“ Public services are never better performed, than when their reward comes only in consequence of their being performed, and is proportioned to the diligence employed in performing them. ”
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776). copy citation
| Author | Adam Smith |
|---|---|
| Source | The Wealth of Nations |
| Topic | reward consequences |
| Date | 1776 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3300/3300-h/3300-h.htm |
Context
“In courts which consisted of a considerable number of judges, by proportioning the share of each judge to the number of hours and days which he had employed in examining the process, either in the court, or in a committee, by order of the court, those fees might give some encouragement to the diligence of each particular judge. Public services are never better performed, than when their reward comes only in consequence of their being performed, and is proportioned to the diligence employed in performing them. In the different parliaments of France, the fees of court (called epices and vacations) constitute the far greater part of the emoluments of the judges. After all deductions are made, the neat salary paid by the crown to a counsellor or judge in the parliament of Thoulouse, in rank and dignity the second parliament of the kingdom, amounts only to 150 livres, about £6:11s.”
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