The Sun.
London, England, 1865-06-06 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JUNE 6,186 a,

French Finances,

The following is a full translation of M. Thiers's
speech on the above subject :
" Gentlemen,—When I last year had the honour of ad-
dressing you for the first time on the state of our finances,
I endeavoured to give a retrospective view of them for the
last 20 years, and to show from what causes our expendi-
ture had risen in the last few years from about 1,500 mil-
lions to nearly 2,300 millions. To me the causes are evident

enough ;and, had there been any doubt, the propositions

now made to us would suffice to remove it. Within tholast
fortnight, 360 millions have been demanded for France in
general, and 250 for Paris; in all, 610 millions. It is said
that a law is now under consideration in the Council of
State demanding 100 or 200 millions more, making 700 or
800 millions in the space of a few weeks. I need not dwell
on the causes of the increase of our budgets ; I will only
make a concise statement concerning them. I will after-
wards show the financial situation which those causes
have produced ; in short, I will attempt to present a
balance-sheet of our finances. I believe you will agree
with me in thinking that the causes are these :—Since
our new institutions have diminished the share which
the nation took in managing its own affairs it was feared
that the activity of mind with which I am reproached
might be dangerous, unless means should be
found to occupy the attention of the country. These
moans, sometimes dangerous, always odious, have been
wars abroad, and enormous expenditure and great specula-
tions at home. After groat wars came small ones—small,
if we consider the number of men engaged, and large, if
we consider their distance and the serious complications
they may cause. The war in Mexico has already cost us
more than the Italian war, to say nothing of the compli-
cations it may entail. The war expenditure has of course
been met by loans, and the public debt has consequently
been considerably increased. Next come our great public
works, an excellent employment for the country's savings
in time of peace, as every sensible man will acknowledge ;
but we ought to proceed prudently. It is a mistake to sup-
pose, as some do, that there need be no limit to the appli-
cation of our savings to public works; agriculture and
manufactures ought to have their share, and if only a por-
tion should be employed by the State in improving roads,
canals, and other means of communication, still less should
be devoted to the mere embellishment of towns. It
is certainly necessary to widen the streets and improve the
salubrity of cities ; but there is no necessity for such vast
changes as have been operated in Paris, where, as I think,
all reasonable limits have been exceeded. The contagion
of example is to be feared. The proverb says that he who
commits one folly is wise. (Laughter.) If Paris only
were to be rebuilt I should not have much to say against
it, but you know that La Fontaine wittily says—

- -
" Tout bourgeoise vent batir comma les grander
seigneurs,
Tout petit prince a des ambassadeurs,
Tout marquis vent avoir des pages.'
The glory of the prefect of the Seine has troubled the re•
pose of all the prefects. The prefect of the Seine has re
built the
_Tuileries, and the prefect of the Bouches du
Rhone wants to have his Tuileries also. Last year the
Minister of State answered me that only a trifling expen-
diture was intended, not more than six millions ; but it
appears from the debates of the Council General that the
expenses will be 12 or 14 millions, and some persons say
as much as 20 millions. I know that the prefect of the
Bouches du Rhone is a senator ; but if it takes 12 millions
to build him a residence that is a large sum ; all the other
prefects will bo eager to follow his example, as the prefect
of Lisle has already. The sub-prefects also will want new
residences and new furniture. Where would all this lead to?
The Minister of Public Works, full of glory, must have more
consideration for the cares of the Minister of Finance. But
here we have a new Minister of Public Works, with a new
glory to make, and demands for millions multiply. The
Minister of Finance defends himself as best he can, but ap-
pears to be conquered ; he might resist by resigning cer-
tainly, but that is a means borrowed from past years (inter-
ruption). A compromise is at last effected. To spare the
Treasury 100 millions are to be obtained by selling part of
the state forests. For this, however, your consent is neces-
sary, but the matter is settled in principle, and the public
domain will supply the funds which the Treasury refuses.
By whom is this torrent of expenditure to be arrested ?
By yourselves, gentlemen ; your wisdom, patriotism, and
courage can alone achieve the task. Your responsibility is
great, especially in financial matters; in politics your powers
may be contested to a certain extent : but in questions of
finance they were undisputed. In finances you therefore
are responsible for everything. It is time to halt in this
course of expenditure, and not to imitate those sinners who
are always talking of reforming and after all die in final
impenitence. We aro often told that financial science is
obscure, but the assertion is untrue. Sciences aro never
obscure, except through the dulness of those who expound
them, or the charlatanism of those who assume a false air of
profundity. I will take my examples from private life. Let
us suppose two fathers, ono methodical, strict and somewhat
morose ; the other easy and good-natured. The former will
regulate his expenditure according to his income, and fixlimits
which he will not pass; during the year that may cause some
unpleasantness to himself and his family, but when settling
day comes he has neither anxiety nor embarrassment.
The latter takes no such precautions ; he passes quietly
through the year, restricting neither his own expenditure
nor that of his family ; but when he settles his accounts
he finds that he has exceeded his income and is obliged to
encroach on his capital to pay his debts ; and he goes on
from year to year with every increasing embarrassment till
ruin stares him in the face. The stern father meanwhilehas
preserved or even increased his estate, and taught his chil-
dren a lesson which will be useful to them through life. As
in private life so it is in public affairs. Statesmen have the
same passions as other men, and it is only by resisting these
passions that they can save the State. I will now ap-
ply these reflections to our finances. What is the principle
which governs their administration? You have five budgets
and I will show you the consequences of that multiplicity.
First, there is the ordinary one, which ranges from 1730 to
1780 millions; this•year it is 1700 millions. Then there is

