The
local assemblies in these _pays d'etat_ were by no means
representative of all the inhabitants. The remaining provinces, in
which no vestiges of provincial self-government survived, were called
_pays d'election_: they included Ile de France, Orleanais,
Champagne and Brie, Maine, Anjou, Poitou, Guyenne and Gascony,
Limousin, Auvergne, Lyonnais, Bourbonnais, Touraine, Normandy, Picardy,
etc.] These bodies, survivals of the middle ages, did not make laws
but had a voice in the apportionment of taxes among the parishes of the
province, and exercised powers of supervision over road-building and
the collection of taxes.
[Sidenote: Town Councils]
The government of the towns was peculiar. The old gilds, now including
only a small number of the wealthiest burghers, elected a Town Council,
which managed the property of the town, appointed tax-collectors, saw
that the town hall was kept in repair, and supervised the collection of
customs duties on goods brought into the town. It is easy to perceive
how the Town Council and the intendant would have overlapping powers,
and how considerable confusion might arise, especially since in
different towns the nature and the powers of the Town Council differed
widely.
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