The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-03-04 00:00:00

MEETING OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.

BoRDEAL X. Fob. 23.

The National Anembly nut taday at 430 Pm. In the
midst of the most profound silence 11. Mims rose snd spoke
as follows:

•• We have accepted a patntril mtrialon, and after havlog used
aU poralbie endeavoura, we come with regret to submit for
your approval a Fill for vsht,h we ask urgency. ' Art. I. The
tioual Assembly, forced by necessity, Is not responsible,
and adopts the Preliminaries of Peace signed at Versailles' on
the 6th of February."

At this point 11.. Tillers was overpowered by his feelings,
and obliged to descend from Ile Tribune, and leave the
room. M Barthelemy St. llilaire continued to read the Fre-
einifnaries
if 1. France reel once, in favour of the German Empire the
fr Rowing I ill.:-.• the filth part of LorraiLe, inciruiiog
Mete and lhionville, and Alsace less &limit
" 2. France will pay the sum el five milliards of fraccs, of
which one milliard is to be paid in IS7I, and the remelting
four milliards by instalments extecdlog over three year,.
"3. The Garr an troops will begin to evacuate the French
territory as soon as the Treaty is rstilled. They will then
evacuate the interior of flubs and some Depsrtmente Wog
In the Weitern region. The evacuation of the other Depart-
ments will take place gradurily after the pso meut of the
first milliard, and proportionately to the payment of the
other four millierdr.

. Intereg at the rate of fire per cent. per annum will be
paid ou the amount remaining due from the date of the
ratification of the Treaty.

"4 Tb• German troops will not levy env reoulmtiou• In
the paperer...oil occupied by them, Out will be maintained at
the cost of France.

5. A delay will be granted to the Inhabitants of
the territories annrxed to choose between the two nation-
alities.

"L . Prisoners of or will be immediately set at liberty.
"7 Negotiations for a definitive Treaty of Peace will be
opened at Emulate after the ratincation of the Treaty.
S. The administration of the ir,pertments ccoupled by
the German troops will lee intrusted to French officials. but
under the control of the chiefs of the Gansan coy, of
Oxtipatlon.

"0. The present Treaty confers upon the Germans no
nght. whatever In the portion of terrible. not occupied.
10. The Treaty wUI hare to be ratifted by the National
Assembly of b'rance."

It is now stated that Paris will not be lighted with gas
before the middle c f March.
The directors of all the French railways were summoned
on saturday night to confer with the French authorities on
the best means of vending tho German troops hi me.

Mr. Odo Russell dined with the Emperor William on Friday
In last week. His Majesty la much better, though still under
" ' treatment.

medical

The Prussian Moniteur est.. that 602 ftele-pteces
belonging to the Army of Paris have been banded over to
the German army, and toot 1,357 gum In perfect condition
were found by the Germans In the Paris forts.
A denial Is Riven to the statement that the MRCSs of the
Home of Orleans have entered into n.gotiations with tile
Count de Chamlx,rd with a view to the recogaltiou of the
elder branch.

It has been estlmlted that the total cost of the Vl'ar to
France cannot fall far short of four hundred millions ster-
ling. To pay the Interest on this Immense sum will keep
France quiet for many years to come.

In ad public dooms-lents sow used In Francs the words
'La Prance ' are being substituted for "La Rlpubli7ue"
As an Ingenious orator remarked the other day, "Why call It
anything Let It be neither Monarchy nor Republic, but
simply the French Government."

The provisions received thee day In Paris ;last gaturday)
were 518 oxen, 566 sheep, 1 cows, 238 pig., 420,000 kilos of
IIrTIIIII, 842,794 of flour, 15 940 of fresh NI; 38930 of salt fish,
7.000 of butter, 11,178 of cheese, 3,371,000 of owd, and 994,27 e
of coke.

On Monday, when the news of peace snivel at Berlin, the
city became greatly excited the principal streets became
crowded, and many houses were decorated with flags. Large
crowds assemblgi before the Royal Palace, and great pre-
parations were made for a general Wuminatlon for the next
evening.

The actors hare been prominent In the ranks of the Na-
tional Guard. The well-known comedian, lessouche, was
In the affair of Montretout, and a mot is attributed to bin,;
the shells fell as thick as hail, end accr piing
to the Prussian account, never male such a noise before,
..What a himing," cried Luvuche, "one would think It
was the first representation clone of -'s pieces."
- - - - -

- - - --
The Journal des Dlbat, lays :—"Oar confiner°, have
need their victory cruelly; their demands, financial and
tee final, have been snob that In the conferences with M.
Blamarck one negotiators, M. Thiel.. and M. Jules bore,
have several times been on the point of breaking dy, even at
the risk of seeing the war recommence lsat night. The Com-
mission of the National Assembly partook of the emotion of
the negotiators when the conditions were communicated to
them. It le death at heart and the having nothing more
to hope, except in the Justice of God, that have forced them
to submit to the frightful yoke of necessity."

.• Although General Lad assert. that by the and of March
he can bring together an army of 600,1(.9 men, he admits that
their value In the field would be of • very doubtful character,
and deplores the deficiency of artillery, 7,0 guns being the
very highest number he could scrape together, and of hones
for cavalry ; whilst he refers despondingly to the fact that
the Prhulan hones are of excellent quality and In first-rate
Condltion."—Correspondent of Daily Telvraph.
• •

A Paris paper having proposed to open • suMcrlption to
present Mr. Richard Wallace with a work of art u • memo-
rial of gr &thud° for his charitable gifts ,lurins the sieges, Mr.
Wallace, tn a letter of which the tone and language are
equally dignified, declines the offer, winding op with this
phrase —"1. have been most happy to be able to render
some alight service to the population of Paris during the
painful day. which we have gone through together; the
eympathy which it may retain for me suffice, amply for my
ambition."

