The Express.
London, England, 1851-02-19 00:00:00

FRANCE.

PARIS, TriumsT Evasixo.
The Assembly continued to-day in the bureaux the •
discu.ssion of the municipal law; but the attendance'
of members was less numerous, and the debate less
animated. The bright weather made the Champs
Elystes more attractive than the committee-rooms of
the legislative palace. By the sketches of the
principal speeches which I scud you, you will
ace that the cardinal points of the law are
the application of the electoral law of May 31
to the municipal elections, and the nomination of
the mayors by the executive power out of the muni-
cipal councils. Both of these provisions are obsti-
nately opposed by the Left and the extreme
Right of the Assembly. The disposition which eon-
fers upon the government the right of investiture of 1
the nuiyors seems borrowed from the Prussian system.
If the government refuse this proposition of the
Conseil d'Etat, which is a transaction between
the pretention of the executive to appoint
all the mayors, and that of the communes to
choose them, the hill will be thrown out. If, on
the other hand, the ministers admit the compromise,
it is doubtful whether the coalition of the extreme

pintas will be strong enough to carry the day. The
right of dismissing the mayors would be, as now, left
with the government. subject to the approval of the
Conseil Etat. At present the. xecutive power appoints
the mayors in all communes with a population
exceeding timon. The vehement hostility of the
Mountain to the electoral law of May seems to have
alarmed the legitimi4h, and driven the more mode-
rate of them to its defence. The majority of the
thirty members of the committee will, however, in

all likelih sl, propose serious moditititions to the
bill in n dcecntml. • g The parliamentary
pmgramme for the tnonth.sa March, April, and May,
will have for its main features this municipal law,
the hill on the national guard, and the -budget.
On the other lumd, the design is attributed to the
Elysec to organise petitions throughout France for
the recision of the constitution and the prolongation

of the Presiiknes powers.
The following spmehes were them which presented
most interest in the discussion of the bureaux on the
municipal law.

The Duke Je Brtormtg. was of opinion that it would ht•
preferable to. rut down the bid t.. the innor•rtion. which it
propoz.c.l in the rat-went ingteutl of ripping up
the wholc gut,tion of inunicipul organization.
M. Il.tuw•ur. Illaitit,in!d the expediency of haring only

one electoral list, and of k•aving the nomination of the
- - •

mayors in the hands of the government.
N. l'is, cony spoke emphatically in favour of centrali-
sation. The flour of war came for all nations; and when that
hour came for France her safety and honour would depend
on a rapidity and unity of execution, which could only re-
sult from a homogeneous and puissant administration. The
alarms which such an executive 'sower and such a ministry
a. this present were calculated to inspire, were tempertyl by
the prudence shown by the Conseil d'Etat in drawing up
the hill. Ile upprnvisf of all the main features, awl his ob-
jections would he confined to details, which might be
improved. Would not the suppression of the councils
nC arrowlitstnerkt, which wire charged with the
repurtition of taxation anent" the commune., and were now
proposill to be replaced by cantonal councils, leave the sub-
h.ohth 4 ? Ile thought it a matter of indifference
silo 'her the councils-general held two sessions, as was pro-
posed, or one. Hut the division of the-e cotincils into !WC'
pry% of orroodiiicaevit was a serious innovation as tending
to introduce a spirit of local prejudice into their &Ebert-

