The Sun.
London, England, 1870-10-04 00:00:00

THE CHANCES OF THE DEFENCE.

The correspondent of the Times with the army of the
Crown Prince, in a letter from Versailles, dated Septem-
ber 28th, observes :—All I have seen leads me to think
that Paris will make a most desperate resistance. A
coup de main is out of the question, and, if the city be
really provisioned for two months and the citizens and
army are of one mind to fight to the last, it needs not
much penetration to see that the situation of the German
armies needs the greatest circumspection. The fall of Toul
will remove a great impediment to railway communication
and supplies from the rear, but it is not to be expected,
if the war goes on, that such lines as extend from this to
the Vosges and Forbach can be kept with perfect im-
punity. They are working day and night at Paris.
Only to-day they developed a new battery near Sevres,
and as the German siege train has not yet been put in
position, it is impossible to prevent them going on with
their works ad kfinitum, though they really may not add
much to tht nature of the very strong outer line
of defence which guarantees the inner enceinte
against assault. I do not believe in a bombardment of
Paris in the ordinary sense of the word, but no doubt, if
the Prussians are put to it, they will try the effect of fire
on the forts, and the places beyond them must suffer.
In another letter, dated Friday, the same writer
gives details of the latest operations around the city :
Early this morning there were two sorties, one
in force against the 6th Corps, beyond Villejuif ; the other
not so vigorous and less successful, against Meudon.
There was no success for either, for no ground was gained,
but a certain number of Prussians were killed and wounded
and a greater number of French placed in the same cate-
gory. I.have no details as yet of either combat, but lam
told twenty officers have been removed from the list of
offectives. The French appear to have crossed the river
to attack the 6th corps in boats and rafts, and the
story to-night is that there were two full divisions of
Vinoy's regulars, and no Mobiles, Nationals, or
Francs-Tireurs. Several hundred prisoners were made,
but I have only seen some twenty or thirty brought in ;
and the French in Versailles have it that several hundred
Prussians were carried into Paris. The Crown Prince
started early this morning for Ferrieres, and intended to
cross the bridge at Villeneuve, but was obliged to deviate a
little from his course in order to get out of the line of fire,
as he was bound to meet the King to celebrate the Queen's
birthday. Although the sorties ended in the retirement
—said to have been precipitate—of the garrison, they
caused much animation along the front and in Versailles,
and the forts were very lively for several hours.

THE RELATIONS OF THE FRENCH PRESS
WITH THE EMPIRE.

The Siecle publishes copious extracts from the corres.
pondence found in the Tuileries after the overthrow of
the Empire. It will be remembered that the Government
undertook to revise, classify, and publish these. So far as
they have yet gone they reflect little credit on the fallen
regime. Those now published relate exclusively to the
relations of the authorities to the press throughout the
country, and reveal an elaborate organisation of political
influence and corruption. The report quoted
refers to the elections of 1869. The organi ation
of the press on this subject, it says, has only been
begun in earnest during the last two months. The time
is short, and the task urgent, especially in the depart-
ments. It is, above all things, necessary to reorganise
the offices of the departmental press. Constant communi.
cation was going on when this report was written (April
15) with the prefects, and a certain number of editors
were preparing every day a series of articles, paragraphs,
informations, &c. This branch is hopeful. An elector's
letter, and the comments upon it, were inserted in eighty
journals in less than three days. The Ministry can,
therefore, it is evident, procure the publication or dis-
cussion of any matter they wish in a very short time.
The arrangements can only be fully carried out by
the concurrence of the prefects, and men and resources
within the limits of the budget must be put at their dis-
posal. The number of the official journals in the de-
partments is indeed far above that of the opposition
journals, but the former are generally tame and non-com-
bative, and their official character, more or less recognised
imposes reserve on them, while the opposition are increas-
ing in activity and energy, In order to improve matters
a full understanding has been arrived at with the prefects,
the proprietors of the journals, the deputies and
the candidates. Thanks to the sacrifices which they have
made, and to the sum of 50,000 f. in hand, twenty-seven
journals have been reorganised in the provinces, and their
staffs reinforced by 33 writers from Paris. It is worth
notice that the Bas-Rhin, the Cote d'Or, and the Bouches-
du-Rhone absorbed between them 20,000 francs out of the
34,000 francs. The other -twenty-four journals were pro-
vided for the sum of 14,000 francs, with the assistance of

the deputies and candidates. A new credit of 100,000
francs is required for the Budget of the departmental
press. But it is not enough to restrict ourselves to the
Government organs ; it is essential to secure an indirect
influence over the Opposition papers. The means of
obtaining these are twofold ; to obtain the practical
co-operatiou of some correspondents in the departments
and to make use of the sort of monopoly which the
Maison Havas has acquired for telegraphic despatches
which it telegraphs to all the departments to journals of
every opinion. On the first point a compromise has been
come to with the Correspondance Cabot, M. Cabot un-
dertaking to take daily instructions from the Minister
during the electoral period, and to introduce in his articles
for the papers as much as is compatible with their political
views without betraying his relations with the Govern-
ment. The Correspondance Havas has always held daily
communications with the Minister. Whenever a piece
of intelligence, a correction or a denial is to be
circulated quickly the Agence Havas sends it at
once in telegraphic form through France. It is under-
stood, in order to get this efficiently carried out, that this
agency shall supersede all others for indirect communica-
tions. M. Havas supplies 300 journals. Coming to the
Paris press, the prefects have obtained returns of the
journals circulated in Paris, from which it appears that
the circulation of the Opposition journals greatly exceeds
that of the Government journals. The Opposition shrinks'
from no sacrifices to circulate the democratic papers,.
especially the Siecle and the National at 5 centimes. These
efforts will be increased at the time of the elec-
tions, and it is important to restore the equilib-
rium of influence. The extraordinary circulation of Le
Petit. Journal Officiel- points it out .as a useful
agent, and electoral news will be inserted in it. It is not
political, it is true, but its manager, M.Millaud, has begun
a series of personal descriptions of Ministers, &c., which
are cleverly done, and touch upon politics without actually