The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-04 00:00:00

TEE FINANCIAL STATE OF FRANCE.
SECOND EDITION.

The /lion/tour publishes M. Achille Fould's offi-
cial statement of the actual position of the finances
of France.

We translate this important document in extenso.

"REPORT TO THE EMPEROR.

" Sire,--I lay before you a statement of the finan-
cial condition of the country, and submit to your
Majesty for your appreciation a measure which it
appears to me necessary. The nature of my propo-
sal will justify the delay which has occurred in pre-
eenticg it to the Emperor.
"The Council of State has under consideration
the ordinary and extraordinary Budgets of 1865.
"Its labours are so fat• advanced that I can
already announce to your Majesty the proximate
presentation to the Legislative body of the projects
which do not differ essentially from those of the
Budgets voted for 1861.
" A Bill for supplementary credits amounting to
93 millions, of which 63 millions are for the army
and navy estimates, and about 30 for the finances,
has been laid before the Legislative body.
" The estimates for the army and navy depart..
ments are chiefly intendrd to cover the supplemen-
tary expenses caused in 1863 by the war in Mexico.
‘"rbe sum asked for by the Minister of Finances,
destined chiefly to provide for the insufficiency of
the credit opened as premium for the exportation of
sugars, is only the compensation of the duties levied
ou importation.
" As regards these outlays there are 50 millions
of resources assured by the recent laws which have
settled the agreements with the railway companies.
These agreements have rendered disposable bonds
to the amount of about 17 millions, and 1,430,000 f.
rentes. They are derived from the reimbursement '
made by the companies ; the rentes being destined
for the allowances (subventions), which, from the
agreements I have alluded to, have been converted
into annuities.
The excess of the credits to be asked fur extra-
ordinary expenses will be 43 millions.

4, It is to this sum of 43 millions that the deficit
of the budget of 1863 will be reduced, although
the indirect revenues do not promise to reach the
expectations of the rectifying Budget. The political
anxiety which has weighed throughout the whole
year on public business has been especially felt upon
the registration of landed property ; but the differ-
ence will probably be compensated with some re-
turns and by an improvement in certain branches
of the revenue.

" Nevertheless, if the movement of progress has
been slackened, it has not been stopped. The un-
favourab:e influence of circumstances would have
been more seriously felt if there had not been such
an abundant harvest and the recent monetary em-
barrassments which I trust will shortly be removed
would have been much more serious if we had been
compelled to purchase the necessaries of life in
foreign countries.
"The result of the Budget of 1862 is known. I
had announced that the deficit would amount to 35
millions. It will be below that figure, and the deficit
of the year will scarcely exceed 32 millions. Adding
to that deficit what may possibly be forseen for
1863, we come to a maximum of 76,000,000 f.

. .
"The extraordinary expenses occasioned by the
Mexican war in the years 1862 and 1863, the ac-
counts of which have been made up to the lst of
January next, and sent to the Mexican Govern-
ment, amount to 210 millions. To this must be
added the expenses caused during the same year by
the occupation of Cochin-China and the presence of
troops and ships of war in other parts of the ex-
treme East. Those expenses may be estimated at
60 millions. Oar war expenses have been, there-
fore, 270 millions.
" The deficit of these two years being only 75
millions, there is a difference of 192 millions, more
' than half of which has been provided for by the
surplus of the ordinary revenue.
" This result allows us to look with more gratifi-
cation (aecurite) upon the general condition of our
finances, as it has been obtained Without any re-
laxation in our public works, granted in 1862, with
121 millions, and in 1863 with 125 millions.*
" This is a proof of the facility with which we can
support all the ordinary charges of our Budgets,
and even largely support great enterprises which
have so powerfully contributed to develope the
prosperity of the country, and which will develope
it still more.

