Star. — London, England, 1814-07-18 00:00:00

PARLIAMEIVT/IRr PROCEEDINGS. HOU3E OF I.ORW, 3 U IS t 6. The Irish Arms 13111, thr 11;rh s Bill, the Irish Excise Bid, the Irish Postage Bill, the F , coch Nirines . Pill, and the Land fat Commissioners' Nantes Bit:, 113P4; d through Com m tiers, and were reported.—Adjourned till Monday. HOUSE OF COMMON::. There not being filly Members present at lour ii' clock, the SPZAK on counting the House, adjourned till Monday. FRENCH EXPOSE. PARIS, JULY 12. CHAMBER OF DEPU VIES. Tile Abbe de Montesquiou, Count Des3oles and M. F. viand, Ministers of State, having been intro duced, the following Expod of the state in which his Majesty f,tind the kingdom, was laid before the Chambers : M. l'Ahbe de MoNTESQUIOU.--Gentlemen, his Majesty, on resuming the reins of Government, was de,irous to make known to his people the state in which h fouml France. The cause of the misfortunes winch weighed down our country has disappeared, but its ea'ects still remain, and for a long time, under a Go vernment which will devote itself solely to the repa ration, France will suffer under the wounds inflicted by a Government which gave itself up to the business of destruction. It is necessary, therefore, that the nation should be informed of the extent and the cause of its misfortunes, in order to be able to set a due value upon, and to second the cares which are to soothe and retrieve them. Thus enlightened upon the extent and nature of the mischief, it will in foriire be required only to participate in the labours and exertions of the King, to re-establish what has been destroyed, not by him, to heal wounds not inflicted by him, and to repair wrongs to' which he is a stranger. War, without doubt, has been' the principal cause of the ills of France. History presented hitherto no example of a great nation incessantly precipitated against its will into enteiprises constantly increasing in hazard and distress. The world has now seen with astonishment, mingled with terror, a civilized people compelled to exchange its It ippiness and repose for- the wandering life of bum barons hordes ; the tics of families have been broken ; fathers have grown old far from their children; and children have been hurried off to die 400 leagues from their fathers. No hope of return soothed this frightful separation ; habit had caused it to be regarded as eternal ; and the peasants of Brit tany, alter conducting their sons to the place of sepa ration, have been seen to return to their churches to put up for them by anticipation the prayers for the dead ! It is impossible to estimate the horrible con sumption of men by the late Government ; fatigue and sickness carried off as many as battles; the enter prizes were so vast and so rapid, that every thing was sacrificed to the desire of ensuring success; there was no regularity in the service of the hospitals—none in providing subsistence on the marches; the brave sol diers- whose valour constituted the glory of France, and who gave incessantly new proofs of their energy and patience, sustaining the national honour with so much brilliancy, saw themselves deserted amidst their sufferhys, and abandoned, without resource, to calamities which they were unable to support. The goodness of the French was insufficient to supply this cruel negligence, and levies of men, which, under other circumstances, would have formed great armies, disappeared in this manner, without taking part in any engagement. Hence arose the necessity ot multiply. ing levies without number, to replace incessantly, by new armies, the almost total annihilati(ai o f t i me arm i es preceding. The amount if the calls iadt.rcd since the end of the Russian campaign is Ii ightful— 11th Lulu. I'7, 1813 ...... .............. . ..... .. 350,000 Bd Aprit— c uars:b ot kfunaur lO,OOO F 1.: tlrate!ht of National Guards Guards for the Coasts 9/,' Ott 24th Augti=l-141 my of Spain t: 00( V 9th Oct.—Conscription ot 1311 and L.rece.:ing yrs 1 t:0,000 Conscripron of 181 5 . 15th November—lt eca lof years, 1811 to 1814 3C0,000 Jatniary, 1813 —Officers of Cavalry squinled 17,000 1311—Levies en-suasse organ zed . 