The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, MARCH 13, h 69,

I? ALIAN AFFAIRS.

FLORENCE, MARCH 8.

My letter of the Ist instant had hardly been despatched
before it transpired that the negotiations with the French
banks had been broken off. This failure was totally
unexpected ; and those usually best informed on such sub-
jects had been confident up to that time that matters were
so far advanced as to render the conclusion of the conven-
tion a moral certainty, subject, of course, to the approval
of Parliament. All kinds of reasons, more or less impro-
bable, were, as usual, assigned for the rupture. It has
been asserted that the project received a fatal blow in the
withdrawal of Messrs. Rothschild from the transaction ;
and it is still more generally believed that at the last
moment the capitalists concerned put forward pretensions
which the Government considered wholly inadmissible.
What these pretensions were nobody professes positively
to know, and, in fact, all the prevalent explanations of
the catastrophe are based on little more than' conjecture.
It is, however, probable that the recent sentence of the
Court of Cassation, in a case relating to Padua, may have
had a good deal to do with it. By this judgment it was
finally decided that the property of the fabbriccerie, viz.,
that charged with the maintenance and repair of churches,
and the expenses of public worship, is not subject to
" incameration," in other words, to absorption in the
General Fund ; and 180 millions had accordingly to be
deducted from the total on which Government had based
their calculations with a view to the proposed opera-
tion.

However this may be, the scheme has failed, and a sub-
stitute has to be devised. The difficulty is a serious one,
and the opinions of politicians are very much divided as
to the expedient likely to be adopted by Government.
The one most obviously suggested by the situation would
be an attempt to obtain from the credit institutions of the
country an advance on somewhat similar terms, and upon
the same security, and this is considered not impracticable
by many supporters of the Government. On the other
hand, it must be remembered that Ministers will probably
hesitate before they risk a second failure. That, indeed,
which they have just experienced is not the first of the
kind, and these unsuccessful applications for loans are too
damaging to the public credit to be frequently repeated.
There is another alternative, a second domestic loan ; if
necessary, a forced one ; and to this, some believe, that it
is the intention of Government to resort. The advocates
of this measure are confident that by the offer of a few
annual premiums, and the promise of speedy redemption,
the idea may be rendered less unpalatable. It is true that
the existing forced loan offers four yearly premiums, and
will expire in about six years ; and, thanks to these expe-
dients, far from becoming depreciated, it has risen 10 per
cent, since it was contracted, and is now at 80.
The aversion of the country to such a measure is,
however, strong, and undoubted ; and the recent report of
the commission on the forced currency has only given
utterance to public opinion in asserting that, if Signor
Scialoja had appealed to the country before the outbreak
of hostilities, when its resources were still unparalysed,
both forced loans and forced currency might have been
dispensed with. It is, therefore, pretty certain that
nothing short of the most extreme necessity and the
failure of all other possible expedients will induce
Ministers to adopt so unpopular a course.
The Peruzzi amendment to the Administrative Reor-
ganisation Bill has met with considerable opposition; even
on the Right of the Chamber. It was felt thatin many
districts, particularly in the southern provinces, where,
through the abstention of the larger proprietors and of
the more respectable voters, the provincial deputations
had fallen altogether into the hands of persons possessing
no stake in the country, a direct official control over their
deliberations was necessary as a guarantee for the finan-
cial interests of the locality. The commission which
reported on the amendment accordingly proposed that,
whenever the admininistration of the property of the
communes or of their charitable institutions was in ques-
tion, the Prefect should retain the presidency of the depu-
tations, while, in all other cases, they should be presided
over by a chairman elected by themselves out of their
own body. M. Peruzzi, after developing, in a speech of
remarkable lucidity and considerable eloquence, the
motives on which he had based his amendment, proceeded
to state that he recognised a certain force in the arguments
which had been urged against the complete emancipation
of these provincial assemblies, and announced that, for the
sake of avoiding a conflict, he was ready to accept the
compromise proposed by the commission. Another pro-
position, of which Signor Lanza was the author, bad for
its object to disqualify members of either House of Par-
liament as candidates for these- deputations, and aimed at
removing in some degree the inconvenience which in
several localities had resulted from the concentration of
all public charges in the persons of three or four indi-
viduals. It was decided, however, at the close of Satur-
day's sitting, to shelve both of these questions for the
present, and to bring them forward again when a separate
law on the reorganisation of the communes can be sub-
mitted to Parliament.

Considerable dissatisfaction had been produced by the
refusal of the commission on the Budget to"pass the 12
millions demanded for the prosecution during the ensuing
year of the works required to complete the Riviera Rail-
way, an undertaking interesting to northern travellers who
dislike crossing the Alps. A compromise has now happily
been effected, by which 9 millions are to be granted,
and the works will be carried on without interruption. It
is hoped that about two years will suffice to complete tho
trunk between Genoa and Nice. A longer period will be
required for that between Chiavari and Spezia, as the
engineering difficulties are great, and two very conside-
rable tunnels will have to be pierced ; but as far as Sestri
a bridge only is wanting to complete the line, and a service
of small steamers will connect that port and Spezia.

A SCENE IN COURT.

Mr. Payne, who by some mistake or another holds
the high office of deputy-assistant judge at the
Middlesex Sessions, seems to be a most unfortunate
man. True he is able to string together rhymes to
recite at Exeter Hall meetings when the Earl-of
Shaftesbury takes the chair ; and he is considered
very clever in moving the feelings of a favourable
audience. But his audience not being always
favourable, and Mr. Payne himself being a very
impressionable man, every now and again he
gets into little difficulties. He has to preside over a
court where young criminal lawyers commence their
career. Young lawyers have not always learnt, liketheir
older brethren, to shake fists in court and hands out-
side, but they fall to hitting one another in right earnest
before the representative of the law. This Messrs.
Cooper and Warner Sleigh did in the Deputy-
Assistant Judge's Court on Thursday. So hot did
they become that Mr. Payne had to adjourn
the court until they had been brought to their
senses. But when he came back, instead of letting
the matter rest, the counsel began to abuse one
another again. The judge interfering, Mr. Sleigh
began to lecture him, and, in return, was told that
ho was a very foolish young man. This put the
passionate barrister out of all patience, and for the
next half-hour he amused himself by interfering
with the business of the court, and calling
upon the bench to fine him. Notwith-
standing that he had earned that attention, the
bench was inexorable, and would not comply with his
request. This little episode took place almost imme-
diately after Mr. Payne had soundly scolded a jury
for bringing in a verdict of "Not guilty," notwith-
standing that his charge was dead against the
prisoner. We hope there was no note-taking foreigner,
with a profound belief in the majesty of English
law, at the sessions.

There are now nine seats vacant, viz., one each at
Norwich, Drogheda, Dublin, Cashel, and Sligo, and
two each- at Bridgwater and Beverley. It is
exceedingly unlikely that the two last-named con-
stituencies will have the honour of sending any
more representatives to Parliament, both being
filled to the brim with corruption. Of the nine
seats mentioned above four were formerly filled by
Liberals and five by Conservatives. The election
at Drogheda will come off on Monday, when the son
of the late member, Mr. Whitworth, is expected to
be returned unopposed. As a commission is to inquire
into the electioneering practices at Norwich, it is
scarcely likely that this city will have more than one
vote in the coming divisions on the Irish Church.