As
soon as this public opinion in favour of such institutions dies out,
or is even extinguished in the judgement of those who have the
greatest claim by their acknowledged merit to lead and represent it,
the putative proprietorship in question must cease, as if by a
public appeal made regarding it to the state (a rege male informato ad
regem melius informandum).
On this primarily acquired supreme proprietorship in the land
rests the right of the sovereign, as universal proprietor of the
country, to assess the private proprietors of the soil, and to
demand taxes, excise, and dues, or the performance of service to the
state such as may be required in war. But this is to be done so that
it is actually the people that assess themselves, this being the
only mode of proceeding according to laws of right. This may be
effected through the medium of the body of deputies who represent
the people. It is also permissible, in circumstances in which the
state is in imminent danger, to proceed by a forced loan, as a right
vested in the sovereign, although this may be a divergence from the
existing law.
Upon this principle is also founded the right of administering the
national economy, including the finance and the police. The police has
specially to care for the public safety, convenience, and decency.
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