The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-08 00:00:00

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris journals of Saturday
and of yesterday. They publish the address of the
Union Electorate, recommending M. FERDINAND
For as their candidate for Paris. The Legitimatists
protest, in strong language, against this adoption of
an Orleanist candidate. The Union, the most mode-
rate of the Legitimatist organs, merely announces the
fact of the candidature of Al. FERDINAND FOT, with-
out adding one word of comment. The Assemblee
Nationale publishes a philippic against the Committee
of the Electoral Union for presuming to recommend
a candidate; while the Opinion Publique and the
Corsaire recommend the Legitimatists to start a
candidate of their own in opposition to M. FERDI-
NAND Foy.
The Democrats have, it is said, determined to start
as their candidate some soldier who has been perse-
cuted for his attachment to democratic principles.
The speech of 111. VICTOR HUGO in the Assembly
on Friday, in opposition to the Transportation
Bill, is the subject of comment in all these journals.
He denounced the Bill as virtually a re-enactment of
the. punishment:of death for political offences. Tne
reactionary journals are outrageous against him,
whilst the Republicans are loud in his praise. The
Presse proposes opening a subscription to have a
medal struck in honour of this speech, and concludes
a long eulogium on it in these words :
"It is impossible to give an account (T all the emo-
tions of this speech, to reflect all its beauties, and to
follow M. Victor Hugo through the magnificent deve-
lopments of his ideas. We can scarcely collect a few
drops of his torrent of electric fluid which issued from
his lips, and fell on the Assembly in sublime inspira-
tions and gleams of fire."
Of the irritating effect which it produced upon the
reactionaries, we form an idea from the following
statement, which appears in the Siecle :
" The moderation of the Moderate party may be es-
timated by the following calculation, made on the report
of the Moniteur. M. Victor Hugo was interrupted 83
times by the Right benches, to wit:-32 times by rum-
mers and exclamations of all kinds, and 51 times by
direct interpellation."
MM. LEON FAUCHER and JULES DE LASTYRIE
were on Saturday elected Vice-Presidents of the
Assembly by a bare majority, as the Members of the
Left abstained from voting. The L.Titimatists are
complaining that they have been tricked by the
Orleanists in these elections, as not one of the
officers of the Assembly chosen belong to the Legi-
timatist party, and, in order to appease them, M.
JULES DE LASTYRIE has resigned, for the purpose of
affording to M. VATISMENIL or M. BENOIT D'AZT an
opportunity of being elected.
The following is an abstract of M. FouLD's finan-
cial statement to the Assembly :--
.. The great object he had in view was, he said, to
establish a real balance between the receipts and ex-
penditures, to extend the proportionality of the taxes,
and to relieve agriculture. The, strictest economy had
been introduced into every branch of the administra-
tion. His attention had been particularly directed to
the reduction of the military expenditures within the
limits oommanded by the security of the country.
Public credit, deeply shaken, should be restored by
the inviolability of the engagements and the respect of
contracts. The floating debt presented no danger, if
the Government was empowered to employ the means
at its disposal to reduce it within proper limits, and to
tax certain productions which had hitherto escaped
taxation. Fictitious remedies and dangerous theories
should be avoided. The reforms in the system of
mortgages must be attended with a favourable effect.
Not more than 22,000,000 f. would be required to pay
the interest of the floating debt. Supposing the As-
seinbly should concede the Paris and Avignon Railroad
to a privets company, with various other reductions
in the expenditure of the department of public
works, there would be in that department
alone a saving, of 5,000,000 f. The army esti-
mates, which amounted in 1848 to 420,000,000 f., were
since reduced to 314,000,000, and would experience, in
1851, a further reduction of 12,000,000. No very material
alteration was to be made in the naval department, the
expenditure of which bad been reduced since 1848 by
24,000,000. The whole of the expenditure of the
state would amount, in 1851, to 1,283,000 fr. In order
to relieve agricultnre, M. Fourd proposed the suppres-
sion of 17 centimes in the tax ou landed property, er
97,000,000 f. The local taxes. which amounted in ten
departments to 130,000,000 f. annually, should also be
considerably diminished for the same object. He likewise
proposed to modify the tax on doors and windows, and to
reduce the registry duties by 6,000,000 f. The new im-
posts would produce an augmentation of 48,000,000.
No change was to be made in the tax on salt, but a new
one should be laid on sugar, coffee, powder, shot, &e.
The entire of the receipts was calculated at 1,292,000,000,
showing a surplus of 8,000,000. The floating debt, now
amounting to 575,000,000, would be reduced in 1851 to
515,000,000. National forests are to bo sold to an
amount of 56,000.000. This and other means, which
would be submitted to the approbation of the Assembly,
would, he was certain, enable the government to meet
all the wants of the state, provided, however, internal
order was maintained.
At the Vaudeville Theatre a new piece, entitled
The Restoration, was produced ; it was evidently in-
tended as a feeler, and those who put it forward must
be by this time perfectly satisfied of the intense hatred
in which the very name of Bourbon is held by the
French people ; whenever any allusion was made to
the Bourbons, loud hisses were heard from all parts
of the house. The French never can, never will,
never ought to forget the circumstances under NI hich
the Bourbons and the parti-pretre were restored.
The price of corn has not been so low in France
for thirty years, as it is at the present moment. By
;he last official returns, the average price throughout
Prance was 14f. Ic.'per hectolitre. If it is true that
he agriculturist must sell his corn at 20f. per hecto-
itre to find remuneration fur his labour, and if, as
statistically stated, the annual consumption of France
is 120 millions of hectolitres, the actual price, com-
pared with that normal price, represents a loss of 720
millions of francs for agriculture, and this under a
system of rigid protection, amounting in reality to
prohibition.
Al. DE PERSIGNY has arrived in Paris, from Berlin.
It is said that the intended visit of the Duchess of
ORLEANS to England is for a political object, and that
the leading Orleanists of France will join her in Lon-
don for the purpose of endeavouring to arrange the
respective pretensions of the elder and the younger
branches of the Bourbons, and of making a proposi-
tion to LOUIS NAPOLEON to assist in a restoration.
In this latter particular they will not succeed. Louis
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE is a man of the nicest honour,
who would rather sacrifice his life than betray the
trust reposed in him. He may be duped, but he will
never willingly and knowingly consent to be made a
stepping-stone for the restoration of the Bourbons ;
and of this the Legitimatists are perfectly aware;
hence their bitter personal hostility to the PRESIDENT.
The PRESIDENT of the Republic went on Saturday
to visit the principal barracks round Paris, and review
the troops stationed in them. The PRESIDENT left
the ElysEle at half-past one, accompanied by the Mi-
nister of War and two orderly officers. He first
proceeded to St. Denis, where he was received by
Generals NEUMAYER and RENAUD, and inspected the
69th Regiment. He afterwards visited the barracks
in that town, and on leaving distributed four crosses
of the Legion of Honour. From thence the PRESI-
DENT went to the Fort de rEst one of the moat im-
portant of those which surround the capital. The
18th Regiment was drawn out in line in the glacis,
and were reviewed, after which some decorations were
distributed to officers, sub-officers, and privates. At
half-past three the PRESIDENT left the fort for Cour-
bedoire, where he reviewed the sth and 35th Regi-
ments, and inspected the barracks, distributing
crosses as at the other places.
The Bourse Ives dull on Saturday, and very little
business was transacted. The Five per Cents. opened
at 85f. 30c., and closed at 89f. 600.; the Three per Cents.
at 55f. 70c.; Orleans Railroad Shares, 720 f.; Rouen
5101.; Great Northern, 421 f. 25c.; Avignon, 172 r. 50c.;
Vierzon, 3201.; Bale, 107 f. 50e.;
Bordeaux, 392 f. 50f.;
Paris and Strasburg, 3311. 25c.; Tours and Nantes,
231 f. 25c.; the New Roman Loan, 78.

