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

ITALIAN AFFAIRS.

(FROII A CORRESPONDEN;
FLORENCE, FEB. 22.

During the past week, as you are probably aware, the
Chamber has been occupied th the Reorganisation Bill
and the Provisional Balance, or, as we should call it, the
Vote on Account, which is required on the Ist of March.
The definitive financial statement is promised for the
earliest days of next mcnth ; it was impossible to get the
, debate over by the end of February, and a fresh vote on
account had consequently to be taken. It has been agreed
to give three days a week to the Reorganisation Bill, two
to the Provisio'nal Balance, and one to bills of minor im-
portance. The Ministry at first proposed to relegate to
Sunday the sittings of the Secret Committee of the whole
House, which replaces the bureaux abolished by the new
regulations ; hut, on the remonstrance of D'Ondes Reggio,
the idea was dropped, and the Provisional Balance passed
through the Secret Committee on Saturday. Many
rumours have been current during the week respecting the
warlike intentions of the Left. Persons, indeed, are
found to affirm that it will vote en masse against the Pro-
visional Balance, on the ground that, had Ministers not
persisted in pressing forward the Reorganisation Bill, the
definitive financial statement might have been made at
once. The entire absence of the Left during the committee
on Saturday renders it not improbable that they will
oppose the vote to-day, but they will be unable to com-
mand a majority. The debate will come on immediately
after D'Ondes Reggio's speech introducing his bill on
freedom of instruction. •

The fact is, that Government has adopted the Reorgani-
sation Bill, not so much from any love of the measure, as
with a view of securing the support of the " Left Centre,"
which is worth some twenty or thirty votes. Nothing
appears to reconcile the Opposition to the idea of the
" Delegations." A. compromise is said to have been pro-
posed to them, by which their favourite idea of elective
provincial presidents in lieu of prefects would be adopted
on condition of their conceding the Delegations. If so, the
overture does not appear to have been successful. As an
economical measure the creation of 600 delegates in place
of 179 sub-prefects would probably be illusory, as any
saving to be realised must be contingent on finding officials
of such encyclopedic capacity as to cumulate a variety of
minor functions now distinct.

In the meanwhile, Messrs. Fould, Mallet, and Hol-
lander, the representatives of the three great French banks,
are still here. Reports alternate, that the Convention is
signed, and that it is not. There is no doubt, however,
that the affair is practically concluded. The project has
been communicated by the Minister in confidence to a
deputy, whose judgment on financial matters is held in
great esteem, and the opinion expressed by the latter is
very favourable to it, as being highly advantageous to the
State. This much, at all events, has oozed out, that 400
millions are to be advanced, of which 350 are to be applied
to the extinction of the forced currency, and 50 millions to
the general deficit.
The paper of the National Bank at present in forced
circulation amounts to nearly 800 millions of francs. Of
this sum, 450 millions represent the paper in circulation
previous to the introduction of the forced currency. The
advances made to the State since then amount to about
320 millions, comprising the War Loan, the payment to
Austria on account of Venice, and Ratazzi's loan on
account of the ecclesiastical property. This, with the
" agio " on gold, and other accessories, will amount to very
nearly 3.50 millions. On the repayment of these advances
to the National Bank, the forced currency comes to a
natural end. Its abolition will, of course, have to be
effected gradually, as a sodden application of the change,
especially with regard to the smaller notes, would cause
too great a shock to the retail trade of the country. The
contemplated transaction is to be applied only to the pro-
perty of the secular clergy remaining unsold under the
law of 1867, and already taken possession of by the State,
The parochial property is still untouched, and Count
Cambray Digny is believed to have given a kind of pledge
that during his tenure of office it will remain so. The
details of the arrangement as between the State and the
French banking houses will probably not be known until
after the financial statement announced for the beginning
of March, after which Ministers will lay the convention
before the House.

The supposed deficit for 1869, as stated in the Minis-
terial estimate of November last, amounts to something
over 81 millions, which, compared with the 128 millions
odd of the preceding year, gives a diminution
of about 47 millions. A second table, which
takes into computation the estimated results of
the liquidation of the "asse ecclesiastico " reduces the
deficit to 11 millions. A great deal, however, in these
estimates is based on conjecture. As I have before men-
tioned, the sale of ecclesiastical property has realised
nothing like the sum hoped for, and as the lots have fre-
quently gone for more than the estimated price, the
failure is to be attributed to the scarcity of purchasers,
owing partly to the state of public credit, partly to a want
of confidence in the title, and, still more, to the absence of
capital, the large landed proprietors being at the same
time far from disposed to encourage these extensive sales,
which tend of course to depreciate the value of land in
general. It is feared, moreover, that the grist tax, which
figures in the Ministerial estimate at 55 millions, and from
which Government have since expressed their confidence
of obtaining 80 millions, will not this year realise as much
as 40 millions. Disturbances of the public peace have
again broken out in Northern Italy, and the measure has
again provoked armed resistance, and in one place a
system of brigandage, the attacks of which are directed
solely against Government property. An additional em-
barrassment is caused by the discovery that the new
reckoning machines are not wholly to be relied upon, and
that differences in the quality of the flour, in the force of
the water, and in the structure of the mills act as dis-
turbing elements in the calculation ; so that, between
one mill and another, an uncertainty of from 10 to 12 per
cent, in the account rendered by the machine is unavoid-
able.

MISCEL EANEOUS NET'S.