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THE FRENCH BUDGET. Reviewed from a dista...
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THE ELECTIONS IN PARIS. "Very little ins...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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India Bills, One, Two, And Tiirkr. Tiik ...
ordinary and seemingly insane demonstrations of ferocity on the part of the Sepoys « an event to draw towards India the whole and absorbed attention of this country . Very little time elapsed from the first arrival of the news before it was assumed that the causes of the military defection were to be sought only in the defects of the Indian Government , and the idea was followed with vigour and persistence . Public opinion was not slow to arrive It a conclusion . Without positively condemning the Company for its rule of India , the will of the dominant party in Parliament was pretty strongly expressed to the effect that the Government would be better transferred to the Crown . _ _ Lord Palmerston was prepared to strike the iron while it was hot , and he lost no time m preparing a bill for effecting the change . His chance of carrying his measure through Parliament seemed to be extremely promising . Short as the measure was of the requirements of the great case with which it dealt . Lord Palmerston ' s position seemed to be all but unassailable . Some such measure it was assumed , would be welcomed by the country ; the demand had been responded to from the throne ; and the acceptance of the Government measure seemed all but inevitable . The Milner Gibson vote , however , not , only removed Lord Palmerston from power , but it opened out the subject of the Indiar Government , and released it from dependence " upor lrora
the influence of a Minister . Separated necessities of party , Lord Palmerston s India Bill was discovered to be far short of the measure demanded to give security for the better government of India . To the Derby-Disraeli Cabinet the ¦ country naturally turned its eyes , not expecting that too much would be offered to glad them ; and , therefore , the India Bill of Lord Ellenhorough has not vastly disappointed it . The failure of this bill was seen 1 o be certain ; in the supposed elements ot its popularity were detected nothing but the certain elements of its destruction . ¦¦ ' Victory seemed to be handed over to Lord Palmerston ; India Bill JNo . 1 took its original standing ; and Lord Palmerston returned to more than his original power . But a very simple movement on the part of Lord John Buss ell has changed the aspect of the party game , and brought the question of Indian government mnnv * 1 pns nearer to a new solution .
railing utterly in their bill , Ministers succeed no better in their resolutions , which were to give them a new chance of success . The fate of these resolutions is not very doubtful . By themselves they stand no chance of being accepted in committee ; and therefore attention is properly directed to the series of amendments of which Lord John Russell has given notice . The Ellenborough bill adopted as much of Lord Palmerston ' s bill as could 1 ) e appropriated without absolutely betraying the source whence the parts were drawn ; Lord John Russell s amendments will , in effect , absorb the Ellenborough bill , but openly , and seeking to give it better waking capabilities . The main features of a bill founded UUlll hbuiui wiw iiiiv ^
UpOll 1 . I 1 C JliUCnUOI ^ « .-nv . n _ . ~ j Lord John Russell would be pretty nearly as follows . , The chief amendment proposed would introduce a new principle into the formation of tlie Indian Council as a guarantee for the independence of members , namely , that of the tenure of ofilce during good behaviour—the principle upon which our Judges—whose independence is beyond doubtlinld their office . It is in his amendments referring
to the construction of the Council that Lord John rises highest above the Tory scheme . Thd Council he proposes is to consist of twelve members , including the " Secretary of State ; " the whole to be nominated by the Crown , and to hold office on the principle we ' havc mentioned . Most of these members are to be chosen for their special knowledge of India , acquired by actual service for a number of years to be limited by statute ; and though their _ »~ ~ . ? .-J .... n ~~ J < ... Til 1 * vi > uJ ni \ l l . r i \ vi . 11 in 1 % ^> i > IV 1 nmtl \ r
Uj ) JJDlUI / inUllL Will UU VllkllilU J IUI ilJUj , liu j . ij . ttjv-oiij ma-y remove any member upon , an address from both Houses of Parliament . Every vestige of the old Secret Committee is to be done away ; and the whole of tho letters and correspondence of the Indian Government be laid open to every member of the Council . With the patronage , Lord John deals in a bold and reasonable manner ; it is all , at , the outset , to be placed in the hands of the ( Secretary of ULiiii Hie ii uiuiuii ui tiiw hum
\ ; lui luuni ; _>_ ) , ; m . a ; u ; . ; iiiijio j cadetships being thrown open to public competition , with the exception of one-fourth of the number , i which are to bo reserved to the sons of Indian civil j and military officers . j From tliis it will appear that , in spite of the ] outcry against a " simple" mode of dealing with a j
