London, Friday, July 2, 1...
The Times, 1824-07-02T00:00:00

It wd be *ecn by our private letter of Tuesday from Paris, that tNie French Dlinistry is far froin being reckoned complete or co&solidated. The .Tournamdet De1Dbas, in an article vitten with great spirit, stamped evidently with the seal of the ex.Minister CMATARaAEMnJ#,D, censurea every thing that has been done for nine time past by the Caviict. Thi 5tricttuTet aye no dbaltjottttt, bst why were they niot made sooner ? In the Chambet of Prpittles the- liscussion cbmnmenced on M1onday on the suppIencentarY credits for' !923, or the expenses of the Spanish.ctmp:ugn. i. 13. CONSTAN9T delivered a speech, In wlhich he took. a vrcw :hiefly,uf the yro3ect of IiLw, withli reference to the present situation )f Spain; and complained of the small success with which the armed intervention of France had been attended, in restoring tranquOllity to that unhappy country. After General MorNTA1t1UE had pup- ported the project of law, General Foy ascended the Tribune, and opposed it in a long and cloquent speech. At the commencement of last session, he saad the (ltvernment demanded of the Chambers an eventual credit of 100 mui'inns to defray the expenses of the Spanish war, and after taklng a review of the. estimates this sum was declared sufficient. This war took place: not a soldier was brought into the field beyond the num- ber contemplated at the timne of the estimate, and even the class of 1x-23, whom the Government was allowed to enrol, were not called out. The army passed the Bidassos on the 7th of Aprill; on the 23d of May it was at Madrid; inithe month of June befrc Cadiz; and in October, it had no longer an encmy to combat. The Chambers might then have expected rather a saving from the 100 snillions than an excessofe-tpen,lituire over the estimate. But so far was this from beingthbe case, tha, 107 millions more were required for extraordi- nary and u&gent expenseg. All this enormnous and unex. pected expense-all these great sacrifices are from- a (Jozt, missary-General. Andct who was this CommissaryrGeneral ? Why, he wvas undertaker for the wvhole administrative ser5 vice of au army-that is, a speculator who, familiar at once vith the operations of a campaign, witlh the accidents of war, andl with the state of the country, lends to Government his experience, his intelligence, his capital, and his credit, on condition that he is paid for his advances. It would follow, from this descriptioni of a conw tractor.general, that he should never be employed exccpt where the war is slow and tedious, carried on in a country destitute of resources and swith a treasury empty of supplies. Such was the case in the times of Louis XII. and XV., and under the Consulsllip. W Nlras France in this state at the eo)mmencement of the last war? I The hon. and gallant General answered " no." If the Prince who i conducted the army had not had the inhabitants in his favour, the oc- cupation of Aladrid, so far from leading to the submission of the pro. [ vinces, would only have aggravated the evil, and Spain would have been saved. An Intendant had been sent to the amry, who only oc- ca?arned delays-he was ordered from Paris on the 9th of February, and he arrived at Bayonne on the l8thi of March. By the side of this slow-moving Intendant, appeared all at once bl. OUVRARD, who boasted of long experience-who doubted of nothing-who pro. mised every thing-who was endowed with the genias of business, and possessed intelligence with the people of the country. The sol- diers wanted food-he bought them some sacks of rice: transports were wanting-he pointertout Spanish carts as a specimen. Such was the history of the OUVRAnD contract of April 3, and in such circum- stancess could the Prince do better than employ this contractor ? But the sanction of the Prince did not necessarily infer the sanction of the Chamber, nor ought his name to be made a shield for sheltering the extTavagance and improvidence of Ministers. Even if the first con. tract of OUgRArti was necessary to be executed, was it necessary to enter upon another? The gallant (tencral examined the bargains of OUVRAItD in detail, and exposed their ectravagance in the price of 'ations of all kinds, ar.d the expenses of transports. The contract of the 5th of April had been renewed by the Intendant REX4UD, and by a tbird Intendant, on conditions more onerous. The Ministers refused their sanction to the latter, but they indemnified Ml. O vtVArtD by four or five millions of francs. " An indemnity to M. OUV RARD !" exclaimed the General, amid the laughter of the Chamber. In reply to this speech, M. DE VrLLELE entered into a defence of the conduct of Government and the OuvntAnD contracts. For thirty years, be said, such a campaign had not been seen; for thirty years the war had been canied on at the expense of the in. vaded country. The