143,000 1,100,003 Fortunately these last levies could not be fully exc. cuted. The war had not time to cut off all those who had joined the standards. But this simple statement, of the requisitions, enforced on the population during an interval of front 14. to 15 months, suffices to give an idea of what the losses of the nation must have been doting the last '22 years. Many ceases zontri. bated, however, to rep..ir these losses; the im2rove riga of the condition of the inhabitants of the coun try by the division of the great landed properties, the equal distribution of Mite: i:ances, the progress of vac cination, were t!.e most powerful. It was by means of the influence of these causes, and by exaggerating' their success that torts were made to hide horn the nation the extent of its sacrifices. The greater the number of men that were snatched away from France, the more studiously was it endeavoured to prove that she courted this ft ightful destruction. But even if the accounts placed under view had been correct, the only result would have been, that the number of births should cause the number of deaths to be regarded with indifference ! But another argument nits, to point out in the conscription itselt a source of in creasing population which Mu .luced disorder and immorality int-; m tillages concludLd with precipita tion and in prudence. Hence a multitude of unfor tunate Ernilies of ridiculous or indecent connexions, so that even many men of the lower orders soon be came weary of what they had embraced only to slid ter themselves horn the conscription, threw them selves once more in the way r f the dangers they had son ht to avni..l, and themselves as substitutes, to esc ire a misery which they had not f,,reseen, or to break ties so ii! as.cricd. How c old they, b. sides, overlook the reflection, that although by multiplying these deplorable marriages, the conscription should have increased the number if births, it took annually away ft om Fr once a great number of the se full grown men, who constitute the teal strength of a nation.— The facts prove dearly the truth of so natural a con sequence. The poolation under the age of '2O years increased, but tell off refr,ve that age. Thus, while toe Government attacke d the sources of the national prosperit), it di•played incessantly in pompous array those ter:want, of resourci.s that maintained a struni., sig..inst its w %stein! masules, it studied to conceal the evil whicit it did, m.der efte goof, not of its p:o duct' , at, which ve..s yet uo&stroyed. Master of a cotmtry, whcre long labours bad amassed great trea sures, wlwre civiliz.ition had made the happiest pro- gress, w!,..re industry and commerce had, for the 60' previous yo tr.:, ►uade a wonderful progress, it seized ail tl►e fruits I.‘ the industry of so many generations, and of thc experience of 51 many ages, at one time to promote its lamentable designs, and at another to cover the sad effects of its influence. The simple ac count of the resent state of the realm will immediately exhibit the inherent prosperity of the nation strug gling against .► destroying principle, incessantly at tacked.olten struck with terrible wounds, and perpe tually drawing from itself resources always insufficient. MINISTRY OF THE INTSRIOIt. Agriculture in France has made a real progress; this progress began before the Revolution; but since that period its march has been accelerated by causes which would have produced the most important ef fects, if that influence had not been destroyed or di. minished by Government. The propagation of good modes of cultivation by learned Societies, the rest• dente of a number of rich proprietors in the country, and their experiments, instruction and example; the creation of Veterinary Schools, which have taught the mode of preserving domestic animals from con tagions diseases, have all been productive of the most fortunate results in rural Economy. The Continental System occasioned enormous losses to the proprietors of vineyards. In the South of France many vineyards were rooted np : and this species of cultivation has been generally discouraged by the low pi ice of wines and brandy. The experi mental farm of Rambouillet began in 1786, the in troduction of Merinos into Frances similar under takings were commenced by a great number of pro. prietuis—in 1799, the farm of Ferpignon was estab lished, which was followed several years afterwards by seven similar establishments. The number of Me rinos continued to increase, and the breed was in. creasing every day ; but the Head of the Govern ment, who wished to subject the march of nature to his restless ambition, persuaded himself that this amelioration was neither sufficiently extensive, nor sufficiently rapid ; and by a decree Ef