The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-09 00:00:00

CORRESPO

[nom OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, SUNDAY, March 8.

The publication of the evidence with respect to the
cnarges of corruption against the Paris newspapers is the
topic of to-day. There was a regular hurricane here yes-
terday, and the rain descended in torrents ; nevertheless,
the people kept crowding round the kiosques where the
newspapers are sold, eager to get early copies of the Pays.
The paper is usually to be had by four o'clock, but it was
more than an hour late, and the would-be purchasers were
not a little sulky at being kept out in the rain all that
time without their eagerly-anticipated morsel. When
they did get it, they could scarcely have been much better
pleased. Two of the papers which had been implicated—
the Arenir National and the Libertl—were at once placed
out of the list. The only despatch referring to them
was one professing to have been written in 1860,
i.e., from five to six years before those journals
were started. The other publications mentioned
in the same despatch are the Siecle, Debats,
Opinion Nationale, and Revue des Deux Modes. Of course
the accusation fails, so far as this despatch is concerned.
It bears inte •nal evidence of being a forgery, and must be
set aside altogether. The other documents are twenty
in number. The first is a letter from the chief
editor of a French journal not named, to M. de La
Varenne, giving him carte blanche for all moral, political,
and other arrangements, and acknowledging the receipt of
I,ooof. No. 2 is a letter from Rattazzi to La Varenne, telling
him that the arrangements with the press cannot be settled
by correspondence, and that he had better come to Turin.
The letter concludes thus : "I am certain that you will do
all that you can to give the journals a direction favourable
to the new Ministry." No. 3 is the spurious letter already
referred to. No. 4is undated and unsigned (two very sus•
picious circumstances), and says only, " We thank you for
having appointed the Siecle our official Moniteur." No. 5
is a letter from Palermo (no year is given), in which the
writer asks La Varenne to arrange with the Opinion
Nationale to make its letters from Sicily favourable to the
Government. No. 6 simply tells La Varenne to give a
denial of some reported event, beginning especially with
the Opinion Nationale. But I need not weary your readers
with going through the list. A large number of the docu-
ments are simply advices of, or receipts for, money which
passed between the Italian Government and La Varenne,
indicating that this person certainly had relations with that
Government, but by no means shewing what he did with
the funds he received. The only paper against which there
seems any suspicion is the Opinion Nationale.
The Siecle publishes some very severe remarks upon this
affair. Addressing the author of these accusations, it says :
"As for you, M. de Kerv4guen, we will say to you only
one word. Since the commencement of this affair you
have failed in all your duties. You ought not to have
given the publicity of the tribune to your base calumnies
before being assured of their truth. Having done so,
you ought not to have shamefully declined the responsi-
bility of your act. After the condemnation pronounced
against you by five men of honour, you ought to have con-
cealed your disgrace in private life. You believed that
you could save yourself by audacity and by new indig-
nities. You will be deceived in your hope ; for whatever
you do, and whatever your unscrupulous accomplices do
for you, France will always read upon the first page of
your deputy's certificate that ' in reading from the tribune
of the Corps Legislatif an article containing false and
calumnious facts you have rendered yourself morally
responsible for them.' No one will envy you that title of
nobility."
The Government has made an important concession in
nehaif of the Press. M. Pinard, the new Minister of the
Interior, announced that Article 11 of the new Press Law
which had been passed would be withdrawn. This clause
gave the Government power to inflict a fine of 1:3,000 for
one offence. On the other hand, the Chamber has passed a
clause which will tell heavily against the chroniqueurs and
Mneurs of the Paris papers. As originally worded, it pro-
posed that all malevolent publication of any facts in the
private life of any person should be forbidden, and an
offence against this law should be punished with a fine of
from £2O to £2OO. But the word "malevolent" has been
omitted, and the clause in its present stringent form was
passed by 132 votes to 104. For some reason not explained
the Opposition as a body did not vote on this clause ; if
they had voted against it they would have thrown it out.
As the first result of this new law, the IfibertJ declares that
it will not henceforth publish its column of gossip, Le
Monde Parisien.
To shew under what difficulties French journalism is
carried on, I may mention that it was stated during the
debate on the Press Law that in three years the Liberte
had cost M. Emile de Girardin £12,000 out of pocket,
although it is said to have a circulation of 30,000. The
Temps, which has been in existence eight years, and has
12,000 subscribers, has involved a loss to its proprietors of
£38,000. The reduction of the stamp duty by something
less than one tenth of a penny will effect a saving of £144
per 1,000 copies per annum ; so that M. Girardin will
now rather more than pay
his expenses.
There has been an election to fill the vacancy in the
Academy of Moral and Political Science, caused by
the death of Victor Cousin. There were three candi-
dates, whom the Avenir National thus describes.
M. Vacherot, who represented free philosophic thought ;
M. Caro, who represented official and university
philosophy ; and AL Nourrison, who represented
religious philosophy. The clerical party, of course,
supported the last-mentioned candidate. M. Vacherot
had been condemned by the bishops as one whose writings
should be rejected with horror. Nevertheless, or perhaps
in spite of that, Vacherot had 18 votes to 9 given to each
of his competitors. He was supported by Tillers, R6mnsat,
Simon, Michel Chevalier, and other well-known members.

