FRENCH FINANCE.

Lyttelton Times, 26 August 1858, Page 3

FRENCH FINANCE.

(Prom the * Atlas,' 10th April.) No one who chanced to be in Pu-ig towards the close of 1854 can have forgotten the enormous mass of human beings which formed, with the utmost precision, into a prodigious queue, reached from the Rue Castiglione along the left side of the Rue Monthabor, and, entering the gateway of the Ministere des Finances, ultimately lost itself in the labyrinth of bureaux of that extensive establishment. That crowd was composed- of the most heterogeneous ingredients. In it we distinguished the banker side by side with bis clerk, the rich shopkeeper of the Boulevard des Italiens next to the journeyman cabinetmaker of the Faubourg St. Antoine; the government employe and the waiters of the cafe; the poor servant girl and the elegant lorette; the wealthy proprietaire and the obsequious concierge; soldiers, rentiers, domestic servants, and even chiffoniers—in short, a goodly sprinkling of every class, and every shade of Parisian society, all shivering in the wintry atmosphere, and waiting with more or less patience'till their turn should arrive, to pay their instalment, and subscribe for their quantum of the great public national loan, which Napoleon raised to meet the expense of the Russian war. Upwards of three times the amount required was subscribed for, and hardly a Frenchman possessed of 250 francs who did not write for his ten francs of rente. The new loan was immediately quoted at a considerable premium at the Paris Bourse, and, perhaps no experiment was ever attended with

greater success. Three years have elapsed and an extraordinary change has taken place; those funds which were sought after with such unprecedented avidity, and bought up with snch eagerness during the war, are, now, at a period of profound peace, completely neglected, and perfectly immovable, and their value totally disproportionate with that of the funds of Great Britain; three per cent*, consols standing at nearly ninty-seven, while three per cent, rentes are below seventy. The difference between tbe stocks of the two countries formerly ranged from 12 to 15 per cent., and we ask ourselves why it is that the disparity has to-day reached 27 per cent. It is true, of course, that some allowance must be made for the political movements which ; have agitated France during the last ten years, and for the larger creation of Rentes during the late war, a creation which amounted to no less than sixty millions sterling*; while in a country, where extra taxes in cases of emergenc} r are more willingly submitted to, an addition of sixteen millions to the permanent debt sufficed. It is true, also, that in England, settlements in the public funds for marriages, minors, charities, the Court of Chancery, etc., caused a constantabsorption of the debt, whereas in France such a s} rstem does not prevail; on the other hand, however, the national debt- of the country is more than double that of France* The security of the rente is beyond a doubt, and of the integrity of France we have the greatest possible proof in .that although the revolution which hurled Louis Phillipe from his throne happened on the 24th February, and the country was in a state of the most complete anarchy, yet the dividend on tha debt was' duly announced on the 7th of March following, and. the. payment regularly effected. We are not of opinion that political apprehension is tbe cause of the present extraordinary low price of the French funds; for were it so, the stocks of other continental states would sympathise, and would not be quoted at their present high rates. We see Belgian four-and-a-half per cents, marked above par; Dutch two-and-a-half per cents., 65; Danish three per cents., 84 ; and; Neapolitan five per cents., 114. These are all second rate powers, and would be1 shaken to their very foundation by any political catastrophe which may befall France. We remember that, shortly after the advent of the Emperor Napoleon to power, the three per cent rentes rose to 86; that during the worst moments of the Russian war, they never descended below 61 £, and at one period reached 76. We therik fore again ask" how is it now, when France is in the enjoyment of peace, and capital superabundant there, as in every other country, that^for months past her funds have neverremain^ for any length of time above 70 ?f and thus damot'hold that position at?iong*\ the nationa^ debts of Europe' which?'they merit'from/fche exalted standing* of Frano