French Papers.
The Times, 1824-04-08T00:00:00

Yesterday, after mass, the King received the grand deputations of the Chambers of Peers and Deputies, with the addresses voted by these bodies in answer to his Mlajesty's speech from the throne. By letters from Madrid, dated the 30th ult., it appears that his Catholic ;iMajesty has left thatcapital to pass the spring atAranjuez. A part of tle French troops had left Mliadridl; more were to follow on the 5th of April. CIIAlIMBER OF DEPUTIES.-SriTTxIGOFAPRIIL 5. The President took the chair at one o'clock. Several petitions presented to the Chamber were referred to the committee en pe- titions. After some other preliminary business, the Mlinister of Fi. nance mounted the tribune, and delivered the follewing speech:- " Gentlemen,-Several favourable causes have raised our fentes to the high rate at which we now see them. " Among these causes, some-such is the state of our finanees, the guarantees given by our institutions, our punctuality in fulfill- ing our engagements, the continued and increasing actien of our sinkinK fund-beldng to us, and we shall preserve all their ad- vantages; Otlers are, in part, foreign to us,and depend upon events. " Our credit still feels the sensible effects of transitory circum- stances, which, even when they shall have ceased to exist, wiU leave usefuil tracea, but of which we must take advantage when they are in all their force: prudence didtates that we should take advantage of every thing accidental and transitory. Among these latter circumstances, I shall only advert to the impulse given to the rate of our public funds by the success of our last loan, the operations goitg on tn a neighbouring conntry to reduce the in- terest of a part or its debt, the kind of fever for a rise which has saited all the niarkets where the public funds of Europe are hegotiable, and linaly thb mania .for lending, which las fur- nished for some time the facility of borrowing dii any security. Whatever there mav be in these alleged causes, the facts are these: our rente is above par; it is even sold above it under the knowledge of an approaching repayment, or of a reduction of the interest to four oer cent. It would have been at 110 or 115 if the frankness of the Government had not made its intentions knowl in proportion as it conceived the hopes of realizing them. ,' Two spedal evils would result to the public interest from this state of things t the first is the daily purchase by the sinking.,fnd, that is to say by the tax-payers, ofthe rentes at a rate above par the second, the continuance to the State of an interest of 5 per cent., while the price of the rentes woild be such as to give piurchasers only a much lower rate. ' A prudent administration most look out for the most Just and efflcaclous medhibt od ptittng an end to these evils. You would have a right to ebarge it with carelessness if it remained indifferent to facts tmo much connected with thepublic interests, and to the development of the public weealth, not to merit all its attention. Our reflections oh tdis important matter have convinced us, that the onlv means of drawing frorn existing circumstances all that is favourable, was to be able to o&ffr to the holders of our public funds, bearing an interest of five per cent. on the reimbursement of their capital, or the eonversion of their stock unto one bearing a less interest. It was likewise a part of our duty to ensure, the means of effectually making a repayment if it shlould be called for, for thje justice of the me'iire as well its success rested on this possibility. It was, atter hz . acquired this certainty, and when we could assure you that by the means which we demand of you, its success is inevitable, that we present ourselves before you to detail our plan, our reasons for propesing it, and to ask your assistance in reaHzing it. 'FThe perpetual debt of the state amnoints to 197,014,892fr. of rentes, at 6 per cent.; but when we consider it with relation to the proposed operation, we must subtract fromi it about 57,000,000 due to the State, to establishments endowed by the State. the posses- sion of wltich is subject to the right of remainder in the State, or of which the use is regalated by particular laws. It would be useless, and even impossible, to comDrehend the conversion of this portion in the general measure. Useless, because we should only operate on oUr own interests-impossible, if we must cancel, by a general law, special laws, the discussion of which would retnove us to a greatldis- tance from the object in view. There remain, then, 140,000,000 of 5 Per cen. rentes, which we propose to you to convert into 112,000,000 of rentes at 3 per cent., or to reimburse, if they prefer it, the hold- ers of reutes by selling to others the 3 per cents. which they shaU have refused. " The plan of the proposed law is conceived in the most simple terms. Its tendency is to authorize the conversion of the three per cents. into five per cents., 'either by the assent of the holders or by selling the three per cents., in order to pay off the holders of Ave per cents. It lays down the limits within which the Minister may act, and which he muat notexceed. The first of these limits is that for the salSe of the holders. They will all have the option between, the re-irnbtseementof their nominal capital, or the conversion of their fivt er etentft.into three per cents. 