The Express.
London, England, 1851-05-09 00:00:00

YitANCE.

PARIS, THITILSDAT Evairtivo.
lam enabled to-day to throw a little light upon
the results of the deliberations of the delegates of
the three great parliamentary clubs of the Rue des
Pyramides, Rue de ltiroli, and Rue de l'Universite,
on the great question of the Revision. At first an ad-
journment was proposed as tending to allay the fever
excited by this question, and to probe the state of
opinion in the country. This was rejected. It was
agreed that the question ought to be grappled with
at once without delay. Next, the different can-
didatures were examined which might pre-
sent themselves for the presidency in 1832.
It was agreed that hardly one of these was a
pledge for the maintenance of the constitution of
1848. Passing by Louis Napoleon's, as unconstitu-
tional in the case of non-revision, neither the candi-
dature of the Prince de Joinville, of General Chan-
gamier, nor of a champion of socialism, was friendly
to the maintenance of the republic. Perhaps Gen.
Cavaignac was the candidate whose election would
be the best guarantee for the continuance of the con-
stitution ; but he was hostile to the law of May, and
would come in on the understanding of repealing it.
Therefore, any of these being chosen president would
tend to alter essentially the existing base of
institutions,— Joinville or Changander to bring
in the monarchy, and the socialists to bring in the
red republic. The presidency of General Cavaignac
would establish a republic, which would in course of
time necessarily become the red republic, through
the abolition of the law of May. Hence it was
agreed that the monarchio parties ought frankly to
embrace the policy of a total revision of a ruinous
charter, detested by the nation as involving imprac-
ticable anomalies and the division of powers. Total
revision and firm adhesion to the electoral law of
May is therefore the conclusion of the committee ap-
pointed by the clubs. Thiers and Changarnier are op-
posed to revision. As to the majority of three-fourths
exacted by the constitution, the committee does not
pronounce on the way to deal with that difficulty
before it is positively encountered. Meanwhile they
; approve, as I mentioned before, the motion of MNI.
Morin and Moulin, on dealing with motions for the
i revision.

To-day, in the sitting of the Assembly, M. Goulard
presented a petition for the revision of the constitu-
tion and prolongation of the President's powers. The
Left exclaimed that the object of the petition was
unconstitutional. The president, General Belleau,
had nothing to say against the title of the petition.
The committee would deal with it.

The President then announced the death of M.
Aubcrge, representative of the Seine-et-Marne. The
last articles of the motion discussed yesterday relative
to the Urrets of workmen and aavances of wages
were then adopted, and it was voted that the bill
should be read a third time.

