The charter of the Company of the West, which succeeded to Crozat’s rights, was registered on the 6th of September, 1717. The formation of the Company was based upon an ingenious attempt to fund in the shape of _rentes_—practically a form of annuity bonds—that portion of the debt of the kingdom then outstanding as _billets d’état_. Louis XIV., at his death, had left the nation encumbered with a debt generally estimated at about 2,500,000,000, but rated above 3,000,000,000 livres[47] by some writers. His necessities had compelled him to exhaust every possible means of raising money, even to pledging specifically in advance large portions of the revenue for several years. A floating debt of about 600,000,000 livres was arbitrarily scaled down by the Regent to 250,000,000, and placed in the form known as _billets d’état_. Even after this reduction the new securities were at a discount of from 60 to 70 per cent. It was to provide relief from this condition of affairs that the Company of the West was inaugurated. The capital stock was divided into shares of five hundred livres each. The number of shares was not limited in the original edict. Payment for them was made exclusively in _billets d’état_. For these _billets_, when surrendered to the Government in sums of one million livres, there were issued to the Company _rentes_ in perpetuity for forty thousand livres. The State was relieved from the pressure of so much of its debt as was thus used, by assuming the payment of 4 per cent interest upon the principal. To secure this interest money certain revenues of the Government were pledged. Thus the Company had an income of 4 per cent upon its capital guaranteed by Government. If the Louisiana grant was worth anything, all that could be made out of it was an additional temptation to the investor. That grant consisted of a monopoly of the commerce of the colony and of the absolute control of its affairs, the proprietorship of all lands that they should improve, and the ownership of mines. The privilege of granting lands free from all feudal obligation was expressly permitted. The protection of the Government was guaranteed to the servants of the Company. During the existence of the charter, which was for twenty-five years from the date of registration, property in Louisiana was to be exempt from taxation. With the exception of the condition to import six thousand white persons and three thousand negroes, this vast gift was practically unencumbered. To these privileges was also added the exclusive right to purchase beavers in Canada. The more readily to float the capital, the shares of aliens were exempt from the _droit d’aubaine_ and from confiscation in time of war.