9.t 76 francs. "L'b qh se~ond ix also a gsawr ntee for the holders-that the MAinister shaltpegotlste tho Fbeqe*py , whcth ey haye refused only At tlie em tiio of Itt. . na a AtAriinteo foer the Atate, that the dp&f, tiOn shall only stake place in so far as it shall present, at a result, the reduction of a ,ifth of the interest en the debt ctsv'rted or paia off "it%The last lirmit laid dlown is coDmmanded by nccessity.Th bene- ftof the reduction to tite public Treasury sball not be delayed be. yabnd January 1, 1826. tepeetsaeo ulcafis hc a " We see nothing inthprsnsttofpblcai s,wchca embarrass the march of this operation, if you give it your assent. The thilowing are the reasns which have induaced us to prefer it to all, others:_ "To diminish the public burdens by reducing thc interest of our debt to a rate at. which our credit enables us to ma'ke new loans without inju-ring it's development, but on the contrary to its ad- vantage. Such is'the happiestresult which we cani draw from cir- cumrstances-t.he desirable point which we aimn at reachivng. " The measure whichi we propose will procure a reduction of 28 or 30 mnillions without dim,iinishsing the power of the sinking fund- without aggravating the condidions of new loans, which extraordinary wants may subsequently render indispensable ;finally, by effecting from this muoment a reduction of the 'charge of the public debt to the rate of 4 per cent., and by issuing a stoc'k w ich may im- prove in capital till it only bring an interest of 3 per cent., without being linmited in this course of improvement by the fear of being paid off anew. This mneasure, therefore, appears to contain, in the maniier the most complete, all the elements of prosperity whichn can be found in a financi-Al arrangement. " But these advantages ought to be refused if the right of relieving itself by repaying the capital could he conitested to the State-if this repiymnent were unjust towards any class of creditors : finialy, if it was inot a means of turning to the advantage of the peo- ple, who support, in the long run, all the public burdens. rf there were, I say, another mode of attaining the Fame object, without reducing the interest which we pay to tefnolr,ad without depriving our credit of the force of contnigt iitrto the ex- traordinary demands which a state lIe racshudalways be prepared to mieet. Is a proof required of the right which we possess to pay the capital of our consolidatedI debt ? Let those who doubt, consult the ancient laws ; let them read the edicts issiued for their establishment, the securities issued in virtue of these edicts, and they will find this right always reserved to the State. Let them in- quire into the new laws, and they will find that the civil code has sormally sanctioned it. Let them consult the language used in mak-ing contracts. The title by which they have been sold is five per cent. Why state the capital, which is never exi 'ble, unless ab h ups of acknowledging thatimabeadof at that rate Falinthis means, the happyohsain sl pa,which they have imposed upon us at thc daeofurgetslan ton dow a sinking fundl to redeem our rent,wolprethtte not only recognized otir right to pay off ou deta a,btee htOf redeemning it, as far as we could at a raebnwta fternoinal capital at which it was constituted. Beies ould the idea of a slinking fund, richly endowed, be recloncilable with the impossibility of a general re-imbursement, when the power of' its action has raised the funds to par ? Let the partisans of this opinion remove the difficulties which now pre- sent themselves, and which would be felt differently, since the rentes would be higher, if' we had not announced our intention of aying them of. WVill tlsey propose to us to annihilate the sinking fund?But this would be to depart ffom the system, within which they have fenced themiselves ; this would be to violate engage- ments entered into ; this would be to destroy the sources of crcdir for the future. 