The Morning Post states that Lord Mayo will to-morrow
night, on the part of her Majesty's Government, propose
to, the House of Commons-1. The postponement, of the
Irish Church question until such time as the present Com-
mission shall have reported. 2. The issue of a Royal
Commission to inquire into the relations of landlord and
tenant in Ireland. 3. The grant of a charter for the
establishment of a Catholic University. 4. To subsidise
the Irish railways. Assuming this information to be cor-
rect, the Post points out that the first two measures
are useless postponements, while the last two raise ques-
tions peculiarly obnoxious to the British taxpayer, though
both may suit the purchase of vote system in favour with
the new Prime Minister.

The Herced comes forward on the question of the com-
pound hous, holder, and gives a party explanation of the
difficulties V. ich are engaging the attention of parochial
authorities in many towns. Our contemporary lays the
whole blame of what it admits is a blunder on the
shoulders of the Opposition, and appeals to the history of
last session in support of its charge. Objection was taken
to Mr. Disrw li's original bill, that it would leave the
occupier at the mercy of the landlord as to whether he
should have a vote or not. From the Opposition benches
came the first proposal to abolish the compound householder,
and in accepting Mr. Hodgkinson's amendment Mr. Disraeli
also accepted a rider drawn up Mr. Childers, which pro-
vided for a permissive system of voluntary composition.
`When he embodied the latter into clauses, however, he
was charged with a breach of faith, and a meeting at St.
James's Hall was held, attended by Mr. Mill, this charge
being embodied in one of the resolutions. On the follow-
ing Monday a general explanation took place, at which
the then Chancellor of the Exchequer denied the author-
ship of the clause. The result was that the compound
householder was extinguished. The Herald asks what
right the Liberal organs have to lay the abolition of the
compound householder at the door of the Tory party.
ALLEGED INSULT TO THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON.
—The protest of the French Consul at Newport against
the publication upon the wars of Vie town of a coloured
poster, representing Mr. Howard Paul in the character
of the Emperor of the French, has been made the sub-
ject of debate at a special meeting of the Town Coun-
cil, when the correspondence between the consul
and the mayor was read. The following is a copy
of the consul's letter, addressed to his worship :
" Sir, My attention has been called this morning to
a placard posted in various parts of the town, and
purporting to represent his Majesty
the Emperor Napo-
leon in connection with an entertainment which is to be
given shortly by a man known under the name of Howard
Paul. It is scarcely needful for me to remark how unbe-
coming, not to say scandalous, is the parading in the
public thoroughfares of Newport of the pretended likeness
of the sovereign of a country which is on the most
friendly terms with England. lam therefore convinced
that you will think it your duty (if it is in your
power) to have the said placards suppressed as soon
as possible.—l have the honour to be, sir, your most
obedient servant, le Consul de France, M. H. BOUR-
DILLON." The Mayor promptly replied, assuring M. Bour-
dillon that the posters in question were not intended to
create any feeling of disrespect towards his Imperial master,
and that they were " simply pictorial advertisements, to
attract attention and lure persons to the entertainment,
such as is often clone at exhibitions of waxwork and the
like." Here the correspondence ended, but the obnoxious
hills were subsequently pasted over, and the committee
of management of the hall where the entertainment was
to have been given, " viewing the act with indignation,
and considering it an unwarrantable interference with the
liberty of the subject," wrote to the chairman of the
Watch Committee demanding explanations. The expla-
nation given was to the effect that the Mayor, understand-
ing from the sergeant of police that the committee of
management would have no objection to the posters being
quietly put up out of sight, had directed the bill-stickers
to cover them over. Eventually the committee expressed
themselves satisfied with the explanation offered, and tin
subject was permitted to drop,