[388] Turgot, the leading economist of the time, argues that it would be quite sufficient if "the government should always protect the natural liberty of the buyer to buy, and of the seller to sell. For the buyer being always the master to buy or not to buy, it is certain that he will select among the sellers the man who will give him at the best bargain the goods that suit him best. It is not less certain that every seller, it being his chief interest to merit preference over his competitors, will sell in general the best goods and at the lowest price at which he can make a profit in order to attract customers. The merchant or manufacturer who cheats will be quickly discredited and lose his custom without the interference of government."
[389] Reference, Lowell, Eve of the French Revolution, Chapter II.
[390] Turgot succeeded in inducing the king to abolish the guilds and the forced labor on the roads, but the decrees were revoked after Turgot's dismissal. For an admirable short account of Turgot's life, ideas, and reforms, see Say, Turgot (McClurg, 75 cents).
[391] See [Readings], Chapter XXIV.
[392] Reference, Lowell, Eve of the French Revolution, pp. 238–242.
[393] See above, pp. [131–132].
[394] Reference, H. Morse Stephens, The French Revolution, Vol. I, pp. 13–15, 20–24.
[395] Pronounced kă-yā'.
[396] Examples of the cahiers may be found in Translations and Reprints, Vol. IV, No. 5.
[397] Reference, Lowell, Eve of the French Revolution, Chapter XXI.