The Sun.
London, England, 1850-07-18 00:00:00

FRANCE.

The Assembly during the sitting of yesterday
adopted the following law of prorogation :
Art. 1. The National Assembly is prorogued from
Sunday, 12th Angus,, to Monday, 11th November, 1850.
" Arc. 2. A commission of 25 members shall be
.dected by secret ballot, and by an absolute majority,
to fulfil in concurrence with the bureau of the As-
sembly the obligations prescribed by Art. 32 of the
Constitution.

The powers of the bureau of the Assembly are pro-
rogued until the re-assembling of the Assembly."
The Assembly then proceeded to discuss the budget
of 1851. •

M. Fould, Minister of Finance, said that on the 4th
of April he had informed the Assembly that, accord-
ing to his provisions, the budget would be balanced
by a surplus of 10,000,000, notwithstanding the sup-
pression of 27,000,000 of the laud-tax and 6,000,000
of the mortgage duty. , He expressed the opinion that
it would not be necessary to recur to a loan or to
the creation of new taxes. Three months had
since elapsed, and facts had confirmed him in his
hopes. The expenditures set down by the Committee
for 1851 were estimated at 1,431,000,000 f., although
the Government only asked 1,336,000,000'. That
difference of 95,000,000 f. should not be ascribed to
any augmentation of the public burdens. It arose
from the fact that the Committee had inscribed in the
budget the dotation of the Sinking Fund, which he
bad left in blank, 5,000,000 f. for the working of
the Paris and Lyons Railroad, the receipts of which
would amply compensate that sum, and various
other items, which constituted no augmentation
in the expenditures. The budget of 1850 would be
closed with a deficit of 12,000,000, which would be
reduced by 6,000,000, produced by the new stamp
duty on commercial bills. The deficit of previous
years amounted to 260,000,000, to which should be
added 3 000,000 for 1848, 249,000,000 for 1849, and
91,000,000 for public works, so that the general defi-
cit at the close of 1850 would amount to 632,000,000.
That sum, however, would. be lessened by vari-
ous items, recovered by the Treasury, and by
15,000,000 already received for 1849. The improve-
ment in the proceeds of the indirect taxes, which he
had fixed at 709,000,000, but which the Com-
mittee had found exaggerated and was reduced to
698,000,000, was considerable during the six months
ending on the Ist of July, showing a surplus of
25,000,000 ; and the amount for the whole year
could be estimated at 723,000,000. He thought,
however, that it might be safely set down
at 740,000,000. That difference of 42,000,000,
added to the 15,000,000 for 1849, or
57,000,000,fw0u1d reduce the general deficit from
632,000,000 to 575,000,000. He then reminded the
Assembly that he had authorised the state to sell
renter to the amount of 40,000,000, which would be
negotiated before the close of the year, and national
forests for a sum of 15,000,000, which would con-
tribute to reduce still more the general deficit and sup-
ply the Government with funds for public works. The
state, moreover, if obliged to terminate the Paris
and Lyons Railroad, intended to concede its working
to private industry. Should it dispose of it otherwise
the 160,000,000 f. already expended on its construction
would afford an important additional resource. M. Fould
could not pledge himself that supplementary credits
should not be demanded in 1851, but he firmly trusted
that they could be met without having recourse to a
loa❑ or the creation of new taxes, provided the peace
of Europe and internal tranquillity were maintained.
Never was the collection of the direct taxes more easily
effected. Of the 179,000,000 f. due on the Ist
of July, upwards of 173,000,000 f. had been paid into
the Treasury. The export of goods of Parisian
manufactures declared in the Customs office, ex-
ceeded those of the corresponding period of last year
by 14,000,000 f. In Lyons the improvement was not
less marked, and the number of unemployed
operatives had diminished by two-thirds. In
short, the amelioration was general all over the
country. The movement of the navigation had also
considerably increased. The railroads had produced
2,971,000 f. more than during the first half of 1849.
The situation, in short, was most re-assuring, and was
to be ascribed in a great measure to the resolute and
conservative policy pursued by the Government with
the cordial co-operation of the National Assembly.

PARLIAMENT.