The Sun.
London, England, 1856-06-20 00:00:00

until to-morrow.

FRANCE.

PARIS, THURSDAY EYENEIG.

Tho Prefect of the Seine has received from the
Lord Mayor of London another letter, which an-
-I)nnces that the subscriptions opened in the Bri-
tish capital in favour of the inundated in France
had amounted to not less than 300,600 f.
It is stated confidently that the proposed bill on
the cus-oms duties will meet with a serious opposi-
tion iu the Corps Legislatif. All the commissioners
named are opposed to the measure.
The Constitutionnel says :—" Soldiers belonging
to the classes of 1850, '5l, 52, and 53, to the num-
ber of 95,000, are about to be sent to their homes
by anticipation, on provisional furlough. Soldiers
belonging to the parts of the country which have
been inundated, and those who by authenticated
certificates can justify the necessity of their pre-
sence with their families, will have the preference
and leave the first. The others are to draw lots
among themselves in the regiments, and receive
furloughs according to the decision come to."
By a, decree in the Monitettr, founded on the
proposition of the Minister of Public Worship,
Cardinal Gousset, archbishop of Rheims ; Cardinal
Mathieu, archbishop of Besancon ; and Mgr.
Sibour, archbishop of Paris, have been promoted
to the rank of commanders in the Legion of
Honour.

The following is the Expose des Motifos of the
bill, ,presented to the Legislative Body, demanding
a credit of ten million of francs to repair the disas-
ters caused by the late inundations :
"Gentlemen—By an unheard-of combination of
atmospheric circumstances, the waters of the prin-
cipal rivers of the empire have lately risen to an
extraordinary height. The Saone, the Rhone, the
Isere, the Garonne, the Allier, the Loire, the Cher,
and other less important rivers have overflowed
their banks, overthrown the dykes raised to con-
fine them, and have inundated the valleys.
Frightful disasters have been the result. The
i'i-
undation has brought ruin and desolation on the
inhabitants, and has destroyed a vast amount of
public and private property. His Majesty hastened
in person to distribute relief to the suffering
people and to give them by his presence the most
powerful consolation. Private charity, also, en-
couraged by august patronage, multiplies its efforts
to alleviate so many misfortunes. The Legislative
Body has already eagerly joined in the views of the
Emperor. Any delay could only have increased
the danger of the situation, aggravated the evil,and
multiplied the disasters. With a view of provid-
ing for this urgent necessity, we now propose to
open to the Minister of Public Works, on the
budget of 1856, an extraordinary credit of
10,000,000 fr. This sum is not fixed in accordance
with any regular valuation. The waters have
not yet retired from the inundated soil ; the major
portion of the breaches opened in the dykes
ari still unapproachable, and it has not been
possible to measure the extent of the disasters ;
but it cannot be doubted that the injury is
enormous, and the administration fears that the
grant of ten million francs will be below the
necessities of the case. Were we only to restore
the country to its previous state, we should
'leave it exposed again to such calamities as we
deplore this day. Does not the actual state of
the basins of our rivers facilitate the return of
inundations 2 In consequence of what circum-
stances have the dykes, raised above the height
of the greatest rise known, and considered invul-
nerable, given way before the waters ; and how
have populations, full of confidence in the shelter
which protected them, been thus menaced in their
very existence I The dykes themselves, by their
absence of sufficient outlets, have perhaps contri-
buted to aggravate the evil, for the extinction of
which they were formed. Will it therefore suffice
to re-establish and consolidate them in order to
insure the security of the inhabitants on the banks
of the rivers Will it not rather be better to
attack the evil at its sowrce than to accumulate
works which become impotent at a given time;
that is, to attempt to anticipate the periodical
risings by preventing the too ready accumulation
of waters in the valleys ? Could not this be ef-
fected by means of a system of flood gates, properly
arranged either on the principal rivers or on their
tributaries, and thus prevent, by means of works
constructed with care, the return of those sudden
and irresistible irruptions of water which perio-
dically ravage our territory t These questions are
difficult, but the momentfor solving them appears to
have arrived. They must therefore be the object of
profound examination. The credit demanded must
likewise provide for that examination. We enter-
tain no doubt, gentlemen, that in this double point
of view, the Legislative Body will willingly asso-
ciate with the government by voting the bill now
presented to its consideration."