The Express.
London, England, 1853-05-21 00:00:00

FRANCE.

PARIS, FRIDAY EVIINING.
The rumour of the Porte having accepted the Rus-
sian ultimatum is without foundation.

The government bill sticker has placarded the
Emperor's promise to find everybody in cheap lodg-
ing upon every wall in Paris, and hawkers, em-
ployed by the prefect of police, are crying in every
quarter of the city, a full, true, and particular account
of the decree of the Emperor relatirement an loger
4 bon march& The government journals pour vials
of wrath upon the heads of those who hesitate a
doubt as to the practicability of the scheme an-
nounced, and leaping at one bound over the gulf that
separates promise from performance, proclaim the
utter abolition, at the bidding of a benign sovereign,
of all those dark, confined, ill-arranged, ill con-
structed, ill-ventilated, dirty dwellings which have
hitherto been the haunts of crime and fever. Besides
this, the junior clerk, tho retired officer, the small
fnndholder, all people, in short, of slender income,
are suddenly, and as if by magic, to enjoy their
"decent cupboard little plate" in a modest fifth
floor, with a balcony for flower-pots, at a rent below
the market price to be fixed by the Minister of the
interior. People arc asking, and many with feelings
far other than those of mere curiosity, what all this
really means ? The ouvriers, suffering as they are
from the immense rise in house rent, occasioned by
the recent extensive demolitions, are delighted in
proportion to their ignorance, to learn that the
Emperor has determined to interfere on their behalf.
They have no notion of being garrisoned in cites one-
rieres. They desire nothing better than to remain
where they ure, paying little or nothing ; and the
practical view they take of the decree is that it is
meant to prohibit landlords from raising rents
or from ejecting tenants for non-payment. This,
absurd as it may appear, is the very
general belief of the faubourgs. But men of
property, who have so often heard it said that the
empire would crush the bourgeoisie between the army
and the masses, are anxiously inquiring whether the
threat is now about to be filfilled. Model lodging
houses, according to English experience, may be
excellent investments, and if it were merely
intended to set an example with a view to stimulate
private enterprise, to show experimentally how an
improved system of building might bring within the
reach of the working classes domestic comforts to
which they have hitherto been strangers, no objec-
•
Item could be made to the expenditure of any reason-
able sum of public money for so laudable a purpose.
But the promises of the Mondeur, as interpreted by
the government prints, are confined to no such sober
limits. To bring down rents in any appreciable de-
gree by competition, it would not suffice to cover
every available space in Paris with new construc-
tions, but it would be necessary to buy up an im-
mense quantity of house property. The expense of
such an operation would be enormous, and the filen ite ur
tells us that, according to the scheme, the rents are
to be fixedat such a rate snot to tempt speculation—in
other words at suck a Late as not to pay—and that the
deficiency is to be made up by the state. This would be
to make war upon proprietors with their own
money, it would be to force the taxpayer to
contribute not merely his fair quota to the neces-
sities of the state, but in addition to pay to-
wards the maintenance of a favoured class of
society. In short, it would be scarcely disguised
confiscation. It is wholly inconceivable that such a
plan could be carried out upon any large scale, but it
quite possible that it may be acted upon to au
unjust and dangerous extent. Assuming that all the
working and all the straightened classes cannot be
lodged at the state's charge, the question arises upon
what principle a selection could be made, and here it
is evident that a wide door would be opened for
every species of jobbery and corruption. The
dwellers in thelgovernment houses, w hether operatives
or treasury clerks, would be alike pro tant4ensioners
of state living upon the industry or capital of their
fellow citizens. There is, however, one consideration
well calculated to allay undue alarm. The project is
in all probability a hollow ad captanium appeal to
popularity, never intended to be realised. la spit.
of all that the Pays and the Petrie may say, then
is a wide difference between a thing decreed to be
done, even by an imperial decree, and a thing really
accomplished. Of this fact a striking insane has
just been brought to notice. A great fuss was made
in 1851 about the "generous initiative" of the Presi-
dent in establishing public baths and wash-housek
and a credit of 600,000 fr. was opened with the
Minister of the Interior, for aiding their construction.
It has just been announced that the conditions
annexed to the government grant were so little
attractive, that only about 57,000 fr. of the credit was
celled far, and the remainder of the sum is stilllisiz
idle, waiting the effect of a new measure. just passed
by the Corps Legislatif to amend the original plan.
As regards the new lodging-houses, all that has been
as yet done is this: The Emperor has given M. Pa.
teaux, the builder, 100,000 fr., with which sum he
undertakes to build four model houses on the Bunk-
' yard Mazes within 3 months, and it is intended that
they shall be tenanted before next winter. his more
than probable that these four houses, to be built for
a sum not exceeding what a benevolent lady in Man-
chester might unostentatiously expend in charity,
will be the only tangible result during the present
year of the grand imperial decree for reducing house
seat throughout France, which has produced such a
pie among the Paris proprietors.
The day before yesterday, the Emperor visited the
Louvre, and went through all the cellars, and had an
account rendered to him of the progress of the works.
His Majesty expressed to M. Visconti, the architect,
his satisfaction at the activity displayed, and on leav-
ing gave a sum of 2,000 fr. to be distributed among
the workmen. On this being announced, the cry of
"Vivo I'Empereur," Vive le pore des ouvriers,"
was raised.