According to a Bordeaux telegram, the base. of the Go-
comment scheme for the military reorganlxttion of France
are maid to be as follow. —The army will be disbanded en
Noe ; the officers of all ranks of the regular army will only be
retained on their maims an eraminath n proving them to be
really worthy, the class of IV% will cmatitnte the Emden*
of a fresh army, In which promotion by seniority and favour
will be abolished, and no rank, high or low, be attainable
without a public examination in the camps to which all
epeclally military schools will be tranderred. Administra-
tive reorganisdien on an extensive nerd° le also ',rejected,
chiefly with the view of simplifying the present system, ef
abolishing sinecures, reduilug the number of officials and dls•
ti Muting them bier over the different departments
Frenchmen will pay readily for glory; they will submit
to Imposts submissively, If not willingly, for a strong Govern-
ment and personal security but what will be the reception
of the tax,gatherer when he comes for the Pruestm tribute?
Never has such a sum been extorted hem a nation, and we
happily, have ms experience by which to anticipate the de-
meanour of a people under such an Infliction. But we can
hardly doubt that every feeling will be swallowed up In
hatred of those who have made,, extreme a use of the right
of conquest. It would he rash to forecast events, but this
may be said with confidence—that pitch a Peace as fa now
about to be signed will present itself to the minds or the
French people only as a truce to be employed In preparing
for revenge."—Leader lull. Term,.

It will be curious to note whether id Thlers, the originator
of the fortifications of Part., will now further develop° them
It Is clear that If those works had been further advanced,
keeping pace with the improvement of artillery, Paris could
hardly have been Invested, and probably not bon-0AHE...1.
But f curse defences that a ere deaigned in 1911 cool 1 not
be coo p'etely stfectlve against an attaok carried on with the
new appdauces and to WS of 1871. fled there been esta-
blished, alter 1066, a system of forts as suitalde for the pre-
sent day at the first cortatrUctions were for the time of Louis-
Philippe, France might still be fightlng on against her formid-
able to. it Is n lite p 'sable that, even now in his old age,
.111 era may devise sow fortfacations ; no that when
Count Moltke comes again the Parisian nut may be much
birder to crack Chau the great etrateglal recently found It.

The retirement of the Orleans I. utitr,mt candl7
datum has produced a feeling of very great morrow in the
Department of the homme.
The Eleeteur Libre, in its columns, demands that an Im-
mense mausoleum should be erected in honour of Lhe citizens
kited during the siege.

It le mild thst the Left will demand that Pruseht h Add
ourereder N apo,eon for WO as Glei.erallathho et the Army
a' the tthlae. Louie Mahe, Victor lingo,and Rochefort are
In make the motfon.

The health of Parts II Improving,. The maximum of mor-
tality arpeara to have been reached In the week ending Feb-
turry 3, foe wht, h perlo,l the total was 4,071 ; durtLe the
raven dart up to February 10 It wu 4.41; autt to the 17411,
4,103.

M. Thiers, it te reported. proposed to Bismarck the pur-
chase by France of Luxemburg from the Kula of Holland,
who is known to be anxious to sell it to the highest bidder,
and its formal transfer to Grmaoy, on condittot that Meta
be restored. TMs scheme was rt pct.!, as well as another
tllcr of a milliard of thatch In Iteu of Thuz

The nomination of M Finyer.Quertler, the great cotton
mania taunt of IL uen, to the post of Alin...er of
may be taken as a sign that the French Government Is con-
sidering the ques.l Jo of applying prottc tee dut.es M.
I onr.Q lelllvt is pr,.bd.ly the no at ardent Protectionist In
Franco, and would sc4rcely have consented to join any
Ministry in which Free-Trade principles were to prevail.
Garde, era have been brirkly at work hi the Champs Elyt63a.
The snob g bo'es which Indicate the place of the so sent tr. w
roots being illird up; the lawns which have been staniped
into mud by mar roarres of troops and pi.lnted horses are
being dug up before being renown; the frozen shrubs are
being pulled up In a few winks the gartieus will be green
orc3 more : but the look of nakedness produced hp the
want of the accuslomed branches overhead will never ho
Effaced.

In Paris, en Frf.'ay, t' e 24th ulf., the National Guard of
ell the werknitu's quarters marched down to the comma of
July in order o octet yds the anniversary of tbe It.public of
lesb. Here they settled immarttlles at the foot of tea column,
and towards the afternoon • large but orderly crowd
gathered, and some Frei. cs Tireurs appeared on the scene,
and adds I to los generally plc'uresqua eflect. Altogether,
between neltidey and 7 p.m., about fl) battadons marched
put, end wi re adoressed by Colonel do Fon•4,lle in •
Repubitean speech. which wits received with loud hoers. A
picket of municipal guards, passing at the time, was reaelv.l
Wilts shouts of Sauces la ltctte,blcqcce. Forte: tee Annex r*
which, however, they took cot the slightest notice of, so tha
crowd vented its Indignation by chasing two of them, men
unwed of having been snouchards under the late rejiate,
and suspected of tilting the some vocation still.