BUSINLEOSNSDDOONNsEII4
KF..OrtiREGIRGNANRGAE,ILAWPARYILS6. A T THE
Boulogne and Amiens, 614—Dutch Rhenish, 13A— Orleans
and Bordeaux, 214—Sambre and Meuse, 214.

SPAIN.
Madrid journals of the Ist and 2d instant have
arrived.

The Gageta of the Ist publishes a royal decree
charging the direction of the Public Debt to draw up
a new Bill, for the settlement of the debt, to be pre-
sented to the Cortes in the next session. Foreign
creditors,
it, is provided, are to be consulted on it. It
was said that this was done to facilitate the settlement
with England. The official arrangemnt of the Eng-
lish affair would not, it was supposed, take place
before the 18th.
The Prince and Princess of JoINVILLB have em-
barked at Cadiz for England.
MADRID BOLiA, APRIL 2.—Three per Cents.,
294 paper; Five per Cents., 12i, for account. Ex-
change on London, 50 25.

GERMANY.
The Assembly of the States of Gotha has been
prorogued to the Ist of May.
The States of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg were
to have met on the 2d, but were prorogued fur a month
by decree of the GRAND DugE. A new dissolution
was considered
probable, in order to enable the
Government to enter the restricted Federal State of
Prussia, to which the Chambers are hostile. The
Berlin State Gazette says that there is no truth in the
report that was lately current of Oldenburg having
already retired from the Federal State.
A letter from Erfurt of the 2d states that M DE
RADowiTz had returned from Berlin, with instruc-
tions to insist on the Confederation being entrusted
with powers to declare peace and war, according to
the Cor,stitution of 181.5. This had caused a most
painful inapresSion;
and when proposed to The Com-
mittee WAS almost unanirnouslY rejected. It was said
that other propositions for lessening the powers of