a special budget for the departments and communes, vary-
ing from 230 to 240 Millions. Next comes the extraordinary

budget, from 120 to 140 millions. But that is not all. As
the budget is voted ayear beforehand, all expenses have not
been foreseen, and at the end of the year a rectificative
budget of 100 millions is required ; so that the total budget
exceeds 2200 millions. Then, when the final settlement
comes, it is found that certain expenses have exceeded the
credits voted, while other credits have not been employed ;
the latter are made set-offs against the former, but there is
always a balance required of from 20 to 80 millions, which
has to be voted by special laws. The budget is thus raised
to 2220 millions or more ; in 1863 it was 2292 millions. Such
is the figure we reach with our five budgets ; and then, like
the father abovementioned, we have to strike the final ba-
lance. This is done by the Court of Accounts, and, when
the result is submitted to the Chamber, if there be an ex-
cess of expenditure, the floating debt is increased by so
much. Last year you made a loan of 300 millions, and it
will be exhausted next year. This is how the budget has
risen to between 2,200 and 2,300 millions. Last year M. de
Vuitry, President of the Council of State, told me that it
would be a childish expedient to divide the budgets for
the purpose of deceiving the Chamber as to their total
amount, seeing that the general situation might be ascer-
tained by adding together a few figures. I replied that it
took me two months to make those additions, and, if I mis-
take not, the reporter has found three months to be neces-
sary this year. though he had numerous documents at his
disposal which these who are not members of the com-
mittee have never seen. Your reporter, indeed, has had
confidential communications from the Ministry of Finance
which inform him of things he cannot repeat to us. Wo
have not the information we ought to have, and yet the re-
porter required three months to work the little sum in
addition to which the President of the Council of State
alluded. It has been said, Calumniate, calumniate; some
of your calumnies are sure to remain.' We may say,
'Dissimulate, dissimulate ; something is sure to re-
main.' (Murmurs.) We will now see whether the
plan of dividing the budget is not a means of creating
illusions as to the true amount of the expenditure.
The Hon. M. Gouin yesterday said that the budget was
really 1,571 millions. When the law of accounts comes be-
fore us that budget will be 2,300 millions. Were there any
good reason for thus dividing the budget I would not object
to it. Why should there be one budget for the state and
another for the departments and communes, when all the
expenditure is paid from the same treasury and made under
the same responsibility ? Separate budgets may be reason-
able enough in Austria, which contains distinct kingdoms
and provinces, but there is nothing to justify them in
France. Then there is another illusion, that of the ordinary
and extraordinary budgets. When thousands of millions
were concerned, as in the first establishment of railways,
there was some reason for an extraordinary budget, but
when the expenditure is only for ameliorations which may
be effected gradually it can only tend to dissimulate real
expenses. The extraordinrry budget contains the expendi-
ture for repairs, which must always be a permanent item ;
why should it then not bo put in the ordinary budget ? I
also see in it sums of 5 and 6 millions for the Ministry of
War, which should be considered ordinary expenditure. • In
the extraordinary Itudget of the Marine • I see a sum of
12i millions for the arsenals, which ought certainly to be
considered an ordinary item. But we are told that it was
required for the transformation of our navy into iron-
clads. I have seen three of these transformations in the
course of 40 years, and therefore see no reason for calling
it an extraordinary expenditure. In the Ministry of Public
Works, I find five millions for improving the high roads,
but all such outlay has hitherto been considered ordinary
ezpenditure. Then comes the large sum of 33 millions for
payments to railways as guarantee of interest, but some
parts of these payments will last 80 years, other parts 20
and 40 years, and therefore ought to be in the ordinary
budget. The only use of the extraordinary budget seems to
be to make the ordinary budget appear loss, and give it a
more favourable appearance when compared with the ordi-
nary revenue. M. Gouin says that our ordinary budget
being 1,900 millions, and our revenue of the same amount,
there is an equilibrium. But even when viewed in that light
there is still a deficit of 30 millions. The division into ordi-
nary and extraordinary budgets serves to put the real re-
ceipts in comparison with what are called ordinary expenses.
-As to the other expenses, they are met by instalments or
other means. The rectifica.ion budget also serves to dimi-

nish the apparent amount of the ordinary budget. The

system of rectification budgets is justified by alleging the
impossibility of providing for all the necessary expendi-
ture a year in advance. I admit the necessity of sup-

