The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-01 00:00:00

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS•

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, SUNDAY, February 28.
M. Rouher has found it necessary to lighten the shi
Baron Haussmann has been thrown overboard. Ido not
mean to say that the Prefect of the Seine has resigned,
though it is rumoured all over Paris that he has done so,
but he has unquestionably received treatment whicl
would warrant his resignation any day. The Government
has lost the battle over the City of Paris Loan. The
natural consequence; has followed the revelations made,
during this memorable debate. The defence of the Impe•
rial position has been found impossible, and the Govern•
ment has been driven either to admit itself in
the wrong, or throw the blame on Baron Hauss•
' mann. Of course the former alternative was out
of the question, and therefore the unhappy Haussmann
has been offered up to appease the victorious Opposition.
It might appear strange to the unphilosophical outsides
that a ':' -ornment, the responsibility of which centres
only in L. inperor, should repeatedly throw the blame
of its shortcomkgs upon isolated officials; that, in brief,
irresponsible Ministers should be made responsible as soon
as any trouble turns up. But then nothing is strange here.
The Emperor is answerable for everything that goes
r:glit ; his Ministers for everything that goes wrong.
Such is about the equitable division of labour in French
Government circles. Therefore poor Baron Hausmann,
the faithful servant, the devoted demolisher of all that was
unsightly in Paris, that ingenious adept in the art of
raising money by strange procedures, has been made the
scapegoat. On Friday M. Rouher stated that M.
Haussmann's acts were illegal and uniustifiable. He ad-
mitted municipal mismanagement, and he confessed that
Baron Haussmann had raised certain large sums without
first obtaining the requisite legislative authority. The Prefect
of the Seine had issued bonds and secretly raised loans,
instead of openly appealing to the public, and bad wrong-
fully applied to the construction of public works the
caution money deposited by the contractors. It
was impossible, urged the Emperor's lieutenant, that his
Majesty should be responsible for the city of Paris works,
except in a general way. The details are Baron Hauss-
maim's, and he must be sacrificed. But M. Rouher
was not content with sacrificing the Prefect of the Seine.
He paid equally little regard to the senator and the
Minister of the interior, who had laboriously defended
the Baron—afterwards to enjoy the pleasure of seeing
their work demolished. M. Rouher's confession was
necessary, but no one can deny that it was humiliating.
Baron Haussmann has but one creditable course left him—
to resign at once.

The official and semi-official papers can ill conceal
their vexation at the news from Spain. Everything
points to the conclusion that the Cortes will shortly be
met by the dilemma of a republic—which the deputies
have already declared against— or a king with a small
party of one candidate to c'.oose from. This candidate is
Montpensier. The Imperialists may well be annoyed at
the probable choice of an Orlt anist sovereign. That such
will be the issue is becoming more and more probable. Dom
Fernando only might command a wider approval, but
it does not appear that he will stand. The Patrie which
has all along almost ignored the Montpensier candidature,
now admits that it is making great progress, Prim as well
as Serrano now supporting it. Here, then, is the pro-
bability of another reverse in foreign policy befalling
Napoleon.

The public speakers are spending their uncomfortable
quarter of an hour. Two were tried on Friday for
"exciting hatred amongst the citizens," and attacking the
principle of property. One was fined £4 and sentenced to
three months' impiisonment, the other suffered a penalty
twice as severe.

The Constitutionnel seems to be much better acquainted
with English courts of justice than you or your
contemporaries ; at least, in no English paper have
I seen the extraordinary story which the semi-
official paper tells. A prisoner was recently, says
the Paris paper, sentenced to three months' imprisonment
at the London Guildhall by a magistrate who is notorious for
his " passion for gambling." Upon receiving sentence the
prisoner drew a coin from his pocket, placed it under his
hand, and called out " Doubles or quits—heads or tails."
In a moment of abstraction the alderman mechanically called
" Tails." The culprit claimed that it was heads, and that
therefore won. The magistrate, says the Constitutionnel,
could not forbear laughing, and discharged the vagabond.
The story, as the Paris paper remarks, is curious, but cer-
tain points need clearing up. Who was the alderman ? was
pitch-and-toss his favourite form of gambling ? and how
is it that nobody in England heard of the affair? It would
be odd, indeed, if magistrates tossed with their prisoners
as to whether they were to serve double term or go scot
free.

It may be as well to remind your readers that Count
Jean Dzidynski, who has just been sentenced to three
years' imprisonment by the High Court of Berlin, was
accused of aiding iu the Polish insurrection. He was
tried in 1864, and condemned to death by default, but
lately surrendered voluntarily to take his trial. He was
one of the largest proprietors in the Duchy of Posen.

THE "FEATHER TABLE.-THIS DAY.

METEOROLOGICAL REEORTEI.

Extreme

Monday,
March 1,•
8 a. In .

D. 1 W

W.N.W.'
W. N. W, 118.
W. b.
8.0.

_ .