The Moniteur says that his Imperial Highness
Prince Jerome, guardian of the tomb of his brother,
has, conformably to the desire of the Emperor,
given orders that the public shall be admitted to see
the tomb of the Emperor Napoleon I. at the Inva-
lides, on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, between
the hours of twelve and three o'clock in the after-
noon. The Pattie of last night announced by mis-
take that the public days would be Tuesday, Thurs-
day, and Saturday.
The threatened dock monopoly continues to excite
great uneasiness in the ports. We read in the
Courtier du Havre: _ _

We learn that M Ansel, Mayor of Havre, and M. Viel,
a Municipal Councillor, were received a few days since by
the Minister of the Interior, to whom they pointed out the
rights of the town, and the wants of the commercial world
in the question of the docks. The minister assured them
that no decision should be come to without the most
careful examinatiun of the subject, and said that
he would give orders to the directors of the different
branches of hie department to meet together, and to
n ceive the observations and remarks of the parties inte-
rested. M. Ancel and M. Clete, who had been delegated
by the Chamber of Commerce, have since been received by
these gentlemen, and, we hope, succeeded in convincing
them of the danger which would arise (rum the concentra-
tion of the enterprise of the docks in the same hands. M.
rereire deposited a few days sines a tender to obtain the

privilege of the docks of Havre, Paris, and Marseilles, and
since that MM. Pereire have given in a tender for the dock
of Havre only. We are not aware of the exact condition',
but it we are well informed, they are of a amine to satisfy
fully the interests of the town and of commerce.
The 31;mileur publishes decree's for interdicting
the sale in France of reprints or reproductions of
works the property of which is established in
Hanover and in the Duchy of Brunswick; for assi-
milating in French ports the tonnage, pilot, and port
dues on vessels belonging to the Dominican ltepublio
' to those paid by French vessels,and also for admitting
hides tanned in Corsica into France free of duty, and
returning the duty paid on raw hides on entering
Corsica when exported in a dressed state.
A decree is read to be in contemplation for or-
ganizing, at the different commercial ports, officers
and harbour-masters whose duties will be to inspect
the roadsteads, /sorts, docks, and quays; they will
also, it is said, harm the surveillance and control of
the light-houses, and the day and night signals, &c.
At the Bourse yesterday's closing prices were
generally maintained throughout the day. The
closing prices were—For cash, Three per Cents.,
81f. 20c.; Four-and-a-Half per Cents., 103 f. 70e.
For the account, Threl, per Cents., 81f. 23c.;
Four-and-a-Half per Cents., 103 f. 730. Bank Stock,
2,705 f.; Northerns, 927 f. .50c.; Paris and Orleans
1,103 f. ; Paris and Strasbourg', 930 L ; Paris and
Lyorm, 9681.50 e. ; Paris and Rouen, 1,140 f.; Lyons
to tho Mediterranean, 813 f.; Western of France,
782 f. 50c.; Rouen and Havre, 640 f.