plomentary credits ; but even to justify them, the expen-
diture to which they correspond ought to be really ex-
penses in some degree expected. An eminent member

of the old Chamber, M. Lo Pelletier d'Aulnay, was a severe
critic of supplementary credits. But I repeat that the
grand principle of such credits is the unforeseen. We have
the rectificative budget of 1865. Well, gentlemen, read it,

and see if it is composed of expenses impossible to foresee.
Out of 80 millions there are 60 for the occupation of Rome,
for Cochin China, and for Mexico. Can it be said that last

year nobody foresaw we should have to pay all this in the
present year. And doubtless the Minister of Finance last
year never anticipated that he should have to remove the
Post-office to the Rue de Rivoli, for which he is now obliged
to ask 6 millions ? Was I not, therefore, right in calling the
rectificative budget an extraordinary budget deferred? The
expenses of this budget are met byaugmentations of receipts
sometimes but not always realised ; by the Mexican Secu-
rities, the great resource of the moment ; and lastly, by
annulments. Then comes the liquidation, when fresh ex-
penses are discovered, ordinarily discharged by annulments,
but these last are found to be exhausted. That is the way
in which a budget of 1,900 millions is swelled to one of
2,200 or 2,300 millions. The form in which a budget ispre-
sented is of great importance; the present system enables
people to say that we are nearly in equilibrium when we
are very far removed from it. Let us take as an example
the three last years. Thebudget of 1862, voted inlB6l, was
composed of 1,777 millions for State expenses, and 125 for
communal and departmental outlay; 1,902 millions in all
for the ordinary budget. The extraordinary was 67 ; in all
1,970 millions. In 1862 there came the rectificative budget,
which added 193 millions, accounted for by the great cost
of the Mexican expedition and of the check at Puebla, so
gloriously repaired. The liquidation arrived in 1863 ; and
it was found necessary to add from 49 to 50mlllions, carry-
ing the whole expenditure to 2,212 millions. The budget
of 1863, voted in 1862, was composed of 1,721 millions for
State expenses, and 217 for communal and departmental,
besides 121 for the extraordinary budget ; total 2,061 mil-
lions ; and the rectificative budget and liquidation raised
that amount to 2,292 millions, the highest figure we have
yet known. The budget of 1864 showed 2,105 millions, as
ordinary, and 135 as rectificative ; total 2,240 millions,
swelled by the liquidation to 2,260 or 2,270 millions. The
budget for 1865 was last year voted at a figure of 2,100
millions. The rectificative budget, which we are now dis-
cussing, has added 88 millions, thus raising the figure to
2,188 millions, and leading to the belief that the total will
exceed 2,200 millions. The budget of 1865 will be smaller
than the preceding for the reason that the Mexican ex-
penses have diminished. I am aware that the Minister of
Finance would gladly see a reduction in our expenditure,'
but the Minister of Public Works is fond of renown ; and
it is always difficult to find the Minister who pays and the
one who spends in perfect accord. In the present case
they seem to have arranged matters at the expense cf
third party, purely passive-I mean the sinking fund.
Allow me to say a few words on that topic. When the
State borrows 100 millions there is an annual expense of
5 millions incurred to pay the interest, and 1 million more
is added to redeem the whole debt. At this rate such a
debt could only be extinguished in 100 years, and that
would be bankruptcy. When I was studying finance under
the auspices of that great financier Baron Louis, I came to
the conclusion that to defer for a period beyond 30 years
the extinction of a debt was tantamount to deferring it in-
definitely. But how can a debt be extinguished in a little
over 30 years ? By leaving in the possession of the sink-
ing fund the million of redeemed Rentes the next year it
can redeem 1,050,000 Rentes, and thus by force of compound
interest the object may be attained in somewhat over 30
years. Our laws have made the extinction of the public
debt by a sinking fund obligatory. The dotation for that
purpose has become a sacred thing ; but not so the redeemed
Rentes-they can be annulled. And as the spirit of the law
implies redemption when the prices are high, it is scarcely
just to the holder of Rentes purchased, perhaps, at 84 to
reimburse him at 67. But what is the budget that has been
made by annulling the 65 millions of redeemed Rentes ?
The advantage of the measure has not been complete, for
out of that sum it was necessary to allot six or seven mil-
lions to the sinking fund, and seven to the ordinary budget,
so that 50 millions only remained to establish the budget of
1,700 millions; then there were 236 for departmental ex-
penses-in all 1,236 millions for the ordinary budget, Then
conies the extraordinary one. The Minister of Public Works
is not content with the 119 millions which he got last year,
but asks for 144, and the committee makes it 152, but 1936
millions for the ordinary budget, and 152 of the extraordi-
nary make 2,oB6.'Such is the budget of 1866, without count-
ing the rectification budget, which will infallibly come. Now
I will ask you, have you 2,086 millions of receipts in prospect?
I maintain that you have not ; that there is a deficit of at
least 200 millions. We are told, indeed, that the sum total
of expenses can be reduced. I only hope it may. I cannot,
however, agree with M. Parnier-Pages as to the facile sup-
pression of a Variety of taxes. There appears to me but
four chapters in which savings can be realised :-Mexico, if
you evacuate it; public works, if you restrict them within
bounds; the army, if it can really be reduced ; and the sink-
ing fund, if the principle of it, as some say, is really an
