THE COST OF GOVERNMENT IN FRANCE.
The enormous expense gC Republican government in France is the subject of an instructive article by the Vicomte G. d'Avenul in the Revue dvs Deux- Mondes. One of the reasons alle-red for the destruction of the ancient French Monarchy was the largo proportion of the revenue of the country which it was said to absorb. But the little finger of the Third Republic is thicker than the loins of tho old Monarchy in this respect. During the past 63 years the national expenditure of France has been quadrupled. Since 1875 tho expenses of the Government offices in Paris have increased from 22,000,000 to 31,00(),000fr. owing mainly to the unnecessary multiplication of offices. Thus 11 new directorships havo been created, 19 new subdirectorships, 51 chief clerkships and 74 assistant clerkships. In the Ministry of fine arts there are 30 chiefs to superintend 70 subordinates, while in the Ministry of Public Worship the proportion is 20 to 21. The same thing goes on in the diplomatic service, with the result that the French Foreign Office costs 2,000,000 frs. more than our own. So also with regard to tho War Office and Education department, where an increase of only 15 per cent in the number of pupils has been accompanied by an increase of 500 per cent in tha cost of education. France is now the very paradise of inspectors. There arc inspectors for nearly everything with very respectable salaries, and nobody who is related to a member of the Chamber of Deputies need despair of getting appointed to one of these snug berths. On the other hand, services which cannot well bo turned to account tor political purposes are no better paid than formerly. The judges have had no increase of salary, ami sergeants in the French army receive only a sixth of the pay given to non-commissioned officers in Germany. Meanwhile, the French national debt grows a good deal more rapidly than the reputation of the Republic.— Yorkshire Post.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WT18880616.2.43
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2486, 16 June 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)
Word count
Tapeke kupu
334THE COST OF GOVERNMENT IN FRANCE. Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2486, 16 June 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
For further information please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in