The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-15 00:00:00

FRENCH FINANCE.

The Moniteur promulgates the Conversion 13111,
which has been adopted by the Chambers, and in
conn.ection with it publishes the following report
to the Emperor from the Minister of Finance:—
" Sire,--The Legislative Body and the Senate have
adopted the bill which proposes the conversion of the 44
and 4 per Cent. Stock and the Trentenary Bonds into 3 per
Cents.
" ConforniaMy to Art. 3 of that bill, I am about to pro-
pose to your Majesty to fix the addition which will be de-
manded from the holtlers of the 41 and 4 per Cents. for that,
exchange.

" Thus, as your 11,..r.alesty has said, the object of your G, J.

vernment is in equil:ably reconciling the interests of Vile
Treasury and that of ;its creditors, to prepare the unifica-
tion of the public debt? The great bodies of the State have
united in that idea of your Majesty by an almost unani-
mous vote, and have h; =Lied over to your Majesty the care
of regulating the condit .iono of the transaction proposed by-
the bill.

" This is not the first time that it has been necessary to
determine the relative value of the 41 and 3 per Cent.
Stock, the former of which is compressed in its movement
by the possibility of rein th'ursement at par, whilst the latter
has a power of ascension xauch more considerable. At the
time of the loans of 1854 ,and 1855 the 41 and 3 per Cents.
were simultaneously offert d, on different conditions laid
down by the Government a nd ratified by a public subscrip-
tion.

"In 1854 (the loan of N ;0,000,000 of the 11th March)
the difference between th... 1 4-1 and the 3 per Cents, was
4f 25c.

" In 1855 (the loan of 500, 000,000 of the 31st Dec., 1854)
it was 7f 0 1-10 c.

"In 18:55 (loan of 750,00,, 000 of the 11th July) it was
6f 75c.

"The average of 6f, which r esnits from those differences,
may be considered, every pa rticular circumstance being
abstracted, as the expression of the recognised surplus
value of the 3 per Cents. o ye. r the 4f per Cents., since
it has been ratified by three ni ien lorable public subscriptions.
" It would therefore appear
.iu st to take the sum of 6f for
4f 60c of rente as the rate of the, addition to be furriished by
such holders of 4i per Cent. stot k as would wish to have
in 3 per Cent. stock an income two 'al to that which they now
possess. This, moreover, is the • sum which has served as
the basis o the reasonings of the hon. reporter on the bill,
in the Legislative Body, and there. is reason to think that it
has not been chosen arbitrarily by tl Le enlightened men who
composed the committee, and by tho skilful financier who
acted as their interpreter. It is ab ;0 that sum of 6f which I
should probably have proposed to y( rar Majesty if I had only
to occupy myself with the bases of a negotiation of Rente
similar to those of the loans of 1854 and 1855.

" But in the operation now in ques lion your Government
has not specially in view to increase the resources of th©
State. The unification of the public odebt is the principal
object which it endeavours to attain. ' ['runt object, so worthy
of your Majesty's solicitude, happily re +conciles itself with
the interest of the fundholders with. zi 'hich your Majesty
has shown yourself preoccupied, since css a of the means of
attaining it is to give them better con.c, '-itions than those
which they have in former cases accept ed with so much

eagerness.
" I consequently propose to your Majest3 ' to fix at 5f 40c
the addition to be paid to the Treasury for ext hanging 4f 50c
41 rente against 4f 50c of 3 per cent. rente, and at if 20c for
41 of rente the addition of the 4 per Cents. . _

" The addition will be payable in six instalments, charge •
able only on the interest of the new rente, so that the
holders of 41 per Cent. stock will receive the wholo of the
half-year's interest due on the 22d March, and the periods
of payment of the addition will only commence on the let
July next. At the expiration of those periods, that is to say-
on the Ist of October, 1863, the fundholder will have com-
pleted his conversion. He will then have in his possession
a title of 3 per Cent. stock, bringing him an interest equal
to that which he had in 4 per Cents., and representing a
much higher capital.
" I shall not return to the advantages of that combina•
tion, which have been eloquently developed in the discus-
sion on the bill; but those advantages are such that many
public establishments, holders of 41 per Cent. stock, have
already applied to the Government for the means of secur-
irg them. According to your Majesty's orders a till has
been prepared to facilitate loans to them on the deposit of
rentes, and those loans will be repaid by annuities at long
periods.
"What will be done by the large credit societies for
public establishments, the receivers-general will be autho-
rised to do for private individuals, In a word, nothing will
be neglected to enable the holders of stock to personally
profit by the advantages offered them by the Government,
and to prevent them being obliged, by the difficulty of pay-
ing the addition, to renounce the profit which belongs to
them. At the same time that the Administration will thus
facilitate by advances, at various periods, the payment for
the addition for the less wealthy fundholders, it will give a
bonus of interest to those who may immediately free them-
selves, or discount a part of the sum which they owe to the
Treasury.
" If your Majesty deigns to approve of those measures, I
beg you to affix your approbation to this report.—l arn, sire,
, &c., " ACHILLE FOULD.
" Approved, NAPOLEON."