effete and antiquated theory. The evacuation of Mexico
will perhaps wound the susceptibilities of the Government.
But let me remind the Chamber of the admirable language
held by M. de Caulaincourt, Duke do Vicence, to Napoleon
1., at Dresden, in 1813. Sire,' said he, conclude this
peace ; your amour propre may suffer, but not. your glory ;
for your glory is that of France, and it is in no way tar-
nished by the proposals that have been made to you.' I
wish then to hold the same language to you. Let us imitate
Spain in her conduct regarding Santo-Domingo, since her
amour prapre did not hinder her from desisting from a fault
which would cost her blood and treasure without any chance
of success (adhesion from several benches). By evacuating
Mexico you may save about 50 millions per annum. Again,
by a judicious restriction of public works, you may realise
savings to an extent of 20, 30, and in time of 50 millions
annually. But respecting economies to bemade in the army
and in the sinking fund I feel considerable doubts. Can
there be any notable reduction of our army expenditure ?
I think not. In 1830 my friends on the left of the Chamber
demanded such a reduction, but without success, as the
army not diminished, but increased from 280,000 to 350,000
men. Personally I shared the opinion of Marshal Soult,
who thought an effective force of from 360,000 to 380,000
men absolutely necessary. The figure was indeed re-
duced for a moment to 320,000, and what happened in
1840? That it was suddenly raised to 500,000 men,
and at an enormous cost. The year 1848 arrived, and
the effective was carried to 420,000 men, and continued
so for two years. I come now to the Empire. Believe
me I am far from wishing to put the august Prince who
now occupies the throng in contradiction with him-
self, but desire merely to cite facts. Prince Louis Napoleon
had often in his works applauded the Prussian system, and
affirmed that an army of 200,000 men with a strong reserve
was quite sufficient for France. Since he has become Em-
peror we are every day told that France cannot do with
less than 400,000 soldiers. Thus it is that every one talks
of reductions in the army before attaining to power, but
power once gained, nobody carries them out. Gentlemen,
I do not hold this language for the sake of making myself
popular with the French people. The real fact is that pro-
mises are often made of which circumstances prevent the
fulfilment. For the different foreign services you will
always have 100,000 men out of the country, and if you
then take the figure of the non-effectives at 50,000, out of
the 400,000 you will have 250,000 for our immense territory
at home. What is the state of neighbouring countries ? In
Prussia the Crown accepts a fearful conflict with tho Par-
liament, in order to maintain an effective of 200,000 mon ;
Austria has 400,000 ; Russia, from 600,000 to 700,000.
Those only who have not studied the subject are capable
of calling for reduction. A soldier under arms costs about
430 f. a year; suppress 50,000 men, and what will be the
economy realised ? About 21 millions. Such an economy is
certainly not to be contemned, but nothing on a large scale
can be realised without inducing by negociation all the great
powers to modify their military systems. Nor do I think
there is any chance of success as long as Austria continues
restless about Venetia, as long as Prussia aims at dominat-
ing all the smaller German States, and as long as Russia
shall choose to retain Poland and foster her designs upon
the East. I conclude that any serious reduction of the army
is impossible. I must now say a few words on the sinking
fund. There:is a school which affirms that public debts aro
not disquieting, but even advantageous, and that England
is happy in having so large a debt, as so many creditors
are interested in her prosperity. Such may be the reason-
ing of merchants at Rotterdam or Marseilles at the sight of
their quays cbvered with merchandise. ' Oh, what splendid
commerce !' they might exclaim ; but if the bales contained
goods which they could not pay for they would change their
note. A good financial market ought to be filled with goods
representing the debts of other people. It is good here to
cite the example of the United States. They redeemed the
whole of their debt; and well it was for them, for they
were thus enabled to find 20,000 millions of francs to pay
for the re-establishment of the American Confederation.
I do not, however, wish you to redeem all your debt, but
to diminish it. Public debts are like the lakes at
the foot of great mountains ; nature does not empty them ;
but after the snows and rains of winter and spring she di-
minishes gradually the mass of water by the dry heats of
summer. Debts must be paid off in peace, so that we may
be able toborrow when war comes. The Government ought
to buy up a part of the debt, were it only to afford the
State creditors a certainty of finding a market for their se-
curities, which they cannot unless the State maintains its
credit. The English Government, after long neglecting the
sinking fund, has now decided to buy up every year 75
millions (of francs) of the public debt, but' yet Mr. Glad-
stone tells Parliament that he does not think that sum suf
ticient, and apologised for not having done more ; but you
who havo done nothing in that way for ten years now toll
us that you have fulfilled your duties. When we aro told
that the sinking fund, after being entered as expenditure,
is then entered as receipts, the result is the same as if a
private individual, after laying aside 1000 f. to pay his cre-
ditors, should spend them before the year was out. I have
now gone through the several means of economy proposed;
but with regard to the sinking fund, I must say that not to
have effected any reduction of the debt for 10 years, and to
continue 15 years longer in the same course as proposed, is)

