Talon had to give in. But he did so in such a way as to gain his point in part. He wrote that he would speak no more of the great establishment he had thought possible, since the minister was of opinion that France had no excess of population which could be used for the peopling of Canada. At the same time he insisted on the necessity of helping the colony, and assured Colbert that, could he himself see Canada, he would be disposed to do his utmost for it, knowing that a new country cannot make its own way without being helped effectively at the outset. Talon's tact and firmness of purpose had their reward, for the next year Colbert gave ample proof that he understood Canada's situation and requirements.
On the question of the West India Company also there was some divergence of view between the minister and the intendant. As we have seen in a preceding chapter, Talon had expressed his apprehension of the evils likely to spring from the wide privileges exercised by the company. But this trading association was Colbert's creation. He had contended that the failure of the One Hundred Associates was due to inherent weakness. The new one was stronger and could do better. Perhaps difficulties might arise in the beginning on account of the inexperience and greed of some of the company's agents, but with time the situation would improve. It was not surprising that Colbert should defend the company he had organized. Nevertheless, on that point as on the other, Colbert contrived to meet Talon half-way. The Indian trade, he said, would be opened to the colonists, and for one year the company would grant freedom of trade generally to all the people of New France.
In connection with the rights of this company another question, affecting the finances, was soon to arise. By its charter the company was entitled to collect the revenues of the colony; that is to say, the taxes levied on the sale of beaver and moose skins. The tax on beaver skins was twenty-five per cent, called le droit du quart; the tax on moose skins was two sous per pound, le droit du dixieme. There was also the revenue obtained from the sale or farming out of the trading privileges at Tadoussac, la traite de Tadoussac. All these formed what was called le fonds du pays, the public fund, out of which were paid the emoluments of the governor and the public officers, the costs of the garrisons at Quebec, Montreal, and Three Rivers, the grants to religious communities, and other permanent yearly disbursements. The company had the right to collect the taxes, but was obliged to pay the public charges.
Writing to Colbert, Talon said he would have been greatly pleased if, in addition to these rights, the king had retained the fiscal powers of the crown. He declared that the taxes were productive, yet the company's agent seemed very reluctant to pay the public charges. Colbert, of course, decided that the company, in accordance with its charter, was entitled to enjoy the fiscal rights upon condition of defraying annually the ordinary public expenditure of the country, as the company which preceded it had done. Immediately another point was raised. What should be the amount of the public expenditure, or rather, to what figure should the company be allowed to reduce it? Talon maintained that the public charges defrayed by the former company amounted to 48,950 livres. [Footnote: The livre was equivalent to the later franc, about twenty cents of modern Canadian currency.] The company's agent contended that they amounted only to 29,200 livres and that the sum of 48,950 livres was exorbitant, as it exceeded by 4000 livres the highest sum ever received from farming out the revenue. [Footnote: It was the custom in New France to sell or farm out the revenues. Instead of collecting direct the fur taxes and the proceeds of the Tadoussac trade, the government granted the rights to a corporation or a private individual in return for a fixed sum annually.] To this the intendant replied by submitting evidence that the rights were farmed out for 50,000 livres in 1660 and in 1663; moreover, the rights were more valuable now, for with the conclusion of peace trade would prosper. In the end Colbert decided that the sum payable by the company should be 36,000 livres annually. The ordinary revenue of New France was thus fixed, and remained at that sum for many years.
It must not be supposed that this revenue was sufficient to meet all the expenses connected with the defence and development of the colony. There was an extraordinary fund provided by the king's treasury and devoted to the movement and maintenance of the troops, the payment of certain special emoluments, the transport of new settlers, horses, and sheep, the construction of forts, the purchase and shipment of supplies. In 1665 this extraordinary budget amounted to 358,000 livres.
Talon's energetic action on the question of the revenue was inspired by his knowledge of the public needs. He knew that many things requiring money had to be done. A new country like Canada could not be opened up for settlement without expense, and he thought that the traders who reaped the benefit of their monopoly should pay their due share of the outlay.
We have already seen that Talon had begun the establishment of three villages in the vicinity of Quebec. Let us briefly enumerate the principles which guided him in erecting these settlements. First of all, in deference to the king's instructions relative to concentration, he contrived to plant the new villages as near as possible to the capital, and evolved a plan which would group the settlers about a central point and thus provide for their mutual help and defence. In pursuance of this plan he made all his Charlesbourg land grants triangular, narrow at the head, wide at the base, so that the houses erected at the head were near each other and formed a square in the centre of the settlement. In this arrangement there was originality and good sense. After more than two centuries, Talon's idea remains stamped on the soil; and the plans of the Charlesbourg villages as surveyed in our own days show distinctly the form of settlement adopted by the intendant.
Proper dwellings were made ready to receive the new-comers. Then Talon proceeded with the establishment of settlers. To his great joy some soldiers applied for grants. He made point of having skilled workmen, some, if possible, in each village—carpenters, shoemakers, masons, or other artisans, whose services would be useful to all. He tried also to induce habitants of earlier date to join the new settlements, where their experience would be a guide and their methods an object-lesson to beginners.
The grants were made on very generous terms, The soldiers and habitants, on taking possession of their land, received a substantial supply of food and the tools necessary for their work. They were to be paid for clearing and tilling the first two acres. In return each was bound by his deed to clear and prepare for cultivation during the three or four following years another two acres, which could afterwards be allotted to an incoming settler. Talon proposed also that they should be bound to military service. For each new-comer the king assumed the total expense of clearing two acres, erecting a house, preparing and sowing the ground, and providing flour until a crop was reaped—all on condition that the occupant should clear and cultivate two additional acres within three or four years, presumably for allotment to the next new-comer.
Such were the broad lines of Talon's colonization policy. But to his mind it was not enough that he should make regulations and issue orders; he would set up a model farm himself and thus be an example in his own person. He bought land in the neighbourhood of the St Charles river and had the ground cleared at his own expense. He erected thereon a large house, a barn, and other buildings; and, in course of time, his fine property, comprising cultivated fields, meadows, and gardens, and well stocked with domestic animals, became a source of pride to him.