The Sun.
London, England, 1851-11-06 00:00:00

THE SUN

ties shall cease to depress the state of our finances, it will
be easy, if you so think fit, to have recourse to credit on
conditions favourable to the Treasury.
PUBLIC WORKS.
The commercial, political, and military imp Itance
of railways becomes every day more evident. Amid the
general progress, not to advance would be to recede.
This the Government has comprehended, and the reduc-
tion of the credits has not prevented it from following
up with the greatest activity the completion of the works
upon the principal line from Paris to Strasbourg, and on
the branch from Metz to the Prussian frontier.
Four sections, forming together an extent of 210
kilometres, will have been inaugurated in 1851, and in
the first six months of the coming year the entire eastern
line may be opened to the public.
Upwards of 100 kilometres hare been added respec-
tively to the lines from Paris to Bordeaux, and from
Paris to Lyons. The line from Tours to Nantes is
finished.
Upon the whole, the total length of the sections opened
for traffic in 1851 exceeds 500 kilometres, and the works
on the other sections are so advanced as to permit of an
addition to our network of railroads of 330 kilometres in
1852.* A connecting line is recognised as necessary for
the purpose of uniting the points of departure of the
principal railroads running out of the capital.
You have app:inted the 10th of November next for the
discussion of, as business of pressing importance, the
two bills relative to the railroad from Paris to the Medi-
terran,2e.n. Public opiuion centinucs to mark that on: to
you as a work of the first necessity.
The credits assigned for the completion and improve-
ment of the highways are too restricted to allow those
parts of the country, which, on account of the difficulty
presented by the soil, have not been comprehended in
the network of railroads or canals, to have the advan-
tage of more convenient communication!. In the budget
of 1852, I ask you for the means of fin:u-liorating this
position, by puaing it in accordance with distributive
tuitice

interior navigation, that indispensable auxiliary of
agriculture and commerce, together with the railroads,
has not been neglected. Great results are already, or
%vitt at a future time be attained, in spite of the insuf-
ficiency of the sums of money.
The lateral canal at the Garonne, already open for
navigation between Toulouse and Ageo, to au extent k,f
127 kilometres, will be carried forward in some months
as tar as Mss, 42 kilometres beyond Agen, and made to
e.nnunicate with the Baigre. In a iew more years,
and with a few more efforts, the gigantic work of
Louis XIV. will have received, to the gl,,ry of our time,
neces.ary completion.
The last section of the canal from the Marne to the
Rhine will be susceptible of being opened for commerce
in 1853.
On the Seine the want so much to be regretted in re-
spect to the navigable state of the river, ev©n in its pas-
sage through the capital, will shortly disappear.
Between Rouen and Havre the maritime navigation has
received unhoped-for advantages from the execution of
the Digne works. A Bill submitted to your considera-
tion has for its object to secure the continuance of these
fortunate results.
By the same Bill the Government proposes to you
to undertake at the Months of the Rhone n system of
theanalogoustothosewhichcomplete s
Surveys ere going on in the same spirit for the
improvement of the navigation of the Loire and the
Garonne. _ _

Among the civil edifices and national palaces which
have been finished in the course of the present year, I
may mention the basins of Versailles and St. Cloud, the
library of St. Genevieve, the Stamp-office, and the resto-
ration of the salons of the Louvre.
A project of law relative to the completion of the
Louvre is now preparing, and will be immediately laid
before you.
For a long time commerce has demanded freedom of
transport with respect to land carriage; and we made
this legitimate concession to public opinion.
Finally, the recent clauses which have given a new
organization to the staff of the school of the Fonts et
Chaussee.s have prepared for the application of laws
relative to the mode of recruiting engineers.

AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE.
The Government has endeavoured to carry out the
wish expressed by the General Council of Arts, Manu-
factures, and Commerce for the establishment of public
competitions, so as to be serviceable in improving our
breed of domestic animals.
To facilitate such, a request for a special appropria-
tion of funds has been introduced into the project for
the budget of 1852.
The Administration has employed special persons to
study various questions of the greatest interest to agri-
culture, and to publish documents on the cultivation of
flax in Belgium and Holland.
An inquiry made into the institutions of landed credit
will by new documents facilitate the study and the dis-
cussion of the project of law on this subject, now sub-
mitted to the deliberation of the Assembly.
The results of the inquiry on the establishments for
agricultural colonisation in Holland, Switzerland, Bel-
gium, and France, have been published.
special and detailed instructions have been addressed
to tne Prefects to facilitate the execution of the law of
the 20th of March, 1851, which has organised the legal
representation of agricultural industry, and General
Councils have been called to carry out one of its most
important provisions.
Storms and hurricanes at many points of France have
ruined numerous families. To relieve them the Govern-
ment, combining with the efforis of private charity, has,
by a decree of the 27th of August last, raised the mea-
sure of assistance uAnilly awarded in such cases to
per cent.
A combination of events and circumstances, still
fresh in the memory of all, had lowered the prices of
previsions ; but the alteration in some countries of
Europe. particularly England, of the laws affecting corn
have opened new and ext .n,ive markets to our agricul-
ture. Since 1849 our exports have received an increase
previously wikilown.
Tne publication of the statistical atlas of the breed of
horses in France is going on with activity, and will
soon show that our wealth in this article of property is
not less than that of the other nations of Europe.
A decree of the 3d September, 1851, has recognized
the Chambers of Commerce, and by recognizing them as
establishments of public utility, has satisfied one of their
frequently-expressed wishes.
borne events much to be regretted have occasioned
uneasiness with respect to the organization of the Ton-
tine societies and agencies. A commission is about to
revise the statutes for the purpose of introducing all the
improvements and guarantees which belong to the nature
of these establishments.
An administrative ordinance with respect to " benefit
societies" bas been published, in execution of the law of
the 15th of July, 1850. It allows them the moat per-
fect liberty, excepting as to the necessary guarantees.
The report required by the law will show how far those
societies contribute to the improvement of the indus-
trious classes.
The law of May 4, 1851, has settled the bases of con-
tracts of apprenticeship, to the advantage of industry
and the families of the working classes. Its effects will
be to secure to the apprentice a legal guarantee of in-
struction and morality, without infringing on the free-
dom of labour and the rights of the family.
A decree of the 17th of last May has determined the
exceptions to the law of the 9th of September, 1848,
which limited the duration of factory labour to twelve
hours. The Government trusts that it has justified the
confidence placed in it by the Legistature.
The advances made by certain employers to their
workmen have often rendered repayment impossible, by
engaging the workmen for an unlimited period. The
law of the 21st of last May, by reducing authorised ad-
vances to 30f., has reconciled the rights of labour with
the respect due to contracts.
The project of law concerning manufactory marks,
important to industry and commerce, has already been
examined by the Council of State, and will soon be
submitted to the Assembly.
The decree of the 24th of December, has laid down
the basis for a new organization of the sanitary service
on the sea coast. This organization, which is simpler
and more in harmony with our general administrative
system, has been carried and put in practice in the course
of the present year.
By an order, delegates from Foreign Powers, chosen
from the consular and medical corps, are now pre-
paring, at Paris, the scheme of an uniform regulation
for all the countries situated on the coast of the Medi-
terranean.
The amount of our exports shows the activity given
to our manufactures, and the results obtained since the
last message show how French industry, in the midst of
difficult circumstances and incessant competition, has
triumphed over obstacles and extended its outlets.
The superiority of certain branches of our industry
has been confirmed or revealed by the London Exposi-
tion, as is proved by the numerous prizes awarded to
our exhibitors. Ia fact, France has proportionately
gained more than all the other countries, including
England herself. And it is not only by our works of
art, taste, and luxury that we have obtained this success.
Our machines, our scientific instruments, our chemical
products, our worka in copper aed hardware, as well as
The t o
Nationalth at
our preparations of our raw material, and our fabrics and
dyes,
have earned for us an honourable distinction.
The Universal Exposition will have added a glorious
page
aAlssosefmFbrieyn.c h
that
industry.
legislation may be in
harmon • • with this bl rernarka
12th of November, progress, has, since the
1850, voted
three important laws in
favour of commerce. • d ustry, and navigation--
The law of the 11:h of January, 1851, which has set-
tled the commercial administration of Algeria;
The law of the 13th of June, 1851, which
remodels the
tariff of sugars—Colonial produce has found in
our mar-
kets a more advantageous outlet, without compromising
native industry;
The law of the 22d of July last, for the encouragement
of the great fisheries.
At the same time considerable improvements have
been introduced into our commercial regulations.
The message of the 12th of November, 1850, an-
nounced an inquiry into the state of our mercantile
marine. This has taken place; the documents are now
ersons, whose labours
before enlightened and
competent p
for
msand now, if the As-
will produce some useful re, tion
made in the budget of
sembly will adept the

Sections opened in 1851:—
On the line of Strasburg
Lyons .••
Bordeaux
nntos ...

210 kilometres
113
101
87 --

Total
Sections to be opened in 1852:—
Oa the line of Strasburg ... 161
Bordeaux ... 133
The West • 36 ---

... 330