if I may be allowed the expression, walking blindfold on to
bankruptcy. I know you do not intend to do so ; but
it would be prudent not to run the risk. As to any great
economy in the army, I do not see how it is to be accom-
plished. In fact, the only means of realising any economy
are, in my opinion, the evacuation of Mexico and the re-
striction of public works. Now, to draw out the balance;
have you the 2,086 millions required for your three
budgets ? If you have, go on ; if not, begin at once to
make economies. All your resources amount to only 1,904
millions, so that you still want 182 millions. Against that
sum you set 127 millions from the sinking fund, 18 mil-
lions of supposed surplus on the budget of 1865, in which
the committee has no faith, with 27,400,000 f. from the
Mexican indemnity, 7 or 8 millions from Cochin China,
and other receipts of small amount. This is all you have
towards the 182 millions. But shall you get the
27,400,000 f. from Mexico ? You inserted in the budget of
1864 54 millions of Mexican securities, which were calcu-
lated at 63, but are now worth only 44. Will you sell
them at that price ? This resource having failed in the
budget of 1864, how can you expect to be paid the 27 mil-

lions of 1865 ? The Minister of Finance has also taken
22 millions from the Army Dotation Fund, but that cannot
be regarded as recipts. In fine, you have only 1,904 millions
of receipts, and your expenditure amounts habitually to
between 2,200 and 2,300 millions, and this deficit you can
only cover by means of the sinking fund and chimerical
receipts. It will never do for the State thus to repre-
sent the finances to be flourishing when they are not,
like the directors of certain joint-stock companies,
who distribute dividends which the state of their
affairs does not justify. Be sure of one thing ; when
you engage in unlimited expenditure, apparently una-
ware of the course you are taking, it is our duty to tell
you that you are on the road to ruin. You will be
obliged either to fail in the engagements you have con-
tracted in the name of France, or to have recourse to ex-
cessive taxation. I ask your pardon for speaking so
warmly, but it is impossible to treat a graver or more in-
teresting subject. I repeat that you are running towards
the double rock, either of failing in your engagements or
of rendering inevitable the imposition of onerous taxes
which may give rise to deplorable divisions. I adjure you
to reflect most seriously on this state of affairs. You are
on the brink of a financial gulf if you persist in the present
course. I ask pardon for distressing you, but it is my duty
to tell you the truth, and I tell it whatever the result may
be." (Approbation.)

Naval and Military Intelligence.

VALETTA, May 31.—News has been received from
Athens that the King will leave for Corfu on June
10, when H.M.'s ship Gibraltar, having probably
on board our Minister, the Hon. E. M. Erskine, will
form part of his escort. H.M.'s ship Wanderer, 4,
Corn. M. C. Seymour, will remain at the Piraeus ;
the Assurance, 4, Corn. H. B. Woolcombe, had left
for Patras. The Admiralty yacht Enchantress, Staff-
Corn. J. E. Petley, left Malta on the 23d inst., for
Gibraltar, Lisbon, and Portsmouth. She took as
passengers Mr. E. R. Lytton (appointed Secretary
of Legation at Lisbon from Athens) and Mrs. Lytton;
Com. H. W. Comber, invalided from H.M.'s ship
Pelican ; and Mr. H. Wilkinson, midshipman, inva-
lided from the Royal Oak. H.M.'s ship Pelican, 17,
Acting-Corn. N. B. Smith, left on the 27th inst. for
Beyrout, with orders for the Orlando, 46, Capt. G.
G. Randolph, and. the Chanticleer, 17, Corn. J. E.
F. Risk, to return to Malta. The latter ship will call
at Budroum (Halicarnassus), to assist Mr. Billiotti,
her Britannic Majesty'sVice-Consul,who is employed
there in excavation for the British Museum. H.M.'s
ship Magicienne, 16, Capt.W. Armytage, has arrived
at Salerno, and it appears that her sudden departure
from Malta was owing to the capture of two Eng-
lishmen by Italian brigands. Efforts are being made
to procure the release of the gentlemen, who are still
in the hands of the banditti. H.M.'s ship Supply,
screw storeship, Staff-Com. C. Bawden, having
nearly completed loading naval andvictualling stores
for England, will leave on. June 1 for Spithead, con-
veying a few time-expired men and invalids. Her
Majesty's surveying steamer Firefly, 5, Corn. G.
R. Wilkinson, left on the 27th instant, to resume
her survey on the east coast of Tunis. During the
cruise of the ironclad Royal Oak off the port an
accident occurred to her boilers, by which 54 tubes
were broken, owing, it is said, to priming. Her Ma-
jesty's gunboat Surprise, 4, Corn. G. Tryon, having
arrived at Gibraltar, from Malta and Tunis, the
Racoon, 22, Capt. Count Gleichen, left that station
for Spithead. The Redpole, tug, conveyed the
Bishop of Gibraltar to Malaga, where his lordship
was to hold a confirmation. Lieut. N. B. Smith, of
the Pelican, has received an acting order as com-
mander of that vessel, vice H. W. Comber, inva-
lided ; and Lieut. W. G. Lecocq, supernumerary of
the Victoria, has also joined the above ship, vice N.
B. Smith. Lieut. C. R. Harris, late flag-lieut. to the
Commander-in-Chief, goes home by the present
packet to join the gunnery ship Excellent. Her Ma-
jesty's ships in port are :—The Victoria, 102, bear-
ing the flag of Vice-Admiral Sir R. Smart, K.C.8.,
K.H. ; the Hibernia, receiving ship, bearing the flag
of Rear-Admiral H. Kellett, C.B. ; the Royal Oak,
35, ironclad ; the Meeanee, 60 ; the Resistance, 16,
iron ram ; the Cossack, 20 ; the Enterprise, 4,, iron
corvette ; the Psyche, 2, and Caradoc, 2, despatch
vessels ; the storeship Supply, 2 ; and the Wizard,
gunboat. The Commander-in-Chief, Sir R. Smart,
purposes leaving soon for a summer cruise. He will
be accompanied by the principal ships of the squad-
ron, including the iron frigates ; but no day has yet
been fixed for his departure. It is reported that he
will leave about the Bth of June.