the Bth March, 1811, he ordered the creation of live hundred depots of two hundred Merino tups each, and subjected the proprietors of particular flocks to an insupportable insprction. Discouraged by so many injunctions and probihitions, the proprietors gave up their flocks, and the breed, instead of a more rapid amelioration, sotai degenerated. The expence of war prevented the Go vernment from appropriating sufficient sums for its own flocks ; and this imprudent measure cost France more than twenty millions. The establishment of studs has been attended with more success. Formed by the old Government, they ' were destroyed by the Revolution, and were not com pletely re-established till 1806, when there were or ganized six studs (llaras), thirty depots of stallions, and experimental studs. Towards the end of 1813 these establishments contained 1864. stallions ; but in the course of that year 80,000 rses were required without discrimination, and the loss in horses trim the Ist January, 1812, has been estimated at two hundred and thirty thousand. The refitting cost the Government in general, firm four hundred to four hundred and fifty francs per horse, which makes the loss in money nearly 105,200,000 francs. The Mines leave received a great augmentation. Our territory now contains 478 Mines of all sorts, which employ seventeen thousend workmen, and yield a gross pro duce of 26.800,000 I rancs, and a re venue of 251,000 francs. This revenue was set apart for the adm•ni straiion of the mines, but it has been applied by the late Government towards the war, to the great detri ment of the mining bodies who remained without sa laries. Amidst these continual vexations, this chang ing and tyrannical legislation, this general poverty, our fields have been cultivated, calamities wrought, and our flocks pat tly preserved and ameliorated. , Nothing can be a str..nger proof of the industry of our nation and its qualifications for the first tif all arts than the progress of its agriculture under an op pretisive Government. • Postriity will not believe that we have seen one man create himself into an absolute master of our pro. pet ties and subsistence, condemn us to carry them to places from wheel he chose to seiee on them ; that a whole population left their homes with their oxen, their Ito: ses, and their grain, to yield up their fortunes and their resources to this new master, fortunate when his agents did not add an infamous traffic to en v other wretcuedness. But let us throw a veil over these indignities, and forget the excess of the tyranny in an edmiration of the gifts of the Author of Nature. What other country could have resisted so many ca larnities ? But such is the superiority of our sell and the industry of our cultivators, that agriculture will rise with splendour front its ruins, and will appear mole brilliant than ever under the paternal Govein ment which has come to put an end to our misery. Maine:mulling industry is in want of the same in dustry ; the improvements in mechanics and chemis try, applied to the arts, were productive of a rapid pi egiess; the Continental Systtm, by forcing the manufacturers to derive from our own territory re saurces hitherto unknown, has been productive of some useful results ; but the obetecles which it has opposed to the importation of a great number of raw materials, and the want of competition, the conse quence of it, have raised the price of most articles of Fiench manufacture to an excessive height, and given a grievous blow to the rights and interests of consu mers. Several of these obstacles have already ceased? reasonable laws respecting importation and exporta tion will hereafter conciliate the interests of consu mers and manufacturers, which can never properly be opposed to each other. According to the accounts of the manufacturers, the COLV , n manufacture at present maintains +00,0(X) hinds, and a capital of a hundred millions. The manufactories of Rouen have already resumed a great activity. The manufactures of Laval and Brttany have suffered greatly from the war with Spain, where they found their principal market. Those of silk ex perienced the same fete. Their produce also passed through Spain to America and the Colonies ; but that channel was soon closed—ltaly alone remained ir them. But what may we not hope to gain in this branch by the renewal of our communications with Europe? In 1787, the manufactures at:Lyons kept at work fifteen thousand