difficult and comp subject , suggested the simplest mode possible ,. and at once appears to have come very near to the solution of the problem of Indian government . As to what the result of these amendments may be when they are moved in Committee , it is premature to offer an opinion . But , meanwhile , we may note that there are four p arties in Parliament interested in that result , and awaiting it more or less eagerlynamely , the Government , the supporters of Lord Palmerston , the India Company ' s supporters , and that party which includes most of the independent Liberals , and which has accepted the dogma that the government of India must . be transferred to the Crown . ' , The adoption of Lord JohnBusselTs amendments would be a double triumph , disposing of the Indian measures of both Lord Palmerston and Lord Ellen-1 borough , with consequent loss of political influence to Government and to Lord Palmerston . The desire of the Company , of course , is to see Lord John Russell ' s scheme of government as unsuccessful as those which have preceded it . Winch will be the winning party it is not possible to determine in the i present state and temper of parties . Possibly the chances are favourable to the Company . " Want of t a powerful lead in the House of Commons leaves a _ good deal to chance . What appears tolerably certain _ is , that Lord Palmerston ' s measure has little chance _ c £ i . ~ j :., ~ nnnn » tMi /< a * mrl Tinvrl "Fillp / nhnrovisrll ' s
less . But there arc two results possible from the discussion of the resolutions , as amended loy Lord John Russell ; the independent Liberals may identify themselves with the result of these amendments , and , in the event of their being adopted , Lord Derby ' s Government may accept a bill based upon these amended lesolutions : in either case , the victory would he to Lord John Russell .
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___ . ~ \ J . * : *—i v ^ y —¦ —— — ^ ^ j ^ ___ __ __ lex Lord John has No . 423 , M ^ 1 , 1858 . ] _____ T HE IE 1 DEB . ^ — ¦ x __ j -r _ i i . _ ~ j ,, « i < t « Tv . r » io-nri wp ah mild searcelv consider this dualsIn land we should scarcely consider this
The French Budget. Reviewed From A Dista...
THE FRENCH BUDGET . Reviewed from a distance , the French budget for j the present year is made to wear a passable appearance Its grand , total presents a balance at which England ought not to cast reflections . Its expenditure of 70 , 670 , OOOZ . only exceeds the income by 3 , 120 , 000 / . ; and as the operation of the Sinking biu
Fund can be suspended , the finance jyunisier ca 3 , 320 , 000 ^ . Income and expenditure arc thus made to balance , and even a . surplus of 260 , 000 / . can be shown on the figures . This is so very close to the circumstances of-England , that the Imperial Government -miqht get off on 1 he comparison . It needs scarcely a moment ' s reflection to sliow that there is no real parallel or even approach between the two cases . The Finance Minister of the Emperor Napoleon has been in the habit of composing mdgcts intended to produce a favourable cifcet on the money market ; while it is notorious that the Government is constantly adding to the permanent debt at the rate of something like 12 , 000 , 000 / . ji vf > nr . without keemnsr its income at all up to the
expenditure . There is reason to suppose that the ¦ uuacknoichclgcd debt is also annually increasing , and is becoming very embarrassing indeed . Tlic svsteni of accounts is so complicated that it favours concealment ; and as we know that the Finance Minister gives to the budget the most favourable appearance , we may consider the figures now ; presented to cover a " much more serious dciiciency than that which is confessed . i ill i ~ II ... 1 meuiou
The suspicions not only suggested oy me of keeping accounts , but by the actual circumstances of France . Although the Corps Legislntif , which has had the Budget under consideration , and has been debating a very voluminous report , has no real authority , there is sufficient sense of independence and conscientious work in the members to bring out some curious comments . The members have objected to the manner in -which the accounts are > -. vn « , » n ( fil the figures are unintelligible , and the
audit of thorn is avowed to . be a farce . Lvon in the report , which is designed to soften the effect ol censure , the reporter , M . Dovinck , fools l ) ound to excuse the excess of ex ]) enditure over income , pleading the revolution of ISIS , the Crimean War , t he dearth of three successive years , the monetary crisis ol 1857 , and other disasters , as reasons why , since ISIS , the operation of tho sinking fund has been iMitt > w >» il < wl ¦ Inif . the nernument expenses , he says ,
have been continually-rowing " until 1 , 73 ( 1 , 000 , 0001 . have boon added to the ordinary expenditure " France painfully toils from year to ymr , saddled with badly balanced budgets ; " and M . Dcvinck contends ' ilmt the expenditure must he brought vithiu the income , as in tlic case of private