Yesterday the first of the boilers for the ironclad
frigate Lord Warden arrived at Chatham from the
establishment of Messrs. Maudslay and Co., Lon-
don, in readiness for lifting on board that vessel.
4. portion of the machinery has also arrived and

will be forthwith fitted on board, it being intended
to ship all the heavy machinery before the Lord
Warden is floated into dock to be plated with her
armour and to be brought forward for sea. The
Lord Warden will occupy the second dock, from
which the Bellerophon was recently launched, and
the workmen yesterday commenced preparing the
blocks and clearing the dock for her reception. She
will be placed in dock towards the end of the pre-
sent month, and the work of completing and pre-
paring her for sea will occupy about six months.
The screw corvette Charybdis, 21, 400-horse
power, Capt. E. W. Tumour, from the Pacific sta-
tion, has been inspected by Vice-Admiral Sir C.
Talbot, K.C.8., Naval Commander-in-Chief at the
Nore, and is now being rapidly dismantled, prepa-
ratory to being paid off into the Steam Reserve. She
has returned the greater portion of her war depart-
ment and other stores into the Ordnance depot at
Chatham. The Charybdis has been in commission
a few months short of five years.
Anumber of additional workmen have been placed
on the screw corvette Reindeer, 17, 250-horse power
(originally commenced at Chatham in May, 1860),
in order to complete that vessel and bring her for-
ward for launching. She is about one-third com-
pleted, and will be ready for launching in about
four months.
Her Majesty's ship St. George, 72 (Coastguard),
Capt. Edward B. Rice, sailed from Portland-roads
on Saturday last, with Coastguardsmen and Naval
Volunteeri, for a month's cruise in the Channel for
general exercise. •

The troops which arrived in the Himalaya, from
Quebec, disembarked at the Dockyard, Portsmouth,

in excellent order, yesterday ; the regimental
baggage having been previously landed. The dis-
embarkation was carried on most expeditiously,
under the personal superintendence of Col. Shadwell,
Assist.-Quartermaster-General. A special train
being in readiness, they left the dockyard at 1
p.m. for the Farnborough station, en route
to Aldershott, where they are to be quartered,
in consequence of want of proper and sufficient
accommodation at the camp. The soldiers' wives
and children were removed to barracks at Chichester.
The military invalids were removed by Government
steamer to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley, and
the time-expired men to their respective depots.
The Himalaya will again soon be in full employ-
ment. She will shortly embark a regiment from
Aldershot, for Kingston, the relieve the 32d at the
Curragh, with whom she will leave for Quebec.
The Urgent, troopship, Captain Henderson, left
Portsmouth yesterday for Plymouth, to embark the
71st Regiment for Leith.