PARIS, TUVE/DAY EVENING.
The Corps Legislatit has commenced the geneisl '
discussion of the budget of 1834. Yesterday M.
Taillefer introduced the subject, declaring his confi-
dence in the financial position of the couutry, and
then eulogising the Bonapartist dynasty and its sys-
tem of government. M. Morin de la Dix'sme, who
followed, congratulated the government on the
adoption of a measure which, he said, enabled the
min.sters to transfer from one service to another the
unemployed credits, and which had the effect of pre-
venting the repeated calls for supplementary credits,
and greatly simplifying the operations of the
budget. M. de Flavigny condemned the position
assigned to the Corps Legislatif in the discussion
of the budget. It was permitted to say very little,
and when it ventured to speak no attention was
paid to its words. It was obliged to accept the
bills submitted to its deliberations, for it had no right
to modify
.them, and if it rejected them it was an act
of opposition, which was often badly interpreted. M.
Baroche replied that the best proof that the Corps Le-
gislatif could speak freely was afforded by the speech
delivered by M. de Flavigny. M. d'Uzes next stated
that in 1817, when the first budget presented by the
Restoration came under discussion, Count Roy, the
reporter, observed that the finest prerogative of the
Chamber of Deputies was the right it had to control
the expenses, and to watch over the me made of the
receipts. The Corps Legislatif had been completely
deprived of that prerogative, since it was denied the
power of modifying the laws upon which it was
called to deliberate. When M. d'Uzes had con-
cluded, the general discussion was closed and the
house adjourned.
The Corps Legislatif resumed today the discussion
of the budget. M. Dcvinck presented, on the first
article, some observations relative to the balance of
expenses and receipts and the financial situation of
the country. The expenses at first sight, he said,
appeared to exceed those of 1853 by 33,000,000f.,but
that augmentation was not real, for there were
13,000,0001. inscribed both in the budgets of re-
ceipts and expenses, and 17,000,000 f. for extraordi-
nary works. Notwithstanding that apparent increase
the budget still offered a saving of 67,000,000 f. as
compared with that of 1847, tho last budget of the
monarchy. The receipts, on the other hand, of-
fered a surplus of 69,000,000 f., which amply
compensated the augmentation in the expenses.
When he hid concluded, the Assembly voted with-
out discussion the following items:—Consolidated
debt and sinking fund, 190,318,812 f.; special loans
for canals and various works, 10,306,627 f.; interest
on capital vested in the Treasury, 29,000,00 f. ; an-
nuities, 68,878,000 f.; dotation and expenses of the
legislative powers, 36,604,180!. The discussion next
opened on the estimates of the ministry of state
and the household of the Emperor, amounting
to 6,801,750 f. After a short discussion on
incidental topics, the credit of the ministry of
state was voted. The estimates of the Department
of Justice, 26,640,780 f., were next granted without
opposition. Those required for the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs were similarly voted. The remain-
ing chapters of the budget were subsequently adopted
without discussion, viz. :—Public Instruction and
Religious Worship, 65,629,700 f.• ' Ministry of the
Interior, 139,313,726 f.; ditto of General Police,
4,928,620 f.; ditto of Public Works, 39,170,442 f.;
ditto of War, 307,686,046 f. ; ditto of Marine,
116,476,000 f.; ditto of Finance, 20,193,153 f.; extra-
ordinary works of the Emperor's household,
5,000,0001.; dittto of the Ministry of Public Works,
82,155,000 f.; ditto of the Marine, 2,405,000 f. The
house afterwards adjourned.