New-York tribune., 1868-04-15


armament Doubtless, there is extreme difficulty in
getting such assurance, and no small difficulty in
giving it, in more than words but pacific signs are
unusually promising just at present. One of the
most promising is that all the nations appear for the
moment unusually occupied with their home affairs;
another that closely connects with this s in France
especially sort of revival of attention given to the
public finances When the eve is intelligently turned
in that direction It can hardly fail TO see IN ane
constant preparations for war-ths % armeu p,
this peace footing, the formldaple' nearing
Two days after the publication of the imperiaal Al
pamphlet Of which spoke last week. 1 arotbeT
more serious attention. II is entitled lie Bitqn de
pEmpre-The Balance Sheet OF the EnplIe. AZ LOUIS %
Pop,E Tor Del so NJ. Horn takes for his sentence
from Goethe Not that figures actually govern the
and later pamphlet which is meeting with large
sale i'm these days is entitled the New Loan on the
Politics Of the Grand Lirrs-the GT9nd LIRE Is the
Book of Inscription of the National Debt.
Some extracts and abridgments from the two pub
lications may be worth American reading.
The interest on the French National Debt today
is $40 9O7 frances in December 1851, it was 2$O
6SS63 francs. OF this sum- q little over 4OOOO0OO
was inscribed at the opening OF the Grand Livre by
that grim, honest able COnventlonallst Ramel dc
NOgaret Minister of Finance of the First Republic IN
the month of ThermidOr, year vi. That was the
liquidation of the hopeless financial condition OF the
Old Regime, and amounts 10 ii per cent OF le grau
total lust mentioned: the remainder OF the old he
public and the transient Republic of lS4s are Tespon
sible together for further addition OF II per cent
the Paramentary Government OF the Restoration ION
personal Government of the First and Second EN-
pires for 45 per cent.
For the first five years Of Louis Napoleon's reign
1S52-lS56) the aggregate expenses were 96i3 93
francs for the second 102l3 760412 for the third
(1SG21S66 II 34 500 1876, total OF about thirty
one thousand million francs; yearly average OF
twOthousand and sixty-sX millions But in the first of
these fve-year periods the Imperial Government
spent 333 900 600 more annually than were spent In
the last preceding period lS47lS5l which was, how
ever revolutionary and exceptionally costly period
AS compared with the normal 10 years OF LOUIS
Phlppes reign, the first 10 of Louis NapoleOns has
annually cost France 100000 more.
The annual expenditure In these last years is
2227 100000. or eleven dollars i'm gold, not francs
per capita for the 50 odd millions OF existing french
men, women and children.
III may be permissible to observe here that, despite
this weight of taxation, no FTenchman, much less
any wing of any party of French pohtlclans enter
tains for moment even III theory, the dshonoraDle
proposition of reputation in any FORM Neither OF
the writer's whom am following to-day, pretend TO
exhaust the large subject of national finance, ana
both of them treat the phases OF II which specially
occupy them in somewhat partial, not TO say partl-
san, They state no untruths, but they omit to
notice some important qualifying truths. but,
making all allowance for their omissions, and large
allowance for other cOnsideratOnstO some Of which
reference at least shall be made further on, II time
and space serve, i'll this letter-the rrefutable fact
remains that French taxation per capita cannot be
estimated at less than ten gold dollars] In Paris
and some other large towns the average rate is much
more than this. Horn reckons 1t IN these favored
cities at additional twenty dollars. he esti-
mate will seem less eXtTavagant II you keep IN mind
for one of its items, the OcrO, tax all edbes,
portables building material and pretty much every
thing else that within the city frontier which
brought last year sum of over S60O0O0O.
But to return to the special themeIthe greatly
constantly augments; after the CTmean war, after
the Italian war; in time of peace when the national
territory is not threatened from without when there
is no civil war to suppress What then, is u applied
tot The three great absorbents are the public debt
of which the inscribed interest money mentioned
above is the main, but by means the only, charge
the army and the navy In other words neces-
sary unpTOductve, or wastetul and destructive ex-
penses absorb nearly thTeefourths OF the collected
taxes. The yearly average expenditure OF the War
Department under Napoleon is 1l7OOO.OOO greater
than in the quinquennial period of lSile5l for the
Navy Department IL is still more. Yet, is France
more respected by its neighbOrs are its commercial
interests in tTansmarine regions better opened than
in Louis Philippes timef Let New Germany and the
reputation of French claims by renovated Mexico
From 1852 to 1866 inclusive, the Second Empire has
spent in interest money, War Department, and mill
taTy marine, 69lS,000000 more than was given
to the same purposes by the Monarchy of July in
its first fifteen years. True, il gives something
more also, to the doubtfully deserving department
of the Church service and latteTly has raised the
still pitifu aims doled out for the public instruc
tion" of 100000 French folks to the sum of
% annual millions of francs-something more than
for the same purpose to about tenth OF the same
Less than two.thrds of the adult French can read
and write correctly; but, by the new Army law,
nearly every valid Frenchman is to be extensively
instructed how 10 drill, load, take aim, and fire.
The Second Empire has raised more than two thou
sand millions by loans II has taken the sinking
fund 10 meet current expenses IT has used some
other extraordinary" resources to meet its ordlnarv
outays its ministers in their provisional Budgets,
which are calculated in advance, always anticipate
balances OF surpuses which always fail when the
year comes round and leave deficit. The finance
Minister in 1868 estimated for 1861 balance IN favor
of the Treasury OF $4,000 francs. Inc denclt ~ now
admitted TO be l59000OO0
new loan of 900 is decided on Where is
this progression 70 stop Hitherto for fifteen years
It has gone with formidable regularity; prospect
i've balance present deficit, increase of the floating
debt 10 alarming proportions; then loan ana "a
fresh start over the same ground.
And il is further to be noted that the loans are
raised on less favorable terms than formerly. The
Restoration got money i'll 1916 at 7l0 per cent, in
1880 at per cent Louis Philippe IN ms nrst 1nan- nj an
cent. The Second Empire paid 4t IN 1884, and Will
have to pay much in 1858. With all the excess OF
money lying idle, with discounts at the Bank OF
France at "A per cent with the large bankers barely
allowing per cent 20 depOsitors the three per cents
will not mount to 10. They float between that quo
tation and 90 in view OF peace ana the new on' IN
lS45 they were at SASS.
Such in brief, is the Balance-Sheet Of the Empire.
Taken by itself it represents the national hnanclal
condition in that il leaves out of view certain grave
ly qualifying factssuch that there has been, un-
der the Second Empire, augmentation OF taxation
nearly corresponding 10 the augmentation OF ex-
penses that there has been large and legitimate
augmentation of resources; that money is more
abundant and less valuable than in Louis Philppes
day, before California and Australia that, leaving
out of account the present state of commercial and
industrial crisis the material prosperity OF France
since 1852 has augmented greatly, and somewhat in
proportion TO its augmented liabilities that, with
all the oppressive burden Of $40 per capita taxation,
the working popuatiOn-mechanics and day laborers,
the immense majority of all French population
eat meat and better clothes than they did
20 years ago. Excepting rents-and these especially
in the townsthe rise of price in the necessaries Of