The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-02 00:00:00

THE FRENCH EMPIRE.

The Emperor and the Empress went on Monday
night to the Theatre-Lyrique to witness the repre-
sentation of the Poupee de Nuremberg. In conse-
quence of a grand dinner being given at the Tuile-
ries, their Majesties did not arrive until nine o'clock.
The performance was suspended an instant whilst
the Imperial party took their places. Their Ma-
jesties arrived without escort, and with no other
suite than M. de Beville, M. de Tascher, an orderly
officer, and two ladies of honour. The Empress
was dressed in half-mourning with black lace in her
hair. An immense crowd was assembled on the
boulevard du Temple to witness their arrival, which
was the signal for repeated cheers. Loud applause
also greeted them in the theatre. After the prin-
cipal piece, the ballet of the Lutin de la Vallee was
given, in which Mme. Guy and M. St. Leon more
than once drew down the applause of their Ma-
jesties.
A bill has been laid before the Legislative body
for reducing the postage of letters circulating in
Paris, and the following is the expose des Matif,
and text of the bill.
" Messieurs, the prepayment of letters materially
simplifies the service of the Post-office. Paid letters re-
quire much less labour than those which are not paid,
as the latter both on arrival and departure are to be
verified as to their weight, their number, and their re-
presentative value. Prepayment is a better guarantee
of the rights of the treasury for the recovery of the post-
age against any kind of fraud, and it renders the dis-
tribution of the letters more easy and more prompt. It
is calculated that a postman distributes eighteen paid
letters in the time required to deliver one unpaid letter.
Lastily it does away with dead or unclaimed letters
which bring nothing to the treasury, and cause con-
siderable trouble. The Post-office has used all its
efforts to increase the number of prepaid letters, and it
was for this object the Postage Reform Bill of August
24, 1848, authorised the prepayment by means of
postage stamps. This encouragement, has, however,
been found to be insufficient, and the experience of
neighbouring countries shows that the most efficient
plan for increasing the number of prepaid letters is
to subject them to a differential passage. In Eng-
land, where letters not prepaid are charged double
postage, the number of paid letters is 97 per cent.
of the whole. In Belgium, where the difference of
the charge is only one-half more, the prepaid letters
reach the proportion of 60 per cent. In France, where
the postage in both cases is the same, only 17 letters
out of 100 are prepaid. We propose to you to apply,
but by way of experiment only, a system of differential
taxation to letters circulating in Paris. They are ex-
ceptionally subject to a charge of 15c., whilst that on
letters within all communes is only 10c. The bill which
we submit to you has for object to reduce the postage
on prepaid letters, written and circulated in Paris, to
10c., while those unpaid will continue to be charged 15c.
This will cause a habit to be acquired of prepaying let-
ters, and will allow a judgment to be formed whether
that prepayment, by facilitating the service of the Post-
office, is not sometimes attended with the inconvenience
of rendering the delivery of the letters to their proper
owners less sure. In restricting its operation to Paris,
there is this advantage, that the experiment ma'y be made
without causing any very serious prejudice to the
treasury. In 1852, the number of letters circulating in
Paris was 7,559,000 ; they produced to the treasury
1,133,859 francs. If the reduction of the postage on
prepaid letters to 10c., leaves the proportion of 20 per
cent, which they are now in Paris, on the number
of letters above mentioned there will be 1,511,800
prepaid letters at 10c., giving 151,180 fr. ; and
6,047,800 unpaid, producing
.907,080 fr. ; making totals
1
of 7,559,000 letters, and ,058,260 fr. The produce
being thus 1,058,260 fr., the loss to the treasury will be
75,599 fr. The differential charge will, however, increase
the number of prepaid letters, and if we calculate that it
will come up to 50 per cent, of the whole, as in Belgium,
the 7,559,000 Paris letters will pay one half 15c. and the
other half 10c. The produce will then be 944,802 fr.,
and the loss to the treasury will be 188,977 fr. This loss
will be soon covered by the natural increase in the num-
ber of letters. The reduction in the postage of prepaid
letters will be a fresh cause of this increase, so that the
loss to the treasury by the increased number of prepaid
letters will be by degrees made up by the general in-
crease in the number of letters. The bill makes no
changes in the regulations which have fixed the pro-
gressive increase of the charge in proportion to the
weight. It has only for object to grant a premium of
sc. on the prepayment of letters written and circulated
in Paris whatever may be their weight. We hope that I
you will not hesitate to adopt it."

The bill only contains the following article :
"From the Ist July, 1854, the postage on prepaid
letters written and circulated in Paris, will be reduced

The Emperor again presided yesterday at a
meeting of the Council of State, in which the dis-
cussion of the Budget was terminated. It is be-
lieved that the navy estimates have been reduced
during the discussion on the budget in the Council
of State by four millions, and a considerable re-
duction in public works has also been made.
The Mediterranean squadron, under the orders
of Admiral Lassusse, composed of eight ships-of-
the-line and a steam-corvette, assembled on the
24th at Antibes.