FRANCE.

Southland Times, Issue 1629, 6 September 1872, Page 3

FRANCE.

The treaty for the evacuation of the occupied districts passed the Assembly I without discussion. It provides that the '

departments of the Aube, Seine, and Marne shall be evacuated in two months if 20 millions sterling be paid, and that two more departments shall be surrendered next March if 40 millions be paid. The remaining provinces, including the fortress of Belfort, are to be surrendered in March, 1875, on payment of the residue of the ransom. Meanwhile an occupying force of 50,000 men id to be maintained at the cost of Prance. The Budget debates in the Assembly were marked by scandalous scenes of violence. M. Thiers bas broken with the "Right, and patronises the deputies of the Left. Eumors of an intention to supersede Thiers by MacMahou have quieted the former. M. Larcy, the Minister of Public "Works, has resigned; no successor has been appointed. Eochefort's sentence has been com- { muted to banishment, at the instance of Victor Hugo. The Protestant Synod is in session. The orthodox creed has been voted by 61 to 45. General Trochu has resigned his seat in the Assembly and retires into private life. The preliminary legal examination of Marshal Bnzaine is still proceeding. The National Assembly has adopted the first clause of M. Gaston's proposition to increase the tax on patents, and has rejected the proposal to raise the tax on doors and windows and personal property. The Assembly has also adopted a neAV loan, with an additional article, authorising the Government to increase the circulation of the Bank of France 3,200,000,000 francs. The subscription to the loan is officially announced for 2Sth and 29th July. M. Martel has proposed the prorogation of the Assembly from the 4th August until the 15th November. There is a perfect calm in Parliamentary circles. The Americans in Paris have given a magnificent banquet to Mr Stanley.