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seed of the prevailing pestilence.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—For the next few weeks public attention
in America will probably be concentrated on the
proceedings to be taken against the captive leaders
of the Confederate secession. The murder of Pre-
sident Lincoln has roused in the Northern breast
a feeling more akin to implacability than has existed
at any period of the war. It is strange that in the
crisis of the struggle, at a time when the most
sanguine were inclined to despair of conquering the
South, there was comparatively little animosity
towards the men who had apparently overthrown
the Union. Not only were the military genius of
Gen. Lee and the heroism of Jackson the subjects
of Northern admiration, but the political capacity of
Mr. Davis, his firmness and courage, and the mas-
tery he had gained over the section of the American
people which followed him, were duly acknowledged.
But the spirit of revenge which could not be excited
by disaster has now followed indignation produced
by an odious deed. The declaration of President
Johnson that treason should be punished has been
received with general approbation throughout the
North ; and there are not wanting those who inter-
pret the President's words to mean that the Confe-
derate leaders shall expiate their offence by death,
and who maintain that it is just and expedient that
this should be the end. We cling, however, to the
belief that when the horror excited by the act of
Booth has been somewhat mitigated by time, wiser
and more generous counsels will prevail. There are,
indeed, already signs that the ominous threats of
the President and the savage clamours of some of
the Republican politicians excite apprehension in a
respectable section of the community. Most of the
leading anti-slavery men, though they do not scruple
to pour out their scorn and hatred on the fallen head
of Jefferson Davis, yet demand that no blood shall
be shed in political executions. Such is the language
of Mr. W. Phillips, such is also the language of the
chief Abolitionist organ in the New York press.
These sentiments willprobably gain ground every day,
and as some time must elapse before Mr. Davis and
his late colleagues can be brought to trial and con-
victed, we may trust that before that event takes
place public opinion may have recovered its usual
placability and good-nature. The arguments of
those who say that the Southern leaders have
caused the deaths of thousands, and that as the man
who murders one victim suffers death, so the man
who murders a multitude ought not to escape, are
as fallacious as they are cruel. There can be no
comparison between private crime committed for
gain or revenge, and a political act which has the
sanction of several millions of people and is sup-
ported by their lives and fortunes. Mr. Davis and
the other Confederate politicians were merely the
representatives of Ta great community, which for-
merly believed that it had a right to dissolve a poli-
tical league, and to defend the South by force of
arms against those who would compel it to return
to a Federal alliance which was no longer suited to.
its interests. From their position in the Union as'
it existed before secession, they were called upon to
bear office, and were, in fact, elected to it by uni-
versal suffrage. Such an act differs very far even
from the treasons which have been common in
Europe, when some ill-disposed persons have excited
a partial and hopeless rising. A community which
has carried on war for four years, and has been
treated as a belligerent, not only by its own ad-
versary, but by all civilised countries, is entitled to
be placed in a position different from that of a riot-
ous county, and may well cover the acts of those who
administered its affairs. We may hope, then, that
the United States' Government will deal in a gene-
rous spirit with those fallen politicians. The chief
men of the Confederacy are now in its power. Jef-
ferson Davis, Vice-President Stephens, and several
of the Governors of the Southern States are in the
prisons of the North. The military leaders are on
parol, and are, we presume, protected by the terms
of their capitulations, though it seems there is a re-
port that General Lee is to be arrested and brought
to trial. But if the Government prosecute the Con-
federate President and one or two of his chief col-
leagues, it will probably be enough to satisfy whatever
of vindictive feeling exists in the minds of Americans.
The grand jury in Washington has found a true bill
for treason against Mr. Davis, and the arrests still
continue. But we may trust that these measures will
not be followed by acts of vengeance, which can add
nothing to the strength of the Government, and
must envenom still further the animosities which
the war has produced. Next to the trials of the
Confederate leaders the greatest interest attaches to
the threatened prosecution of the war on the west
of the Mississippi. The vast region which com-
prises Texas, Arkansas, and a part of Louisiana has,
as yet, felt nothing of the hardships of the contest.
, A Federal force has been able to hold Little Rock,
in Arkansas, but, otherwise, the state is almost en-
tirely in the hands of its inhabitants, who have been
staunch Confederates. Texas has been quite un-
touched. The people of these trans-Mississippian
districts, to the number of about a million, have
now determined, it is said, to continue the war, a
course in which they are encouraged by their leaders,
Generals Kirby Smith and Magruder. The re-
sources of the region are certainly not to be despised.
It is capable of supporting any armies that may be
raised, for its extent is vast and its soil is fertile.
It is inhabited by a bold and hardy population,
used to arms, priding themselves on their martial
habits and their impatience of control. It is in part
difficult to be harassed by an enemy, because
,there
are few rivers, and these incapable of bearing the
gunboats which have so often given the victory
to the Federal cause. Then the geographical
position of Texas gives it certain advantages. It
adjoins a territory which is not under the control
of the United States' Government, and through
which munitions of war may be brought in to a
certain extent. To crown all, it has been resolved,
it is said, to use the negroes in the war, and to
oppose the North by means from which President
Davis and the Richmond Congress shrank even in
the last hour of trial. When we have said this we
have said everything that can be supposed to favour
prolonged resistance. Yet, taken altogether, there
is nothing in it which can give the slightest expecta-
tion of a successful issue. It may be that these
Texans may be able to keep a great extent of
country in a state of disorder for a year, or even two
or three years. They may succeed in reproducing
on a much larger scale the anarchy which has so
long prevailed in Southern Italy ; but unless they
have some reasonable hope of conducting the war
with such eminent success as will force the Wash-
ington Government to recognise their independence,
they have no right to continue the shedding of
blood. It must be evident to every man who looks
at the matter dispassionately that they have no such
hope. In such circumstances there will be but one
wish on the part of this country, and that is that a
capitulation of the trans-Mississippian Generals may
take place on the same terms as those obtained by
Generals Lee and Johnston. The total cessation of
the war will then allow the shattered social and
commercial system of the South to be in some way
restored, and will probably remove in a great degree
that desire for vengeance which recent events have
produced.
POST.--There are many versions of the parable
of the Two Fathers, which M. Thiers has related
for the purpose of imparting financial instruction to
the Corps Legislatif. It may be true that the
father who, as M. Thiers supposes, regulates his
expenditure according to his income, experiences
no difficulty in settling with his creditors, and, by
living within his income, he can increase his estate.
On the other hand, the father who exceeds his
income, and is obliged to encroach upon his capital,
is of course travelling through annually-increasing
embarrassments on the high road to ruin. He is
going to the bad, and if he does not pull up and
retrench his expenditure, will, sooner or later,
reach his destination. The story is as old as
the hills, and any mistress of an infant - school
can points its moral. But how that moral
applies to nations is, we conceive, quite another
matter. Even with regard to individuals the theory
may be carried too far. Good as the principle is,
it can be abused and perverted. Strictly enforced,
it would be a drag upon the wheels of progress. It
is by the judicious investment of their capital that
men become wealthy, and this is also the case with
nations. There is a distinction between speculation
and enterprise which. M. Thiers does not appear to
have sufficiently considered, and, if it were worth
while, we could take up the parable he has adapted
to his argument, and make it fit to a converse pro-
position. M. Thiers wished to describe, or rather,
as he habitually does, to personify two systems of
administration, but he omitted to account for the
historical failure of his favourite system, and the
political bankruptcy of the father whose memory he
holds in reverence. Public works, fairly distributed,
present, M. Thiers admits, an excellent investment
for the savings of the country in time of peace. He
is, however, of opinion that, inthe improvement and
embellishment of the cities and towns of France, all
reasonable limits have been exceeded. In effect, he
contends that, as the father would not be justified
in drawing upon his capital for the expenditure ne-,
cessary to the improvement of his family or estate,
so the cost of the public works of a country should
be defrayed from the savings of its income ; and
the theorem is indisputable. It is just one of those
hard inflexible statements which are logically in-
vincible. The only way to test these exalted ideas
is to put them bodily into the crucible of common
sense. Therefore, and still looking at the question
from the exact point of view M. Thiers has thought
proper to place it in, what, we will ask, would be
the consequence of carrying. out the principle he
propounds in the case of an individual—a father or
a landlord? Do fathers, as the rule, pay for the
education of their children out of the surplus of
their incomes, or do landlords improve their estates