troops, therefore, found themselves, on the eve of passing of the Bidassoa, (wlhen it was essential not to create a hostile spirit in the country), without the means of advancing, except upon the old system of forced contributions. As expedition was necessary, they were compelled to acee%ie to the tenns of OuvaARD, who was the only person who had the knowiedge necessary to ensure the supply of the army. He contended that though this bargain was certainly burdensome, yet that the conplete manner in which the'army was supplied without being driven to violence, had facilitated the termniation of the caTnpaign, and had thus in reality been econo- mical. Thrice did the Government desire to break off'all engagements with 0 u tvTR.tD, and thrice were they conpelled to sanction them, from'animpossibilityof getting the business doneotherwise.After the speecht of the Mlinister, the discussion vras adjourned to Tuesday, | On that day AI. DuvAux, after cantending that foresirht and a tle aotulistration of war, and that war raslhly entered upon was one of the elements most destructive of public prosperity, proceeded to denounce the late invasion of Spain, for which the supplementary credits were demanded, as an enterprise fraught with evil conse- quwnces to France. Whilst the Prench troops, he observed, covered with glory, were crossing the Pyrenees and Bidassoa, the War Dc- partment passed the Casdine Forlcs under the auspices of the firm 01 UUVIIAKD. 1o iveinister was rounr to avow nimSelf responsible for the contracts: nDt one would venture to countersign them. " IVhiclh of the Mlinisters," exclaimeed the speaker, " has incurred the responsibility of these contracts, so burdensome to France ?' " No one answers my question. (Laughter.) This is the first blame which an administration that cannot defend itself deseres." The Speaker proceeded to review the operations of the Adminis- tration on the opening of the campaign iniSpain,and to support his ar. guments thereon he frequently referred to the memorial of the Mllar- shal Duke de BELLUN O, from which it appeared that the army was amply supplied withprovisions, and that it was impossible to fix up. on any time when it experienced that necessity which had been so strenuously insisted upon in justification of the extravagant contracts entered into with M. OUVRARD, and which, in conclstion, he do- clared, feom calculations which lie had made, had surpassed the al. lotted credits by 100 millions. The printing of .l. DtUVAUX's speech was dlemanded. The Minister of Finances controverted the error into wlhich, in his opinion, the preceding speaker had fallen, in saying that the allotted credits were exceeded by 100 millions. His Excellency showed that the whole of the loan (which it was wished to make the sole object of discussion) amounted to only 48 millions. He gave this explanation before the Chamber should vote the printing of the speech, in order to enlighten public opinion, by demonstrating that the basis upon which the principal calculations of the honourable member were founded was incorrect. M1. PARTONNEAUX, in a long speech, justified all the adminis- trative acts of the army of Spain. M. PETON demanded, and he doubted not that the entire Cham- ber would demand, a prompt and vigorous investigation of the con- duct of those who concluded the contracts. On this condition only would he vote for the project. AL. Dn VAS.LON thought that the Commission would not have approved ofthe expenditure of the army of Spain, unless they had been conyinced ofthejust necessity ofit. "I slso demand," saidhe, "- an investigation, which ougbt only to make the guilty tremble, but whose terrible consequences oult not to affect men who are only ac. cused of negligence." The close of the debate was loudly called for; M. CLAUSEL DE CoussEnGuEs demanded to be heard relative toa simple fact. " Gentlemen," said the hon. member, " M. BENJA3IN CONST- ANTr, in the sitting of yesterday, stated one fact respecting the si. tuation of Spain. I have only two words ro say; I claim, there, fore, your attention. IlI. BENYJAMIN CONSTANT asked you-' IL the authority of the throne re-established in Spain ? Is it respected, when, in defiance of Royalordinances, numerous citizens arevictimsi of re-actions?' From this statement you may believe, gentlemen, that the partisans of the Cortes are a prey to horrible persecutions." The speaker was proceeding, but being frequently interrupted by movements in the Chamber, he resumed his seat. At. DuvAux demanded to be heard, to rectify an incorrect statement made by the Minister of Finance. The close of the dis. cussion, however, being loudly and generally demanded, was put to the vote, and adopted. FIRENCw FUNDS.-Five per Cents. 102f 80c.; after 'Change hours, J02f. 55c.; Neapolitan, 89i; Spanish Royal Lean, 60k; Spa. nisis Rcntes, lD9. LONDON, F'RIDAY, JULV 2, 1824.