indivi-, . Eng argument correct ; since it is seldom for _ the national interest that the expenditure should , be cut according to the income . On the contrary , if any expenditure is really necessary , the national income can . be enlarged to meet it ; and . the members of the community gain by that forced outlay . If he were interrogated before the free tribunal of a select committee of the House of Commons , M . Devihck would probably admit this axiom , and would explain that this immense expenditure of France is not necessary ; only Frenchmen are not free to say so in so many words . ¦* , •¦ ,, t The commission of the Corps Legislate complain , that the reductions which are laid before the Council of State are always rejected ; they complain that they are precluded from interfering with , the items of the budget ; and they suggest that the financial condition of the country enforces the necessity of " long peace , founded on mutual esteem , and the feeling which arises from reciprocal good , will . " In other words , the Corps Legislator , demands intelligible accounts , public control over the expenditure , retrenchment , and peace . A commission has been sitting in Paris , by order _ of the Emperor , to contrive some plan for relieving the money-market , and especially the share-market , from the fearful stagnation that has depressed it . We have not seen or heard of any final report of this commission . It is said , to have suggested some cunning expedients for " bulling" the market , especially the consolidation of all railway stock , with a Government guarantee of four per cent , on dividends ' all round . Kow , since Government would of course buy up the stock at a heavy price , and since four per cent , is not the average of dividends , such a plan would demand an appropriation of money altogether out of the question in the face of-3 , 000 , 000 ? . of deficit . In the meanwhile , the money market has spontaneously rebounded , railway shares are heavy , railway enterprise is to a great extent at a
standstill , the iron trade fails—one effect of this stagnation . The trade returns for the quarter indeed show a prevailing decrease over the whole of French commerce . Every report that can float on the wind operates upon the money market , as . it the feelings of the people were depressed and nervous in the last degree . The verdict of a Lorx-¦ rl ™ :,, % . „ onolc •! rJoiY * r \ Oil tliP I . TH fl P Dl TtlTlS . A .
, severe comment in the French journals creates a panic . The want of employment amongst the working classes aeain occasions the necessity ^ tor immensely expanding the works provided in Paris and the great towns for improving the streets and furnishing work to the labourers . Tims an artificially created expenditure is rendered necessary by the ' declining trade and income of the country ; and the dead weight of debt , which is beginning- to burden the State as well as individuals , hangs like a n-rowing storm of bankruptcy over the futureparalyzing the people , terrifying the Government , and exhausting the invention even of . the lans financiers .
The Elections In Paris. "Very Little Ins...
THE ELECTIONS IN PARIS . "Very little instruction is to be derived from analyzing the figures put forward with reference to t ' lie elections which have just taken place in Paris . AVe know exactly how it is over there . The mass of the inhabitants of tlic capital , properly so called , have been , arc , and will remain hostile to the Km-• . W . ' .. . < unclli ' rnlv " > Orf-W'vt fli I lf > ll ( Vl ft . flint . f'Vfl'V —
H ^ l . ' ^ . Lb lDtl | IUO 1 U 1 > ^< J t * UV >^» . » ' . *» ... »* v « . . v » -w ~ ........ . — - _ , ; ycar the lists arc carefully revised , and the naim ; of every marked oppositionist expunged . We know I a person who has seen the registers , which prove beyond a doubt that in the sixth circumscription , containing the Faubourg St . Antoine , there have , been live ' thousand erasures since the last elections , whilst several thousands of new names have been put on . In addition to this , it is as ' well to remember that a large portion of the bnulifiw , mis iucki
which is essentially lionapartist , occn . : u on to this division of Pans . With such arrangements , after three months of terror caused by tlic arrest of shoals of innocent , people , in the absence of all possibility of agitation , Ihc candidate absent , forbidden even to publish an address , with his name simply printed on a few bills perscvcnnijly torn down by the police—it would not have been a triumph for Government even if M . Jules IVvro ) i
had hrcn defeated . The lad Una jic nna <•<• elected by a majority of above eleven hundred , . speaks volumes for tho persevering republicanism of the ; Faubourg St . Antoine . In one of the remaining two elections , a ( i <> vi' «» - » ncut candidate passed by a large majority—thirteen
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 1, 1858, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_01051858/page/13/
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