tinny.
M. Moil Ids said that the hill followed up the improve-
ments in o entralimtion which had been made under the
government of Louis Philippe. By the law of '37 a certain
latitude had been allowed to the independent.' of the mu-
councils, and the construction of crows-rwads hail
lain thrown entirely into their hands. The present bill
facilitated the CUPTryllitel• of gifts nod legacies to communal
establishments: it raised from 3,000 fr. to 30,000 fr. the ,
valw• of goals the sale of which could he authorised Lytle
pref.yt ; awl from 34bninfr. to 60,0110 fr. the expense of
construction or repairs to be authorised by the prefect. The
approhation of the central gave cut was no longer
loind for deliberations on leases exceeding a term of 18
raw. The mayors were empowered to convoke the maid+
6101 COMAril% without authorisation of the sub-prefect.
:411011 were the provision. tending to relax centralisation. It
was neeessary to maiotain the authority of the prefects in
order to pro vent the minority of the commune from being
oppressed by the majority, and to keep down excessive local
taxation. The government would do well to hand over
swarm of petty appointment+ to the local authorities, in-
stenol of cowman:sting upon the various ministries of Paris
Ow host of petition. is kW place. There ought to he only
▪ electoral list, which would serve hor the parliamentary
as will us the MUnifirl 141.1110114. As to the nomination of
Norm% the mixed character of those- functionaries., which
muted a communal authority with a co-ordination
to the ventral power, clearly suggested a duality
in the some, of their power. They ought to be chosen
by the 4.11111111110 and investrol by the executive power.
rio• surest way of decentralising the councils.general was
to raise the mminnini of the additional centimes they were
allowed to impse., and thus they would be relieved from
the necessity of imposing spetial rates. But why four ses-
sions the cantonal council+ and two of the councils-gene-
rd It was so much time, money, and toil thrown away.
In the organisation of the councils of prefecture there PM
tin important euntraoliction. They had been considered as
win ti tt istrative tribunals, and invested with a sort of im-
mobility. Nevertheless, these council+ were purely eon-
soltatiie, and their minium were called to replace the pre-
f' t.. Thus the "het was forced to delegate his authority
to proms over whom he had no control. Such an organ..
sabot would necessitate the creation of secretaries-general,
auxiliary and temporary replacers of the prefects.
M. tincvY hoped that the Assembly would seize the oe-
asion offen.l by this bill to repeal the electoral law of May
in the st.nie way as he would have the head of the
eseentiie power appoiuted by the Legislative Assembly, so
should the mayors he appointed by the municipal couneils.
As tc the attributions of these councils, he was out satisfied
with the definition furnished by the hill. Front
whirh they were at present, he would have then, considered
as having attained their majority. They had only the I
wiarnin of the property emlidnl to them. For mles, ex-
-4.11.111ge, and loons, he admitted, nevertheless, that the
•-uaroliauship of the state was necessary.
The new Minister of Public Works, M. Magne,
appears to be resolved to present to the Legislative
Assembly a hill for the execution of the railwav from
Lyons to Avignon. For this purpose he is waling a
very strict examination into all the propositions
maile by the dill 'rent companies relative to the exe-
cution and the working either of the line from Paris
to Lyons, or of the two separate lines from Paris to
Lyons and fmnu Lyons to Avignon. What appears
to he perfectly decided on in his mind is the urgent
liensouty of the construction of this latter part, which
is to unite the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. He
has, consequently, taken into serious consideration
the propositions emanating from the united iron-
toasters of the .klais, the N-ovdte, and the 'fete Noire,
which ottiv more' acceptable conditions than any
hitherto presented to the government. In the event'
of no nmangement becoming possible with these
11M11111111C%. M. Magne is decided on demanding from
tlw Assembly- the opening of a credit of 50
decided over two years, fur commencing at the
cspense of the state the works of the section from
ons to Avignon.
A meeting of the representatives who belong to
thy party of Oen. Cavaignae took place yesterday
nowning, at his residence. The subject on which It
wits convened was the amnesty. At tirst,the feeling
was pretty general for abstaining flint mixing
themselves with the question; but M. Dufaure, with
mach reason and tinumws, insisted that the men of
Isl.. could not rest inactive on so grave an occasion.
The moment that a party of the Left, although in
the speaker's opinion perhaps rather prematurely,
Nought this questitm before the :tmembly, the legit,-
Like power should not abandon it. One of the most
ineuential of the old members of the Constitnante
milliortca this determination, but he desired to ex-
clude from the amnesty the men of the 13th of May,
guilt, of a violation ithe national sovereignty. M.
Inttiure replied that, in questions of clemency, there
seas always something objectionable in drawing dis-
tioctions of chisses. One of the members present
it:t;,rnied the meeting that MM. Montholon, de La-
Is.rde, and sonic other friends of the President,•
opposed, at the Mum, other more merciful dispo-1.
'mons. A letter of` M. Laity was spoken of, in which
this confidant of the Prtuident of the Republic
affirmed. some months since, to one of the condemned
partitu, that the feeling of the President was in favour
of an amnesty. A letter of the Prince de Joinville was
sinker or, which required his friends to support
%.%a ry proposition of mercy for the proscribed. the
meeting decided on supporting the measure of
tooncsty. In the discussion which took place at the
I.li see on the subject of the aninestv,M. de Montho-
hm reminded the President that Louis Blanc, pro-
s, lilted for a vear and a half, had been one of the
auth'ors of the recall of the Bonaparte
foully. The Evice and the ministry decided to take
the initiative oars new proposition in these terms :
Pull and entire amnesty is ',ranted for all political
ott,tosu Mime this '2lth of Feb., 1818,
o Olt the exerptioa of such perwons as shall have been
U:;% it ted for other offe'nce's (repris jmeiec)."
The slioniteNr contains tho appointment of several
commissaries oat of each muustry to discuss the