L400,000 is devoured by a useless army, the sole duty of which has
hitherto been to present arms to the Cardinals, and to escort the
procession of the Host.
L120,000 is devoted to those establishments which of all others are
the most indispensable to an unpopular government: I mean, the
prisons.
L80,000 is the cost of the administration of justice. The tribunals of
the capital absorb half the amount, because they enjoy the distinction
of being for the most part composed of prelates.
The very modest sum of L100,000 is devoted to public works. This is
chiefly spent in embellishing Rome, and repairing churches.
L60,000 goes in the encouragement of idleness in the city of Rome. A
Charity Commission, presided over by a Cardinal, distributes this sum
among a few thousand incorrigible idlers, without accounting for it to
anybody. Mendicity is all the more flourishing, as is apparent to
every one. From 1827 to 1858, the subjects of the Holy Father paid
L1,600,000 in mischievous alms, among the injurious effects of which,
the principal was to deprive labour of the hands it required. The
Cardinal who presides over the Commission takes L2,400 a year for his
private charities.
L16,000 defrays poorly enough the cost of the public education, which,
moreover, is wholly in the hands of the clergy. Add this moderate sum,
and the L80,000 devoted to the administration of justice, to a part of
the L100,000 spent on public works, and you have all that can fairly
be set down as money spent in the service of the nation.
Pages:
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234