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This thesis considers government finances in New France during the first half of the eighteenth century. By looking directly at government accounts from Canada and l'Ile Royale, and at the administrative structures which gave rise to them, it seeks to reconcile ostensibly rival quantitative and 'administrative' approaches to the literature on France's Ancien regime finances. Evidence is found to suggest that colonial finances emerged as an integral part of French naval finances, not as a result of deliberate policy, but as a by-product of the continued presence of naval troops in the colonies and of the early failure of the Domaine d'Occident to generate net revenue flows to France. Especially in the case of Canada, the accounts of the colonial branch of the naval treasury do not yield a continuous series of figures. Nonetheless, they provide ranges for the size, distribution and changes through time of government expenditure in the colonies, as well as indications of its importance relative to the general level of economic activity, and of the net cost to France of running its North American colonies.

Candidates for the Ph.D. degree are required to justify their addition of still another thesis to the infinitude already in existence. It is, therefore, in obedience to law, and not in the spirit of vainglory, that l claim to have made a contribution to knowledge. As far as l have been able to discover, no work exists which describes the economic life of New France, in all its aspects during any period of its history. There are a number of monographs. J.N. Fauteux has written an excellent book on industry, M. Salone has dealt with colonization, H.A. Innis includes the French period in his book on the fur trade, W.B. Munro is the authority on the seigneurial system, Adam Shortt gives an account of finance in the introduction to his collection of financial documents and in a series of papers published in the journal of the Canadian Bankers Association. This thesis, however, is not merely a compilation of the work of others with new chapters on agriculture and trade. It is based on a comprehensive examination of original sources, some of which have not before been consulted with a view to Canadian history, notably those in France which have not yet been transcribed. With the exception of colonization and the seigneurial system, it describes economic activity in the colony in greater detail than has ever before been attempted. In brief, the parts have been drawn together to form a whole and fresh information has been added. This is my apologia.

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