Our Paris Letter.

Manawatu Herald, 27 January 1894, Page 2

Our Paris Letter.

(from our own cohrespondkn-t ) Paris, loth Dec, 1898. " The Spuller Combination of which I spoke you in my last letter has alien through, and a Cabinet Casimir Perier has been formed wifli M. Eaynal as Minister of £t^ Interior and M. Spuller as Minister of Public Instruction. The declaration of the CasmirPerier Ministry, read amid much applause at a silting of the Chamber had ono merit over the previous declaration of the late Dupuy Ministry and that was its brevity. Like his predecessor, M. Perier puts his foot down on the three Radical ; nostrums, Revision of the Constitution, the Separation of Church from State, and a progressive income tax. He says that Revision of the Constitution and Separation of Church from State were not demanded bv the majority of the constituencies at the recent general election, but he admits, that what he calls " acquired wealth "should- contribute a larger quota to Uie public revenue than at present. In other words, he says to the Radicals "If you can make out a case for another income tax, I see no objection to it." It mnrf be remembered however, fehi'fc •• acquired wealth" already poys more than one income tax. Tlirsre is a heavy tax on shares, bonds and all forms of negotiable property,excopfc French and foreign Rentes, nominally a 3 per cent tax, but really through the constructiongiven to the law by the Finance Department, a 10 per cent tax. Then there is a land tux, a furniture tax. and an octroi tax, so that it is difficult to say where the new tax is to bfc placed. It may be doubted whether the country will be verygrateful to any Ministry increasing the already heavy burden of taxation, and it is very significant that, notwithstanding all this trimming to catch radical votes, the Ministerial majority is barely 85. Also the events of the Parliamentary week have been highly significant. There have been two battles between the Government and the Opposition, in both of which the Government has been victorious by a small majority. The first was on the question of the amnesty, in which the Government majority was about thirty five. The second qiies- J tion was the election of a President of the Chamber of Deputies,, and on this question also the Government carried its candidate, M. Dupuy, by nearly the same majority. About 100 members, most of them new x - comers, abstained from voting on/' either question. The situation, therefore, is an exceedingly stra'ngft. • one. The active forces of the Qo- ~* vernment, and those of their opponents, are nearly equal, the victory being declared in favour of the Government by Monarchist aud Bailie votes. On tho' other hand, there arc in the Chamber about one hundred abstainers, who do'" not seem to have made up their mind on which side they will vote. Under r,ht;se circumstances the position of thf! Casimir-Perier Government is sufficiently precarious, though a Moderate Republican organ is of opinion, that ultimately the one hundred abstenstionists.will rally-, -to the Government forces.