'Will thsey call upon us to suspend its ac- tion ?This would be to throw disorder into the systern-co make die sinking fund a means of jobbing and speculation, and to deprive the Statte not only of the right of paving off its securities bZy returning the capital, but even of redeemsni its debt in the mar- etb aiga price higher than the nominal cavital. This would condemn us to be always in debt, without ever b;eing able to relieve ouslvs it woud have the effect (after depriving us of the advan- tages stipulated in the original title, which authorizes us to pay off) of annihilating the f'aculty of redeenming the d-.bt by our sinking fund stipulated for in subsequent acts. The sinking fund would have only one object--that of promoting the interest of the fuadholder: it ms then sricp the moment that it arrives at a point of rendering a service to the State. "'rie exmpl of ountieswhic hav prcede usin the plan of pubiccreit giesaddtinalfoce o he rofs f hecompatibility of hisriht ithth whle y~em n wic itisfounded, In Engand evry ubic undwhihi at accompanied with an ex- pres laue hatitshal otbe edeme, s esetialyreeemable; and th Ministerof that country, wh snwgvn tprcent. to the hiolders of fours, in order to remove tefrofanwepyent, is obliged to enter into an engagesnent. that he will not exercise this right before a fixed time. " Thus our ancient laws,our new laws, our engagements with our conitractore, the example of othier countries, the creation of a sink- ing-fund, every thing unites to render incontestable the right w-hich we propose to exercise-that of offerinig to the: holders of our rentes the repayment of their capital, or the diminuttion of initeresit upon it. " But is not the exercise of this righit unjust toward some of our creditors ? those, for example, who haye already been repaidt two- thirds during the revolution, anid who have received only a depre- ciated stock, which they couild niot realize except at ani enormous loss-ought they not so be excepted from the present nmeasure ? "1I shouild have, various answers to give to this objection, accordiag as the exception is usade on the ground of' justice or reparation. "WIe propose a general measu re, anid we may justly call it so, al- though we have not the intention of operating at present, except on the disposable rantes: you can at aI later pe- riod decide with respect to the others what the good of the state requires ; and you can do this when the first conversion has taken place. I t wouldi be impossible eo disc-uss the second question usefuilly before the disposable part of these rentes has been converted, andiwhile y-ou are yet ignorant of the results of that at. temnpt whicis we propoze to make to attain that objeot; the othier branch of the rentes is adjourned, hut not excepted : it catn be ad- journd withiout dlanger, because its conversion, if the othier suc- ced,and the law sanctions it, cannot meet with any obstacles in the inerests of inidividuals, It would not be so with the nmeasure whose consequences we are examiinin g:. it is a real exception fromr a reduction which we are proposing~ .to you to apply to all lie indi- vidual holders of our cerLtiicates, and from which such of these holders as shiould prove to have been formerly repaid would be exempt. "If wre should examinetliegrounds upon which this favour is to be granited to them, we are forced to acknowledge thtat the only ground ftor it is, that at the epoch, fatal to so mrany others when the State compelled them to receive a repayment, which it had the right to make themi receive, it executedi is fraudulently in depreciated value, so that it used one kind towards those to whom it owed money, and another towards those whbo liad shared in the loss occa- fiioned by, the assignats. More fortunate than others, the actual hiolders of these ancient reutes hatve profited, and are still pro- ceedingtoprofit, by theimprovementwhich the restoration occaionedl to the value of their c-apital; would it be fair to grant them the ad- ditional privilege of alone holding ii per cent., wyhen all the remain- der shiall be coisverted into 3t per cent.? or rather should we change their certificates, by allowing them the privilege of' chianging them upon terms dilTehrent from those of the other holders of the same rentes ? But ought the party, who has been obliged to alienate his rentes in consequence of the pretended repayment of two-thirds of them, to he treated less favourably than thie party to whom that bankruptcy left the means of preserving the last thirdl even to the present times ~ AndI does the party who some months, or eVen the evening before that repayinent purchased at a low price funds which lhe saw endangered by a disastrous measure, does that party deserve mnore favour than the unfortunate holder enj'oying an aninuity for life, cruelly reduced to a third, without any hope of in- deinnifvinig himeelt by the improvement of his capital ? In examin- ing the question1 you will convince yourselves, gentlemnen, that it would be rather an act ofrpato tan aw act ofjustice. The pro- position being osice reduce oteetrs it will be sufficient.to overthrow it to recognizees oiiyo our efforts to effusce in- dliscriminately all the tae f th mf rtune created by the revo- lution; in th-ose of the species which now engages oair artention, you will find in the first line, withouit doubt, the holders of rentes whosis ruin thte State completed, in erasing fromn the great book the total of their inscriptlon in the second, the holders of annuities for life; finallv, thiose whose perpetual rentes have been redtuced a third by a fictiti-ous repayment. "The injustic of which we are complaining is not theinjustireof the present timnes ; that which would be caused by the exception wrhich is diemanded, would press entirely upon ourselves. "1I leave with satisfaction this painful part of the task whichi has been imposed upon th. 4 after having proved to you, Z hope, on one side tie impossibility of repairing all the evils inifcted in 'a periodI so different fromn that sn whiels we have the hrappiness to live ; and on the other, the necesity of reserving our power of reparation for suchi of our past private misfortunes as are at present at general misfortune. ,; It remains for sne to examine whether any other method is re- conlcilable with tlse mnaintenance of the actual rate of interest upon our rentes, the only objection which can be offered to the proposi- tion wvhichi we have the honour of eubmitting to you.. "1There hat beeni a great deal said about the project of reducing the amount of the sinking-fund, instead of the interest of our rentes. To adopt such a projec't would he to sacrifice the most va- ILuabl6 results arising from the measure, for the sake of recurring to accidental resources, which it would be very erroneous to s4uppose are the principal end of the operation which we present to you. Tihe abuIndancer of capital and the extension of our credit have isunk the interest of marney to such a degree, that we can offer, without danger and almost without loss to oar creditors, the payment of the greatest amount of renses that was ever submitted in any country to a similaro?peration--tisat is, a reduction to 4 instead of 5 per cent. upontelieinterest of our debt. There is solittle doubt astsothe suc- cess oftlhemeas.ure, thatnoothermodeisleftto comb)atit tha,nby at- tacking its legality or its justice I have not yet heard any person express a doubt as to its pracuicabsility. - What stronger proof can be given of the fact which we ad- vancee, and which ought to decide the wvhole quxestion-namnely, that the abundance! of capital and the credit of the State is such that we can borrow at 4 per cent. m funded stock ? "1In sutcha situiation, ought we to continue to pay 5 per cent. ? Can we do so withouti failing in ouir duty towards those who pay it, andl whose intereats We are bound to defend? Besides, if we examnine the effect upon all transactions of every kindl of the rate of interest paid by Governmenit, we shall remain convinced, that even though shte reduction of this rate should promluce no diminution in the pblic burdens, it would still produce a wonderf'ul effect in putting a stop to the unfortunate differences between the produce of capital em- ture industry, and commerce. "cc ould io givet1ftothesethree props of our nationalprosperity, direct the public capital towards them, and endeavour that they shall obtain that capital at the lowest possible interest. In order to accomplish this end, cease to put tbem, by the high interest of your funds, into a competition which they are unable to sustain. " Any plani which will not accomplisb, out of existing circum- stances, a reduction in the interest of the publc funds, wil fail in the most important point connected with general Vrosperity. "And do not letusdeceive ourselves,the spoliation proposed of tbe Sinking Fund wouldsiotleavethe interests of the stockholders soper- fectly untouched as is believed. Such a breach of public faithwould quickly affect their capltals, and the credit of the State. in a degree which we do not hesitate to declare, for it inevitably would aford equal subj' ct of complaint to the stockholder, already used to reckon Iiv capital at a high rate of interest, and to the payer of taxes, who would be condemned to-furnish for ordinary exigencies 390,0O,OOOf- more than he would have done; and who, under pressing cirttm- stances, would see those loans negotiated at inferior rates, whlich, under a bettcr direcdon of the operation in question, would have been agitated at high ones. " There is a chain in all good as in all evil-in the true as in the false. Enter the right path, and all your results are fortunate; take the wvrong one and every thing turns out ill. " If you reduce the sinking-fund to preserve five per cent. to your stockhlolders instead of four, it will not be merely five per cent. that vourfunds wir produce,in competition withyouragriculture, your in. dusery, and your commercet it will be six, seven, or eight1 at we have found It situations just similars regarded our publkc credit, to that which wouetl be brought op by this violatiop of the sink. I ing-fAsNd. zt 16v? aeatru obsetvea hathstte vtlIio the tubJ holders upon their ca ital ;A that it gained for them upon tiseir in& terest; and let there eno mistake iupon that point The increase of capital resulting.from the progress of oar credit and the increase of price in our funds, is a real increase of pubElc Wedtk-one of thegreat elements of prosperitY of which ocietyat'laite is entitled to claim the preservation, because wcety at large p7rti. cpates in the benefits of it. "iTouch the sinking fund, and you will see, operating for a fall, those etowds