looms ; during the late ear, that itumber v. as seduced to eight thousand ; but Lyons has already received considerable orders, and promises to regain its former prospeiity. The menu lectures of wooilens, leather, &c. suffered in an equal degree from the total influence of the continental sys. tern, the absurdity of which they strikingly evinced. It in place of consuming themselves in continual ef forts to diminish the effects of bad laws, our manu facLuring industry had been at ?abbacy, what migh, not have been expected from it ? _ COMMIMCIL Prohibitive laws did still more mischief to com merce than to manufacturing industry t if the diffi culty of external communication narrowed the mar ket of our manufactures, in that at least which re mained open to them, they had nothing to fear from the competition of foreign articles: and though this might injure the interest of the consumers, at least a certain class of citizens seemed to profit by it. But commerce requires a more extensive and un impeded field. Reduced to narrow and slightly gainful speculations, whenever it attempted to en large them, it found itself the slave of the uncertain . - ties of a Government which wished to subject it to its caprices and calculations. The system of licences ruined and discouraged a great number of merchants by raising hopes that were destroyed in a moment by the will which had fostered them. Speculations, necessarily hazardous, require that the stability of laws should aid the prudence of men ; and that abrupt and perpetual change from the system id licenses to a system absolutely prohibitive, caused immense losses to commerce. What tranquillity also could the merchant enjoy who saw in the Covent ment a rival as greedy as powerful, and always deter mined to reserve for itself the exclusive cultivation of a field which is interdicted to them ? A long peace And stable and liberal laws can alone inspire mercan tile men with sufficient conidence to embark without apprehension in their useful put set;ti. If we pass to the objects depending on the M' nistry of the Interior, and immtdiAt-ly subject to the government, their situation will appear still mare de plorable. GENERAL ADMINISTRATION OP TIIE INTERIOR. The budget of the Ministry of the Interior, that is, the mass of all the funds appropriated to the rent services of that department, amounted, In 1811 to 143 millions. In 1818 to 150 ninon.. In 1813 to 140 million.. The public Treasury never contributed to this mass of funds more than 58, 59, or 60 millions. The re mainder arose from special duties and imposts.— Here the report states that additional centimes on the general contribution were imposed for roads, pri sons, canals, barracks. administration expenses, tri bunals, buildings, public worship, depots of mendi city, Ste. Thus the departments paid at an average 45 centimes additional per franc, some 62, and others even 72. But even these were not regularly given nut by the Treasury for public works, &c. Hence in the two years 1812 and 13, sixty millions were taken from the administration expenses; and the provinces, impoverished by add , tional imposts, enjoyed only a small part of those establishments, construtti , ms, or other public works of utility. the h•lut of whiet had at least alleviated the weight of their sacrificer. The report next proceeds to Rive a variety of de tails on the subject of the administration of Com munes and of Hospitals. The Communes had been successively charged with expenses which should have been bornt by the general funds of the State ol by the departmental funds; of this kin J were iiits SA lanes ot commissaries of police, military rlgs an.l beds, depots of mendacity, prisons, &c. Hence the cale f communal octrois had vexatiously inctcased : tit.• medium charge per head on every inhabitant was about seven !rants 24 cents. and in some cities it even amounted to 17 Italics 2F. cents. On the subject of Hospitals, it is mentioned that a decree of the 19th of January, 1811, allowed only tour millions for the expense of foundling hospitals throur . hout the kingdom, though that expense now amounted annually to nine millions. The War De partment owed at present to the hospitals of Paris, for sick and wounded soldiers alone, the sum of 1,393,365 francs. The me.licines were, besides, ex hausted ; the reserve stores of lint, furnishings, ikc. were either wasted or lost ; the amount of dies: losses could not he calculated, but might be