"As regards the Budget of 1864 the resources
realised will exceed! the provisions agreed upon
between the Government and the Legislative Body.
This surplus will diminish the estimates Which
the maintenance of our troops in Mexico might ren-
der necessary in case the negotiations entered into
with the Mexican Government should not respond
to the expectations of your Majesty.
" Whatever confidence I may entertain in this
respect it is, nevertheless, my duty to call the Em-
peror's attention to the importance of our deficits.
The deficits of 1862 and of 1863 are not great if
consider 'the extraordinary calls that were made ;
but, added to onr former deficits, they amount' to
972 millions. This amount exceeds the figure which
,prudence ought to allow, and It is necessary to re-
duce it, by the consolidation .of a portion
.of the
floating debt to normalfproportionsp
" This operation will not throw new burdens
upon the Treasury, as the interests of the floating
debt will be relieved of the amount; which will be
carried over to the Budget, for the interests of the
consolidated debt. _

" I had fancied that it might have been possible
to avoid this necessity, and that a prompt solution
of the affairs of Mexico might, on the one hand,
hive limited our expenses to a sum less than what
we have expended, and, on the other hand, effected
by a loan contracted with Mexico the reimburse-
ment of our advances. But, despite the confidence
which we entertain of seeing a regular form of
government established in Mexico, we cannot place
the safety of our finances upon its settlement of the
debt to us.

"It must also be admitted that the floating debt,
when it is out of proportion with the ordinary re-
sources which supply it, costs more than the con-
solidated debt, and that it is not without disturb-
ing the general transactions of the country that
capital is sought for by the State at a high rate of
interest. Every branch of commerce suffers from
it, and, instead of reducing the rate of interest,
which ought to be the case, the Treasury helps to
raise it.

"Everyone will understand how important it is
to shield the State against inopportune claims
which would compel it to have recourse to onerous
operations which might compromise public credit.
" Such a state of affairs is a cause of anxiety and
hindrauce to commerce.

" A regards myself, Sire, I bad entertained the
hope that I need not have opened the ledger (grand
/lyre), and it is not without mature refltction that I
submit to your Majesty the proposal of reducing the
floating debt by an appeal to credit.
" This loan differs from ordinary loans in this
favourable sense, that as the produce is to be em-
ployed for the repayment of Treasury Bonds issued,
it will return an equal sum for circulation., It is a
transformation, not an increase of debt.
" The amount of the loan remains to be considered.
I propose to your Majesty to fix it,at 300 millioOs'
Our deficit would thus be reduced to 672
4" The floating debt will remain beneath that sum,
because the settlement of debts is always slower than
the collection of taxes. The sums due to the Trea-
sury exceed 600 millions.
" Tejo debt will be all the more easily settled
when we have succeeded in the steps which
we
have taken to obtain repayment for what we have
advanced to Mexico."

• This includes the credits carried over from 1861 to
1662, and from 1862 to 1863.

Tho Saturday' Review is certainly very delightful.
It goes up to a great stately reputation and smacks
it in the face! This very week, for example, it „y F,
" The Edinburgh Review is now about the most ponderous,
timid, and conventional organ of I,,ndon
Whig society.
The old Scotch devil is quite gone out of it, and we must
own that the substituted London devils do not appear to us
to be an improvement.'
BISHOP BLOMFIELD S Chesterford Reminiscences
included among them the answer of a school-boy, who, on
being asked what was meant in the Catechism by succour-
ing his father and mother, replied promptly, "Giving on
'em milk."

bUN OFFICE, HALF-PAST 4 O'CLOCK.

THE PRINCIPALITIES.

BUCHAREST, Dec. 3.—The Nation published
s,hme days back, the draft of a Constitution which
is said to have been submitted to the Powers by
Prince Couza. The statement made by that journal
is unfounded. The Committee on the Address in
the Chamber is entirely composed of members of
the Opposition.

THIRD EDITION

SUN OFFICE, SEVEN O'CLOCK.