of speculators, to whom it matters little whetler ther ac't upon a faU or a rise, provided that by the moverneots -tahicK draw the public wsithin their ground they are enabled to play their game agaInst the public, wit' aU the advantages of dexterity against ignorance "In the oDcration which we propose, on the contrary, there ara embodied alf the advantages which are produced by the happy finar,. cial condition at which we haye now arrived. We shal have no. thing, as it appears, to do, but to gather, without exertion, all tbe fruits which the wisdom of the King, and the good-fortuneof France, have colected for us-but to reap' all the useful resulta of a pros. perous situation. ' You may borrow at four per cent., and you owe at five, You ofrer the stock-bolders the preference inthis conversion; and if they refuse it, either from whim or from ignorance of their true interests, you have your right to pay them off, and to give others the bargain which theyhave declined. " The changeoncecarried into effect, you will hare reduced the an- nual charge of the country 30,000,OOOf. You will have substituted, for public funds bearing an interest of five per cent., and upon the value of which the fear of being paid off, or of a diminished action by the sinking fund, will at any time throw the same uncertainty which we observe in the money market at this moment-you have rubstituted, I say, for these a three per cent. stock, which yoa have put forth at the point of 75 (that is to say, at a price which pays ofr the holders of the five per cents, at par, and fixes their interest at four * but yon have freed *his fund from the apprehension of being pait ofF it must gain 33 upon the 100 before you have a right to pay it off; and4 as the more this new stock rises the more the capital of the country will increase, and the more you wiU assist the pro. gress of your own prosperity by reducing the interest of money, you ought to retain the strength of the sinking fund cautiously, to assist you in reaching these results. " In fine, gentlemen,when in this situation vou shall be forced to have recourse to your credit, you wil congratulate yeurselves at hav- ing preserved it il aU its power; and vou wiU find in the nature cf the stock which you have in circulation, the same advantages which I have displayed in those which we are propOking to substitute for the five per cents. If we negotiate a loan of three per cents at 75, it will only cost us four per cent. intere-st, and it wiU be equal, in real capital, to a negotiation of five per cent. at par. " I think I have said enough to convince the Chaamber of the supe. riority of the plan which we propose oyer that vhich sone would op- pose to it: we shall wait till the discussion before we complete the explanations which the Chamber may desire. I now read the pro- ject of law " Louis, &c. 'SinegleArticle.-The Mlinister of Finance is authoriied to sahb. stitute rentes at three per cent. for those already created by the State at five per cent., whether he effect it by exchanging the five per cents for three percents. or by paying off the five per cents. by means of the sale of the three per cents. "The operation shall not be effected but in so far as- " l. There shall be reserved to the holders of the 5 per cents. the power ofmaking their eption between the repayment at their nomi.. nal capital and its conversion into 3 per cents. at the rate of 75. , 2. That itsaball present, as its definitive result, a reducidon os~ a fifth en the interest of the debt converted or reimlbursed. " 3. That the Treasury shalU enter on the enjoymeent of this re- duction of interest on the 1st January, 1826, at latest. " The Diinister of Pinsace shaU render a detailed account of the operation in the course 9f the first foUowing session of the Chambers. (Signed) " LOUIS. " Minister Secretary of Finance, "l VILLFIX." " Given at Paris, &c., April 5, 1824."I [The address of.he Chamber of Deputies to the King's speech, though in general uninteresting, as being merely an echo of the speech itself, contains, nevertheless, the following most important passage in allusion to intended measures for increasing the revenues [of the Church, and indemnifying the losses of the emigrants]:- " Your Majesty wishes to close the last wounds of the Revolution., It was for the King, who has already redeemed so many evils, that this great task was reserved. "Religion requires, for divine worship, protecting laws: for its illinister, an existence more worthy of them. " Unfortunate fidelity asked nothing, but your Majesty has been- mindful of them, and when your designs shall be accomplished, jus. tice will bave obliterated the last traces of our civil dissensions.-" FitzNcsf FUNDS, PARis, April 5-.Five per Cents., 182 40,. Loan of 1823, 161: Bank Stock, 1,940; Neapolitan S per Cents., is ducats, M.; in francs, 10025. Rente d'Espsgne,20 ; Royal Spa- ni,h Loan of 1823, 68k. Exchange on I,ondon, one month, 25 42 three months, 25 20.-Court dsdAe,ttii o.. FRENC.H PAPERS. PARIS. APRIL 5.