The house then entered upon the debate concern-
ing M. Chapot's motion on petitions, of which I sent
an outline in a former letter. M. Mailer de Monjau
opposed the motion, as a clog to the exercise of the
right of petition. M. Quentin Bauchart explained
and justified this motion, which tends to impose a
reasonable responsibility on petitioners, and to
enable the law to reach with greater ease these
who affixed false signatures to such documents. At
a period when the Assembly was likely to be
deluged by petitions, it was of the highest moment
to render as pure as possible this manifestation of
the stream of public opinion. After M. Boned had
spoken against, and M. Output for the motion, M.
Luutnnuel Amp occupied the tribune to demand
explanations with regard to a circular of a joye-dr-
pUlX, M. Lassinet, to the mayors of his canton
(Seches), to engage them to take the initiative of pe-
titions for the revision of the constitution and the
prolongation of the President's powers. M. Itouher,
Minister of Justice, replied that on reading the cir-
cular in the papers he had written to the
procureur of Agen for intormation ; he had not yet
received an answer. Meanwhile, he had certainly
never authorised any ft/fie-de-pais to use his
position for the purpose of provoking petitions ; nei-
ther could he understand how such a circular could
be addressed to the mayors over whom the jtve•rle-
psix had no jurisdiction. For the rest, M. Lassinet
had been appointed to his functions by a decree of
September 1818. (Laughter.)
General Cavaignac said that in that case he was
astonished to find that he was still in his functions.
(Fresh laughter.) He congratulated M. Lassinet
upon his rare fortune ; but certainly, it he (General
Cavaignac.) had appointed him, he had never recom-
mended him to make any such use of his position.
The Assembly then proceeded to vote on the mo-
tion, which was taken into consideration by a con-
siderable majority-.
To-day was distributed to the Assembly the go-
vernment's bill for the construction of the railway
from Lyons to Avignon. The government proposes
to concede this line to a company of proprietors of
iron-foundries, whose interests have greatly suffered
owing to the slackness of railway work. You are
aware that this line was conceded in 1810 to a com-
pany, which forfeited its ten millions of caution-
money in 1847. By this company the expenses of
constructing the line were estimated at 120 millions
of francs; 70 millions for the first section of 105 ki-
lometres from Lyons to Valence, and 50 millions for
the section of 125 kilometres from Valence to Avig-
non. This would make the expense per kilometre
521,740 fr. M. Dufaure, in his report in 1845, esti-
mated the proceeds of the line at 46,780 fr. per
kilometre, or, in deducting 45 per cent. for the ex-
penses of working the line, 25,732 fr. Now, since
that estimate the Rhone navigation has increased so
much as greatly to reduce the prospect of profit
from the railway. In 1844 the number of steamers
was 9; in 1849, 54 ; their total horse power in
'44 was 643, but in '49 rose to 7,860 horses. The
new steamers greatly lengthened carried from 400
to 450 tons. In consequence of this prodigious
development of the steam navigation, the nett profits
of the railway arc now estimated at between 15 and
16 thousand francs per kilometre, or, in round numbers,
at 31 millions for the whole line. Hence the ratio
between the annual proceeds and capital expended,
would fall short of 3 per cent., so that the line could
not be constructed without the assistance of the state.
The government therefc re proposes to concede tho
line for 99 years to a company, which would execute
the works under the control of the government
engineers, and which is to receive from the treasury,
in 30 equal instalments, a subvention equal to the
half of the expenses, without this subvention in any
case exceeding 60 millions. The company, contri-
buting.on its part GO millions, would therefore re-
ceive, in the nett proCeeds of the whole line, 31 mil-
lions—about 5.83 per cent.,—to face annually the
interest and liquidation of the expended capital. By
stipulations in Art. 3 of the contract, the portion
' contributed by the state for the purchase of materials
and the general expenses of administration is limited
to 44 millions. The funds will be furnished by the
state in proportion as the works advance. The com-
pany demanded a guarantee of 4 per cent. The go-
vernment, without yielding to this demand, which
had been greatly opposed by the river interest, con-
sented to an arrangement of the same kind as was
adopted by the law of Nov., 1849, for the railway
from Avignon to Marseilles. It agreed to authorise
the company to contract a loan of 30 millions, and to
Mitee, in the name of the state, the interest and
llion of this loan, calculated at the rate of 5
per cent. The issue of the bonds of the loan is
limited to 8 millions until the completion of the sec-
tion from Avignon to Valence ; and until the com-
pletion of the entire line, the interest and liquidation
of the loan would be, in case of the failure of the nett
proceeds of the sections worked, paid out of the ca-
pital of the company. After the opening of the
whole line the nett profits would be subject to tho
service of the loon before the sharing of any dividend.
Hence the guarantee of the state becomes purely no-
minaL The section from Avignon to Valence is to be set
about first, and finished in 21 years, and then the
section from Valence to Lyon is to be completed in
three years more. Thus, in five years and a half,
the line from Chalons would meet that from Aviv=
at the tersdniss of Perrache. A station for travellers
and staraisadise is to be constructed at Vain, and a
gars, with depot of engines, at Perrache. The FIN
or amines of Perrache is to be constructed at the
001111110 K soot of the two companies, and by the Avir
mas , on condition that the half at ofsa
charge of the Chalons company shall not exceed six'
millions. The line of the right bank of the Rhone,
between Lyons and the village Les Roches, had been
preferred, in order to place die line in more direct
communication with the coal basin of St. Etienne.
The treaty concluded, April 20, 1850, between M.
Masao, late Minister of Public Works, and the Bt.

Etienne company, would be annexed to the eakier
des cAorges. Such is the outline of the government
bill for the construction of the line from Avignon to
Lyons.
To-day the committee on the street-sale of news-
papers adopted the principle of the proposition of
M. Base, and appointed a sub-committee, consisting
of MM. Bare, Ravens, and Quiet, to draw up a
fresh bill.

I have already noticed the projected design of
raking out an old law of 1811, giving the govern-
ment absolute power to deal with all persons not
regularly domiciled in the capital. This is spoken of
again.
The government has decided upon bringing for-
ward a batch of new repressive laws, in order to
control the increasing audacity of conspirators. I
understand that a prefect of police is to be created
at Lyons, where the powers of the police authorities
are not thought sufficiently extended to control the
progress of sedition.
The Minister of Finances has presented a bill for
appointing a commission of three persons to inquire
into the losses sustained by the burning down of the
Recette-generate at Lyons.
It appears from the Bulletin des Lois, just pub-
lished, that the late ministry of transition accorded
to M. de Salvandy, who had been working so hard
for fusion, a pension of 6,000 francs. Fusion, then, at
least, if not now, must have meant prolongation of
the President's powers.
Two important members of the "Jenne Droite,"
MM. Alfred Nettement and Laboulie, have paid a
visit to Angers, in order to sound M. de Falloux as
to the instructions confided to him by the Count of
Chambord for the conduct of the legitimists. The
result of this visit confirms what I have stated as to
the negative nature of the instructions received by
M. de Falloux at Venice, and the ambiguous reserve
maintained by the Duke of Bordeaux on the great
question of tho prolongation of the President's
powers.
M. Emile de Girardin affirms that it is impossible
for General Changarnicr to deny the proposal he
made to Ledru-Rollin for the invasion and republi-
canising of England, because on the following day
he delivered into the hands of the Minister of the
Interior of the Provisional Government a memoir on
the subject drawn up by himself. Girardin pub-
lishes to-day a fresh document extracted from the
organ of M. Senard, the Journal de Rouen, May,
1848, to prove that the fixed idea of the National at
that time was a triumvirate composed of Cavaignac,
!daring, and Senard, or Berger.