estimated at several millions. PUBLIC wou KR Great enterprises had been undertaken, some from motives of teal utility, many from ostentation, or from views in which the happiness of France had no share. While magnificent roads were opened on our frontiers, those of the interior were neglected; and the cross-roads, abandoned by the communes, which had not funds to support them, were very much de teriorated. The sum of 15 500,000 francs voted by the departments for the roads, had been misappro priated. There was an arrear of more than twenty eight millions in the departments of brid: , ,es and causeways; and yet this service would be charged with all the extraordinary expenses occasioned by the disasters of the last campaign ; 30 principal bridges had been blown up or burnt ; provisional repairs in wood alone would cost 1,800,000 francs. The extent of the mischief was not yet known. The canals are in a better state, but the works far from finished. That of Burgundy, which has already cost 12 millions, will require rive more ; and that of the Ourcq, undertaken on too expensive a scale, will yet want at least 18 miiiions. The canal of Bur gundy, as well as that of St. Quentin, deserve praise. The works at Paris were a particular 61)p-et of the cares of Government, because in them it found the means of parading a great magnificence, and of ion dering itself popular. Some of th e m, p att i c ,,i,,,.i y those of the public markets, will be truly nsetti;.— The works for the embellishment of the calk 11, though of a less useful description, will not h.- aoati dotted. The total expense of them is estimated at 53,500,000 francs, and more than two millions hive' already been laid out on them. All objects fall under the superintendence of the Minister of the Interior, the ariears of whose department arc not yet ascertained, but are computed at from forty to tiny millions. WAR t4INIsTRY. With regard to the ex, endittire of this department we can only present an approximation. 1 hie WA, the root of the evil: hence oriviiiat,d the disordei wl.ich extended to all the other brani heti ; and the disasters of the tiller last campaign:: have pimiged this depArtment, Already so complicated, into .1 coin. plete chaos. On the Ist of May laq the land forces of France amounted to more than 520,000 men, including gendarmerie, veiesans, invalids, and cannoiners, guarding the coasts. Ikbidt:ll this toter, there Are 122,597 military of all ranks enjoying half-pny.... One hundred and sixty thousand prisoners are re. turning to us from Prussia, Austria, England , and i Russia. The Staff of the Army, including Engi neers, Inspectors, Commissaries, &c. amounts to 1874 individuals. The pay, &c. of men in active service for 1814, amounts to - ----804,000,00 c Half-pay, &c. to 34,1810,000 Total - .23 ti,000,0(X) The war of 1812 and 1813 destroyed in artillery and ammunition, a capital of 250 millions; and the fortified places in the countries ceded by France had, since 1804, cost her 115 millions. The Budget of the War Ministry, properly so cane:, had Teen fixed under all heads, for 1814, at 360 millions. But in consequence of a division which had existed some years, there was, besides the department of th e Mid stry at War, that of the War Administration. 'rile expenses of this last were, in 181'2, 2.;8,000,0 , 10 &Aires; in 1813, 374,000,000 ; and in 181 t they will be 350,000,0'.X); valid, last slim will, for 1814, occasion an expense, in these two branches, of 740 millions. The arrear also of these tar) branches is enormous —that of thin ministry at war .41,1011 ACCurl‘iitig to prestAt statements, to 101..000,000 ; and that of the war administration to 157,000,0 A), maki.pg a total arrear of '261 millions. But these statements are not yet complete: t!ie Arrears of the armies, during the years 1811, I'2, LI, and 11., are still unknown. Neither do they include a sum of 100 millions, Griot:wined by the twn ~ tries, which they no longer reckon their debts, hut which the Tre.tsury has not been able to pay. We must add, aLo, to the . expenses occatiow ti by the war, the requisitions of wh;,:it we have already srokyu, the expetisa ot' the guard. of 11 , ;nour, aunt of the off;:rs of niounted and egnipped hotscmen. The ex pense of the two latter for the tiepartnietits of 01. t I.*:...nce, may be ...•!itnated ~t 1:";,(.11,00 11.11. CE. All .1S:'::1' OF M 11:1..!