The Express.
London, England, 1850-08-01 00:00:00

FRANCE.

• • PARIS, WIDNZIfDAT.
des , at the close of the sitting o theRUINING Assembly,
thhelirdiftr of Femme presented- a bill of much int-
. ropeing to withdraw the authorisation
* a forma eireelatioe to the notes of the
of France. la making this proposition, be
drew an encouraging picture of the state of Europe,
the prospect, of peace and undisturbed order, and
Mated thit the progress of France towards a recovery
of
astir
prosperity was rapid, and in all respects highly
factory.
Yesterday there was much talk in the cooloire
about the new bill presented by the Minister of the
Interior for the organisation of the national guard.
As this is not yet out of the printer's hands little is
known about it. Bat one of the chief modificatioas
of the existing law is a change in tire formation of the
"Conseil de Itloensemeat,* of which the government
proposes to elect half the members from the muni-
cipal email and half from the national gaud. Some
changes are aloe proposed with regard to the cadre,.
At the close of the debate of yesterday, a member of
the committee, M. de Maine. de Moochy, summed
up the case of companies in a few words. The line
from Tours to Nantes yielded not more then 1 per
cent. on the capital paid up, and the line from Or-
leans to Bordeaux 24 per cent. The shares of the
first were rated on the 28th of June at 38fr., and
those of the second at 68fr. Of the &eft% on each
share there remained 176 fr. to be paid up on the
Bordeaax line, and 326 fr. on the Nantes line. It was
clear that under these circumstances the shareholders
would prefer to sacrifice their shares rather than pay
up the remainder, unless the state came forward to
encourage them, by rendering the conditions of their
contract wore favourable. Toe companies bad been
also grosely deceived in the value of the lands
acquired. The new conditions congaed in extending
the concession to 60 years; in allowing a single line
of rails to be worked on the section from Angers to
Nantes, and from Tours to Bordeaux, the second line
of rails to be laid down before the expiration of two
year. for the first railroad, and three years for the
ascend. The first line of rails, on the other hand, is
to be established within the delay of one year for both
companies.
In the Assembly to-day the debate was resumed. M.
Morelli:, opposed the bill,as a job to give a lift to the
shares of the two companies, without really enabling
them to complete their engagements. Then why
had two line*, quite distinct, been confounded in one
bill. Simply to make the more plausible case m rry
through the other. The speaker was rebuked by the
Right for alluding to the possib:ereversal of the Assem-
bly's decisions by a democratic government. M. Emile
Leroux, after describing the systematic ruin and dis-
couragement of railway enterprise in France, said that
the state stood towards the two companies in
question in the position of a creditor towards a
bad debtor, and had to consider whether it was more
politic to put him in the way of paying a dividend or
to ruin him downright by insisting rigorously on the
fulfilment of his engagement. The government and
the committee had taken the former course to
be the better, and he agreed with them. M.
Grevy opposed the bill. The Government, only bent
upon doing the work of the companies, had neglected
the interests of the state. Were these the only com-
panies in distress, or would favour stop here? Clearly
not. A door would be thrown open by th;s bill, and
all would come in file begging a slice from the same
cake. And how could they be refused? The Go-
vernment could not use two weights and two mea-
sures. It was slid the national :labour would gain
by this bill, and particularly metallurgy. Oa the
contrary, by extending the concession, the works
would be spread over a greater number f years, and
labour would be prejudiced by the delay. The old
Chambers had not made wrong estimates, nor
had the companies been deceived. The re-
ceipts calculated bad been reached and surpassed.
The companies were not incapacitated from fulfilling
the works. They could do so, but they would not.
The proper remedy was to apply pressure and oblige
them to complete their engagements. This was the
old song of the companies during the session of the
Constituent. But that Assembly decided that the
companies should be sibjected to execution. Oh,
then their key changed. They could then pro-
ceed with their works fast enough. Such would be
the result if the same course were adopted now. M.