from the same source ? and if the education of
children or the improvement of estates were to be
limited in subjection to this condition, what would
result ? To say nothing of the great operations of
commerce, which could not possibly be executed
without a considerable investment of capital,
M. Thiers has, we submit, by his own parental
and patrimonial illustration, shown that nations
must make provision for the requirements of
progress. Of course people, -whether as indivi-
duals or communities, would not advance money
for the benefit of posterity without security,
but in France public works have followed and
been motived by the establishment of public order.
There is, M. Thiers says, a torrent of expenditure
to be arrested • the country is running upon a rock,
standing on the brink of a financial gulf. But the
passionate adjurations of an irresponsible orator,
who argues with reference to ideas which the French
people have banished, will fail to shake the confidence
that is founded on the increasing prosperity and the
tangible advantages of good government. M. Thiers
also proposes to effect a reduction in the national
expenditure by the evacuation of Mexico. This
measure is, he thinks, further recommended by its
political expediency. The abandonment of the
Mexican expedition would, M. Thiers conceives,
wound the susceptibilities of the French Government,
but it does not seem to have occurred to him that
the French people might be averse from the retro-
grade policy he suggests. It is, -however by no
means clear that the French can consistently retire
from the work she undertook, and has all but com-
pleted. There can be no doubt that the resistance
of Juarez is encouraged by American sympathy, and
if the French troops were withdrawn that sympathy
would most probably be actively expressed. The
Government of Washington have excellent reasons
for declining a war with France, but if the French
flag were furled in Mexico, there could at all events
be no longer any difficulty or dissimulation about
an " emigration " which is not more patriotic than
convenient. We can quite understand that the dis-
solution of the Confederate Government has contri-
buted to retard the consolidation of the Mexican
Empire ; but, having gone so far, it will, we appre-
hend, be difficult to persuade France to draw back,
and especially under the existing circumstances. It
would appear reasonable to desire that the Govern-
ment of the Emperor Maximilian should be recog-
nised by the United States before recalling the pro-
tecting army. France will not, we know, be terri-
fied by declamation. She is now strong in her own
strength. If her expenditure is heavy her resources
are more than adequate to meet it. There is nothing
appalling even in M. Thiers' statement, and he can
scarcely be regarded as a financial authority, thong
he did sit at the feet of an eminent financier.
that which is above all evident is that he has ceased
to think or speak in unison with the public opinion
of his country. M..Thiers draws his inspiration
. from an irrevocable past, and, though his faculties
are unimpaired and his mind is as active as ever, Iles
; is no longer a power in France.