-:. The Navy has for if ve us 1n..0n A eak.med by the -cry means which have b:en u:-rd LA give it tn , .: ap. pearance of strength. Ti make upon all the coasts a pan:pons display of factitious power ; to appear to rn.:,!itate gigail:ic pro. jec:s, while the means cvalt aii:l.64 thk:ir exavyrra. Lion were insufficient ; t:s regard seam.o as only eventual recruits for the land army—such wa , tie system constantly followed by the depar.ed glve.a. ment ; and which brought with it the eitstrueii-,a of our maritime population, and the entire exiaustion of our arsenals. The remonstrances o: the most en lightened men, and of the most cxperi..-nced mariners, and the evidence of facts, were incapable of checking those foolish enterprises, those violent nieasutes which belonged to a plan of donsinstiun oppressive •ti all its parts. li WAS thus in 1814 the projected invasion of Eng. land was pompusly announced. Ports which had n , :v..r yet been entered, except by fishing-boats and packet., were immediately converted into vast marl. time :ascot's; immense works were commenced on a beach which the winds and tides were incess.intly covering with sand : forts, batteries, magazines, workshops, were erected ; thousands of vessels were built and bought up on all the coasts of the ocean, and in the interior of the rivers, without considering how they should get to the place of rendezvous:— Paris itself saw a dock-yard tormed within its walls; and the most valuable materials were employed in the construction of these vusses, which were not even fit (or their destination. And what now remains of all these armaments 1 The wrecks of some ef the vessels, and accounts, which prove that for the suc cessive creation and detruction of this monstrous and usel:ss flotilla, upwards of 150 million; have been sacrificed since 1803. Here the report makes some observations on ele Scheldt, on which the treasure of France w.;.; o.e. lossly lavished to render it a great iIaVAI deia)!. 1 is remarked that it would have saved tor A triALial.: tker, but a severe wititcr in;.glir. have aq,..red flit of its b.tnks, and si.ut up the c,','..-4tael; vesscis lii ;he bust ,it N otil• I 113 v: u.t.l tO p . ss. Besides, :al teat t h e tt , rnvti t t uay.,l tactiks in !..n ;Jultr, 01,1 fothot smut up io 1:le L. la represtaitattuns to tLes L o t.. cv.r, in vain. The grand works executed at CherTloto:;'l, the tine squadron of 'foulon, alo.A. presented mr,ttt results ; every where else were to bw sera bl.oldcrs and follies. All our arsenals are completely dilapi.! immense naval stores collided by :ANL a 4 squaudered—;And eluting the last ti:tven years 1ir. , i5..42 has lost in ill-judged expeditions, ci wiips el the la.e, 82 frigates, 76 corvettes, And 62 transii S :1:1Li packets, which could not be rvphiced at an epeoze of 200 millions. The port of Brest, the finest, the best perhaps in Europe, where immense fleets can be cinkcLed in safety, where there exist vast and magnificent esta blishments, has been entirely neglected. As the arsenals were neglected, so the ships also were stripped of real seamen, whose places were sup plied with conscripts, while they themselves receiv,d the organiartion of regiments of the tine, and 'ost in camps their professional habits and attachments.— Many id tiiew ships' crews were seen ttaversing the plains of Germany and the muuntairs of the Astu rias: commanded by brave chiefs, they contributed to support the renown of :he french arms, though they became totally unlit for seamen. The total debt of th e N av y amounts to s i xty-one million three hundred thousand francs. I, FINANCES. Under this head the Report, after stating the man.- net in w . :Ocli the late Government connived to Cr.ii the general results, declares that the buJigets ut 16 12 aod I'd present a deficit of 31•2,011aMar francs. r h. Head of that Governrassit was by sio means VI these deficits; but he always hoped to make them good, either by the roreign tributes which oad posted so valuable to trim Ili bib rally cam -0.,01., or by &living resources from special funds, the rats aorthis oy domain, the redemption chest, &c. It was thus gnat almost all these funds, which weie not destined to the expense. of the war, were, not. withstanding, employed upi.n it ; and hence arose in the nuances a conatderAble arrear. The report states, ,he total (.1 the sums thus anticipated, consumed br ims:hand, and misapplied from their appropriate uses, unwonted to h0.5,469,0u0 francs. To this were also to be added the smears in the $ ‘ i 4