Bineau Minister of Public Works, defended the
bill, and maintained, without entering into details
of figures, that the companies were incapable
of executing their contracts unless some modifi-
cation were intreduced. After fresh objections
had been brought against the bill by M. Paulin Gil-
len, the Left demanded a ballot on the question whe-
ther the house should proceed to discuss the article*.
This was decided in the affirmative by 320 votes
against 267. The discussion of the articles was ad-1
journed until to-morrow.
To-day was distributed to the Assembly the amend-
ments communicated by the Minister of Public Works
to the Committee of Public Work.. The smeadment
relative to the Paris and Avignon Itai:way is as fol-
lows :—The Minister of Public Works is authorised
to concede directly the railroad from Paris to Lyon.,
on the conditions of the cohier des charges an-
nexed to the present law. A sum of 10 mil-
lions of francs is effected provisionally to the
establishment of the railway from Lyons to Avignon.
The works on this line sheil commence with the sec-
tion between Valence and Avignon, in the direction
from Avignon to Valence. Two millions of this credit
shall be opened on the budget of 1830, and eight mil-
lions on the budget of 1851. The ex-
penses authorised by the present law shall
be provided for by the resources charged on
the budgets of 1850 and 1851, the principal
changes in the cahier des charges are as follows :-111
the 2nd article one year is allowed for the completion
of the 2nd section, three years for the 4th, five years
for the sth. By the 3rd article the company is obliged
to reimburse to the state 15 millions in cash before
being put in possession, and three months after
the complement of the sums expended by the adminis-
tration upon the credits of 1850 for tho continuation
of the works up to the day on which the company
rakes possession; then 50 millions upon the expenses
incurred before January 1, 1850. This sum, with its
interest at 4 per cent. from the date of taking pal-
session, shall be paid into the Treasury in five equal
instalments yearly, the first to be paid on December
31, 1851. The Minister of Public Works engages,
in the fourth article, to guarantee to the com-
pany, in the name of the state, during the
lint fifty years of the concession, an interest of
4 per cent upon the capital employed in the construc-
tion of the works, and in the reimbursements men-
tioned in Art. 3, provided the said capital do not ex-
ceed the sum of 190 millions. The company may, if
it chooses, pay the sum of 50 millions stipulated in
Art. 3, in fifty annuities of 3 maims each, without
interest upon the capitaL
Another amendment on the report has been presented
to the Assembly, signed by 42 representatives, among
whom are Generals de Orammont. Le Breton, Bul-
kier., Fabvier, MM. Leo de Laborde, Ladouoette,
tike. By the amendment the Minister of Public
Works is to be authorised to treat directly with an
Boglish company, represented by Messrs. R. R. Read,
Macpherson, Wrench, and Co., for the completion of
the railway on the following conditions: The com-
pany is to complete, within two years, the works
from Chalons to Lyons, and within three years those
from Lyons to Avignon, including the passage
through Lyon.. The execution of this wort is to
include the providing all the rolling stock and every-
thing necessary for the opening of the lines to the
public. The sum granted to the company to be 185
millions of francs, to be paid in proportions as the
works advance. A caution.inocey of 10 millions to
be furnished by the company, six in cash at the mo-
ment of signing the contract, and the other four mil-
lions in instalments, as the works:advance. If the line
to Lyons be not completed before the time specified,
except from causes over which the company have no
control, the company to forfeit to the government
200,000 fr. for each month's delay; this sum to be in-
creased to 400,000 fr. if the metre line from Chalons
to Lyons be not completed at the expiration of
three leers. For the space of 20 years, the company
is to bind itself to keep the line in a perfect state of
repair, with the exception of the rolling matlricd, at
am annual charge of Sir. per metre, so that the state
shall be at no expense for the repairs. Fur the par
meat of the work., the Minister of Finance is to bel
'auchoeisod to issue, es he may require it, 185,000
hoods of I 00fr. each, bearing an interest of 6 percent.,
and reimbursable from the annual proceeds to the
line, and by drawing. With the exception of the two
English rngianre pointed out by the company, all
the other engineer*, el well as the personnel, are to