The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-30 00:00:00

ARTICLE IV.

The conditionS under which newspapers, gazettes, peri-
odical works, stitched books, pamphlets, sheets of music,
catalogues, prospectuses, announcements and notices of
various kinds, whether printed or lithographed, forwarded
from one of the two countries addressed to the other, aro
to be exchanged, shall be rep:data hereafter by a special
Convention which shall be based upon the principle of
compulsory prepayment to destination, and of the removal
of every duty or tax which would. otherwise be payable by
the personS to whom newspapers and the other printed
papers enumerated above are addressed.
ARTICLE V.
The present Convention, which shall be considered as
additional to the Convention of the 3d of April, 1813,
shall be ratified ; the ratifications shall be exchanged at
Paris as sooa as possible ; and it shall be put into execu-
tion on the let Janualer, 1855.
In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have
jigned the present Convention, and have affixed thereto
the seal of their arms.
Done in duplicate at Paris, the twelfth day of Decem-
ber, ono thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
(L.S.) COWLEY.
(L,S.) DROUYINT LIEUTS
t

THE NEW FRENCH LOAN.

The English nation has purchased at no small cost its
knowledge of the theory of borrowing ; but, however
dearly enlightened economists may appreciate the re-
sults of our dearly-bought experience, Governments
which require loans must sometimes make concessions
to popular opinion. Moro than half a century has
passed since Fox agreed with Pitt that it was expe-
dient, when money was raised for the purposes of
war, to incur an additional liability for the sake of
creating a Sinking Fund. The same course is adopted
in the Bill which has been unanurrom.ly voted by
the French Legislative Body. The dotation of the
Cai.ssc d'Amortissement is to be increased by the rum
of 1 per cent. on the nominal capital of the Rentes
which are about to be issued. It has long been
admitted by financiers that it is an error, in theory, to
I increase a debt with the view of ultimately diminishing
it ; but it tray nevertheless be prudent in a debtor to
con:ult the tastes or prejudices of his creditor. The
small capitalists of France, although frugal and cautious,
have not yet sounded the depths of political economy ;
and they will probably come forward with their hoards
the more readily, when they are asked to furnish the
means, not only of carrying on the war, but of
paying off at some future period the very loan to
which they will now be contributing. The success
of last year's experiment has induced the Emperor
and his advisers to repeat the appeal to the country
at large, in preference to negotiating a loan with the
great money dealers of Paris ; and it is hoped that
the large sum of twenty millions sterling may be
proeured from the savings of farmers, shopkeepers, and
manufacturers. The charaoter of the French Govern-
ment for integrity in financial dealings has always stood
deservedly high ; but the present dynasty seems to have
acquired, in an unpretiedented degree, the confidence of
the general community. The aubseciSion may be ex-
pected to cover the greater part,. It the whole, of the
required amount. The Governme ,of course, reserves
to itself the power of filling up by other methods any de-
ficiency which may be found to exist ; but the bill is
identical in principle with the measure of the previous
session. The rate of interest of the new stock, and the
general terms of the loan, will be arranged between the
lenders and the Treasury. The Minister of Finance
prudently widens, to the utmost of his ability, the
market is which he proposes to deal ; and, should a loan
ever become aecessary in England, our own Government
may, perhaps, derive some useful lessons from the ex-
ample of France. Mr. Gladstone has already, in some
minor operations, tried the experiment of offering in•
vestments to private individuals without the interven-
tion of great contractors ; nor is there any reason why
the State should be left at the mercy of half-a-dozen
capitalists, when railway or dock companies issue deben-
tures to the amount of millions at the ordinary rate of
interest.-21ferning Chronicle.