They absolutely contributed nothing
to the revenue of the country in the way of direct taxes!
"This peculiarity of the Constitution made it the interest of the Crown
to _preserve_ the area of the tax-paying peasant-land against the
encroachments of the tax-free landlord. It often happened that on the
death or removal of a peasant-holder the lord would choose to absorb the
session-land into the _allodium_, which, being tax-free, resulted in a
loss to the imperial revenue. To prevent this absorption of
session-lands by the landlord, and also to accommodate the burdens of
the peasantry, which had become almost intolerable in the last century,
owing to the tyranny of the feudal superiors--to prevent this, I repeat,
a general memorial survey with a view to readjustment took place in 1767
by command of Maria Theresa.
"This very important settlement, which came to be known as the
'URBARIAL CONSCRIPTION,' laid down and defined the rights and
services of the peasants, and the amount of land to be held by them. The
nobles henceforth were obliged to find new tenants of the peasant class
in the event of the 'session-lands' becoming vacant. Likewise their
unjust impositions on the serfs were restricted, and the _rights_ of the
latter, in respect to wood-cutting and pasturage on the lord's lands,
were established by law.
"This was all very well as far as it went," said my friend; "but the
inequality of taxation and the forced labour were crying evils not to be
endured in the nineteenth century.
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