me to his Ministers, and to express his desire that they should facilitate all my inquiries. The President of the Council of Ministers, and the Minister of Finance, issued a circular to all the Departments, re- questing them to communicate to me all the information I might think it of importance to obtain, and to furnish me with copies of any docu- ments explanatory of the subject to which my attention was directed. The President of the Court of Accounts (M. D'Audiffret), the Accountant- General of Finance (M. Rodier), the head of the accounts of the War Department (M. Martineau), and of the Department of Marine and Colonies (M. Boursaint), rivalled one another in the frankness and ful- ness of their communications, and enabled me, by the willing co-ope- ration of their subordinates, to carry forward my investigations into the different branches of their several administrations; and have each and all authorized me to state, that if any topics require further elucidation, they will be most ready to afford it." These are splendid advantages, and would certainly warrant the expectation of a more valuable report. To make amends for our scepticism, the warm-hearted Utilita- rian overflows with faith. " If ever an accountant existed upon earth " he says, "Dr. BOWRING is one," because he has praised book-keeping by double entry, and—in pity to the ignorance of Lords of the Treasury, who manage the public money, and of mem- bers of the House of Commons, who vote it away—has kept his *The Report of a Committee of the House of Commons on the Public Accounts of England is now lying beside us. In point of form, it is a crude and ill-arranged publication, far less imposing than Dr. Bownixo's Report ; but it is valuable for its materials. In addition to full descrip- tions of the mode of keeping the accounts and transacting the business of the different offices, transcripts are given from the books themselves, so that if the whole of the officers—in the Exchequer especially—were mira- culously annihilated, we could work the business from the Report alone. if this test be applied to Dr. BOWRING'S performance, it at once displays its insufficiency; for if it were determined to establish the system in any one office in England, we rather think another mission must be sent out to know what that system is in its every .day working. It is not, of course, meant to prefer the English to the French system : we are merely comparing the respective Reports. It is also probable, that the practical matter we speak of may appear in the second Report ; when nothing will give us greater pleasure than to assist in diffusing its -useful information. Report clear of the technical jargon of debtor and creditor. Yet, as long as Dr. BOWRING keeps clear of technicalities, he conveys no practical information ; when he has attempted to convey it (p. 88, 89) he uses technical terms, but applies them incomprehensibly. Mr. BENTHAM pays a curious compliment to Dr. BOWRING'S mind.
" As to his having" sought out little," for my part, supposing any such inaction to have taken place, a cause I should assign for it is, that Dr. Bowring's is a mind into which new and useful matter flows on all occa. sions in such abundance, without being sought for, that he has no need to seek for it."
Such a "mind" as this might as well have stayed at home. Why should it venture in steam-boats and weary in diligences ? All that is necessary, would be for the Ministers to place it in some convenient spot below the level of the sea—say the neighbourhood of Westminster for instance, and let the streams of knowledge flow into it.
Mr. BENTHABI has no scruple, as he says, to bring the names of Dr. BOWRING and Mr. HusKissoN into collision: an act less friendly than he seems to imagine. It is an idea that would have occurred to no one else. Mr. BENTHAM represents Mr. Husxissoer as failing in a purpose not very widely diferent from that which Dr. BOWRING succeeds in accomplishing. To most persons there would appear a rather wide difference between attempting to per- suade the French Government to change its whole system of com- mercial policy, and requesting permission to examine the manner in which they keep their accounts. Mr. BENTHAM looks for the difference. not in the subject matter, but in the mental frames of the two men. Assuredly we believe that no two mental frames were ever more different ; but probably the difference between the frames of CHARLES the Tenth and LOUIS PHILIP may have as much to do with the question as Mr. BreernAm's unhappy "col- lision."
Mr. BENTHAM confirms our conjecture that Dr. BOWRING is oc- cupied in drawing tip " a second, and as it were supplementary report." He hints at a " farther ciermission," in quest of our desiderata. Not on our account, we entreat—not on our account, by any means! Or, if Dr. BOWRING must go to Paris, let the commission be literary, rather than arithmetical ; and the return to the order—a free translation of BERANGER'S songs.
Previous page