REPLY OF THE QUEEN OF SPAIN TO
THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON,

(REUTER.'S EXPRESS.)

MADRID, Nov. 30.

The .Epoca publishes the following as the text
of the reply of the Queen of Spain to the Emperor
Napoleon's letter of invitation to a Congress :
Sir, my Brother,--The very important letter
which you have been so good as to address to me
from Paris, under date the 4th of this
month, could not but be taken into con-
sideration, both by me and my Government. I
consider your Majesty's project very laudable in
aiming at the complete pacific solution of the ardu-
ous political questions which now keep the peoples
in profound agitation. In order that calm be re-
stored,may Providence deign to accord your Majesty
the happiness of seeing your projects realised, and
aid in subduing the immense difficulties which the
strife of adverse interests always brings with it.
I agree with your Majesty that the Treaties of
1815 are attacked by the debility produced by time
and use, besides the forced influence or serious
events which, in many cases, have resulted in noto-
rious and capital infractions of their letter and
spirit.
I also agree with you that if war has always been
a great calamity for peoples, it would be still more
so now, on account of the disastrous perturbation
that it would produce among nations, every day
more closely united, by the community of their
moral and material interests.

Consequently, if your Majesty's idea be realised
by the assembly of the European Powers in a pacific
Congress, I do not hesitate to afford your Majesty
the assurance, in concert with my Government, that
Spain will participate therein, either at Paris or
any other point that may be selected for the delibe-
rations, and that Spain will cause her voice to be
heard in words of justice, peace, and concord, con-
tributing within the limits of her conciliatory
councils to the pacific solution of the serious ques-
tions which the Congress has in view, in order to
consolidate peace and tranquillity in the Old and
New World.
I profit by this opportunity to renew to your
Imperial Majesty the assurance of my consideration
and sincere friendship, with which I am, Sir, my
brother, your Majesty's good sister,

The Palace, Nov. 14, 1863.

ISABELLA.

TEE CRAWLEY COURT-MARTIAL.

(FROM OUR OWN REPORTER.)
FIFTEENTH DAY.

ALDERSHOT, Friday.

The Court reopened this morning at 10 o'clock, and
Lieut.-Colonel Frederick Fitzwygram, of the 15th
Infantry, was called, and said in reply to Colonel Sir A.
Horsford—This is my letter, and I have no objection to its
being read.
The letter was as follows :
" Newbridge Barracks, Nov. 15, 1863.

"Sir,—ln reply to your letter of the 13th inst. requesting
information as to the evidence which I can give regarding
the character of the late regimental Sergeant Major Lilley,
of the 6th Dragoons, I have the honour to state that I knew
the deceased well from his entry into the service up to the
period of my exchange with Lieut.-Colonel Crawley. I re-
member his joining at Nottingham Barracks a month or two
after I joined myself in the latter part of 1843 ; and I never
lost sight of him whilst I remained in the regiment. In
1853 he became my troop sergeant major, and in the sum •
mer of 3855 had the pleasure of recommending him to Col.
White, then commanding the regiment, for the vacant post
of regimental sergeant major. From the circumstances of
his having been my sergeant major, I continued to know
and sae more of him during his later service than pro-
bably I should otherwise have done. I can honestly
say that during those many years, whether in the lower
grades, or as my troop sergeant major, or in his after
more important capacity as regimental sergeant major, ho
was one of the best men I ever met.
" With regard to his sobriety, to which point I presume
your inquiry is more immediately directed,, I believe my
intercourse with him from the time he became my sergeant
major up to the time I left the regiment in 1860, was so
constant and so continuous, that it is impossible that he
could have been addicted to drink without my having some
knowledge, or at least suspicion of it.—l have the honour,
&c., (Signed) W. FITZWYGRAM, Lieutenant •Colonel,
Comamanding 15th Hussars.
" The Deputy Adjut. General, Horse Guards.
Sergeant Lewis Kwles said he placed sentries over Ser.
goant Major Lilley: No written orders to' do so were given.
Sergeant rilbean said he was on guard over Sergeant
Lilley. He never saw Mrs. Lilley in her bedroom, neither
could he see into the apartment.

