There is too much anxiety， and property is too precarious； there are too many obstacles to commerce ； purchases， sales， shipments， arrivals and payments are too uncertain. How are goods to be stored and transported in a country where neither the central government， the local authorities， the National Guard， nor the regular troops perform their duties， and where every transaction in produce， even the most legal and the most serviceable， is subject to the caprice of a dozen villains whom the populace obey. - Wheat remains in the barn， or is secreted， or is kept waiting， and only reaches by stealth the hands of those who are rich enough to pay， not only its price， but the extra cost of the risk. Thus forced into a narrow channel， it rises to a rate which the depreciation of the assignats augments， its dearness being not only maintained， but ever on the increase. -- Thereupon popular instinct invents for the cure of the evil a remedy which serves to aggravate it： henceforth， wheat must not travel； it is impounded in the canton in which it is gathered.
At Laon， "the people have sworn to die rather than let their food be carried off." At étampes， to which the municipality of Angers dispatches an administrator of its hospital to buy two hundred and fifty sacks of flour， the commission cannot be executed， the delegate not even daring to avow for several days the object of his coming； all he can do is "to visit incognito， and at night， the different flour-dealers in the valley， who would offer to furnish the supply， but fear for their lives and dare not even leave their houses." - The same violence is shown in the more distant circle of departments which surround the first circle. At Aubigny， in Cher，[22] grain-wagons are stopped， the district administrators are menaced； two have a price set on their heads； a portion of the National Guard sides with the mutineers. At Chaumont， in Haute-Marne， the whole of the National Guard is in a state of mutiny； a convoy of over three hundred sacks is stopped， the H？tel-de-Ville forced， and the insurrection lasts four days； the directory of the department takes flight； and the people seize on the powder and cannons. At Douai， in the "Nord，" to save a grain-dealer， he is put in prison； the mob forces the gates， the soldiers refuse to fire， and the man is hung， while the directory of the department takes refuge in Lille. At Montreuil-sur-Mer， in Pas-de-Calais， the two leaders of the insurrection， a brazier and a horse-shoer， "Bèquelin， called Petit-Gueux，" the latter with his saber in hand， reply to the summons of the municipal authorities， that "not a grain shall go now that they are masters，" and that if they dare to make such proclamations "they will cut off their heads." There are no means of resistance. The National Guard， when it is convoked， does not respond； the volunteers when called upon turn their muskets down， and the crowd， assembled beneath the windows， shouts out its huzzahs. So much the worse for the law when it opposes popular passion： "We will not obey it，" they say； "people make laws to please themselves." - By way of practical illustration， at Tortes， in Seine-Inférieure， six thousand armed men belonging to the surrounding parishes form a deliberative armed body； the better to establish their rights， they bring two cannon with them fastened by ropes on a couple of carts； twenty-two companies of the National Guard， each under its own banner， march beside them， while all peaceable inhabitants are compelled to fall in "under penalty of death，" the municipal officers being at their head. This improvised parliament promulgates a complete law in relation to grain， which， as a matter of form， is sent for acceptance to the department， and to the National Assembly； and one of its articles declares that all husbandmen shall be forbidden "to sell their wheat elsewhere than on the market-places." With no other outlet for it， wheat must be brought to the corn markets (halles)， and when these are full the price must necessarily fall.
What a profound deception！ Even in the granary of France wheat remains dear， and costs about one-third more than would be necessary to secure the sale of bread at two sous the pound， in conformity with the will of the people. For instance，[23] at Gonesse， Dourdan， Corbeil， Mennecy， Brunoy， Limours， Brie-Comte-Robert， and especially at étampes and Montlhéry， the holders of grain are compelled almost weekly， through the clamors and violence of the people， to reduce prices one-third and more. It is impossible for the authorities to maintain， on their corn-exchange， the freedom of buying and selling.
The regular troops have been sent off by the people beforehand.