Troop Sergeant Galloway said he was orderly troopser-
geant over Lilley four times. He never made any com-
plaints to him.
Sir A. Horsford---Did• you resPeet SergeadMajor Lilley?
--Yes, I did, - •
Will the :Joint ask the'prisoner whether he has any
regimental order books. If so, I should like to look at
them to ascertain whether it will be necessary to put them
in for the prosecution.—Yes, I have some here. (Books
handed in).
Colonel Crawley—ls it true that Sergeant Major Wake-
field was raving mad at the time of Sergeant MajorLifiey's
death?—He was mad.
Was he raving mad ?—I did not notice him raving mad.
Did you notice anything whaiever, if $O,
He was slightly delirious. state what P

From what cause P—Drink.
Did he drink much during his arrest? —lrea•
Have you ever seen him the worse for liquor during his
arrest?—Yee.
Colonel Crawley
Private Thomas Newton, or Lilley on the
--said he was sentry over Sergeant I"
night of the Ist of May. Corporal Blake was placed under
examined by
arrest for posting him outside instead of inside the ban.
galow. After Blake was placed under arrest, witness was
posted inside the room 4, the servants room. He did not
know why Corporal Blake posted him outside instead of
inside. He saw Mrs. Lino- walking about the house
while he was sentry. No complaints were ever, at any time,
made to him either by the Sergeant Major or Mrs. Lilley.
He was sentry in the second bungalow also. In that bun-
galow Sergeant Major Lilley slept in the verandah. He
saw him twice sleeping in the verandah. Mrs. Lilley used
:ir out and sit with her husband in the
ra her do so several times while I was on
is the
ndah. day-time
list of wit-
duty.
Sir A. norsford—When the sergeant-major slept in the
propose to put in
verandah where was your proper post ?
Witnass—Beside him in the verandah.
prisoner, and I now.
t.
Sir A. Horsford—l have now exlmustedny
evidence the regimental order books
February, 1862, to the 31st of May, 1862, in the 24th of
wit-
nesses supplied to the
necessary they may refer the court to certainin
order that if
m their reply. At present, of course, .. parts of them
say whether it will be necessary to they are unable to
The prosecutor handed in also refer to them or not.
Mhow court-martial, callint, a certificated copy of the
pages 78, 79, 80, 167, 168, as theparticular attention to
particularly refer the Court. Page 90 will also be brought
pages to which they
under the notice of the Court,
The
ings of the Mhow court martirhe whole of the proceed-
in order that the al are put in by the
Courtprosecu-
tion, may be refer to any matter
which the Court may judge to be relevant to the issue.
Col. Crawley protested
against the regimental order books
being put in, and contended that the passages on which the
prosecurion -ielied shSir A. Ho • ' ould be specified and read.
iuturd said that
order bucli its with regard to the regimental
) production was ' l slurp yto enable the pro-
secutor, it found desirable, to show
of adiutant were performed by
persons.
As to the
proceedings of the Mhow court martial' only
specified would be referred to, and it would be the
pages
competent
for both the :prosecutor and the prisoner .
,to direct the at-
tention of the Court to all the. e matters in the concluding
addresses. 1

Colonel Pipon said the court ruled yesterday that ever?'
thing which was required to be in evidence must be read
and recorded in the proceedings.
Sir A. Horsford sa►d that all he wanted from the regi-
mental order books was the names of the adjutants who
performed the duties on certain days.
The court then adjourned.

PIRIITED POPULARTTY.--i, Rom is now added
to the Tauchnitz series of English reprints; and " Tales of
a Wayside Inn" and "Miles Standish" form the third
volume of Tauchnitz's authorised edition of " Longfellow's
Poetical Worip."