334 



FRANCE. 



of Europe, the horizon appears to be cleared of all 

 menacing eventualities ; formidable problems which 

 ought to have been resolved because they could not 

 be evaded, pressed upon the destinies of popula- 

 tions ; they might have been imposed at a more in- 

 opportune period ; they have received their natural 

 solution without too violent shocks, and without the 

 dangerous cooperation of revolutionary passions. A 

 peace which reposes upon such bases will be a 

 durable peace. 



As to France, in whatever direction she looks, she 

 can perceive nothing which can impede her progress 

 or interrupt her prosperity. Preserving friendly re- 

 lations with all powers, directed by a policy which 

 has generosity and moderation for its strength, rely- 

 ing upon her imposing unity, with her all extended 

 genius, her treasures, and her credit, which fertilize 

 Europe ; with her developed military forces, sur- 

 rounded henceforth by independent nations, she will 

 appear not less great, she will remain not less re- 

 spected. Such is the language which you must hold 

 in your communications with the Government to 

 which you are accredited. Accept, etc., 



LAVALETTE. 



On December 29th, an imperial decree was 

 published abolishing tonnage dues in French 

 ports on and after January 1, 1867, except for 

 vessels of those nations which, like the United 

 States, impose differential duties upon French 

 vessels in their own ports. The report of M. 

 Behic, Minister of Agriculture, Commerce, and 

 Public "Works, which precedes the decree, states 

 that the English Government have undertaken 

 to bring forward in the next session of Parlia- 

 ment a bill for the abolition of local duties of a 

 differential character. By an understanding 

 between the English and French Governments, 

 it was provided that the extradition treaty, 

 which was to have expired on December 4, 

 1866, should continue in force until the begin- 

 ning of September, 1867. 



On May 26th, the plenipotentiaries of France 

 and Spain signed, at Bayonne, a treaty concern- 

 ing the definite regulation of the frontier of 

 the Pyrenees. 



In September, inundations took place in a 

 large portion of France, causing considerable 

 damage. A report in the Mov.iteur from M. 

 de Forcade la Roquette, President of the In- 

 undation Commission, stated that the number 

 of departments which suffered more or less 

 from the visitation was 31. Not fewer than 

 1,702 communes were invaded by the floods, 

 and the total loss was estimated at 43,753,234f. 

 The commission proposed to distribute at once 

 3,777,917f., and the Government made for the 

 year 1866 remissions of taxation to the amount 

 of408,678f. 



In the Moniteur, of December 23d, two offi- 

 "~ 1 reports were published concerning the 



cial 



Government of Algeria. The first refers to the 

 organization of Mussulman civil tribunals in 

 that country, and is followed by an imperial 

 decree, containing dispositions based on the 

 previous document. The second relates to the 

 lands formerly belonging in common to the Arab 

 tribes and which were constituted into individ- 

 ual property by the Senatus-Consultum of April 

 22, 1863. These the minister recommends 

 should not be liable to seizure for debts con- 



tracted previously to their repartition. This 

 report is also followed by a decree, ordering 

 the execution of the measure proposed, and also 

 extending the same protection for a period of 

 five years to the stock and product of the lands 

 in question. 



lAgreeably to an imperial order, a commission 

 was appointed in October, composed of six min 

 isters, and several generals, and presided over 

 by the emperor himself, to inquire into the 

 advisability of modifying the military organiza- 

 tion q the empire. The commission was to 

 seek the means of placing the national forces in 

 a condition to insure the defence of the terri- 

 tory, and maintain the political influence of 

 France. The commission terminated its labors, 

 when the Moniteur (December 12th) published 

 the following as the principal features of thf 

 plan agreed upon : 



It is based upon this consideration that, in ordei 

 to maintain her rank in Europe, France ought to be 

 able to set on foot an army of 800,000 men. In this 

 figure are included the recruits exercised in the 

 depots, the auxiliary corps, such as the gendarmerie, 

 the infirmary staff, the operatives of the administra- 

 tion, the military equipages, and, finally, the non- 

 available, including the men under condemnation 

 and in the hospitals. An equally evident necessity 

 is, that to these 800,000 men must be added a mil- 

 itary force for the protection of internal order, and 

 the defence of the coasts and the fortified places 

 while the army is at the frontiers. The problem to 

 be solved was of the most complicated kind. While 

 preserving, in fact, an organization already tested, 

 means had to be found, under grave circumstances, 

 of augmenting our effective force with experienced 

 men, without involving the finances of the State, or 

 imposing too heavy a charge upon the population. At 

 the same time, while proclaiming as a principle of 

 equality and justice, the obligation of every one to 

 defend the country in case of war, it was of impor- 

 tance not to clash violently with the established cus- 

 toms, or divert in times of peace the avocation of the 

 young men intended for the liberal professions. The 

 plan adopted by the high commission satisfied these 

 various obligations. It classes the military forces 

 of France under three categories: 1, the active 

 army ; 2, the reserve ; 3, the National Guard Mobile. 

 The dtiration of service in the army, and in the re- 

 serve is fixed at six years. The liberated soldiers 

 count three years in the National Guard Mobile. 1st. 

 The active army is composed of engaged and re8n- 

 gaged volunteers, as well as of men called into the 

 ranks by the annual law of the contingent. 2. The 

 reserve is formed of all the young men of the class 

 who have not been drawn to form part of the annual 

 contingent. It is divided into two equal parts deter- 

 mined by the numbers at the drawing. The first, 

 called the "reserve of the first ban," remains at the 

 disposition of the Minister of War, even in time of 

 peace, to reenforce, if necessary, the effective of 

 the regiments ; the second, called " the reserve of 

 the second ban," on the other hand, cannot be called 

 out except in time of war, and by a decree of the 

 emperor, as is the case now with the naval conscrip- 

 tion. The two reserves are exercised in their turn 

 in the depots of the army for a period of time more 

 or less long. Marriage is permitted in the reserve 

 as soon as the fourth year of service is accomplished. 

 In order to render less irksome the military instruc- 

 tion of the young men called upon to be exercised in 

 the depots, all those who have learned how to handle 

 and fire a musket at home, and who, in a word, 

 know the school of the soldier, will, on examination, 

 be released from the annual exercises. They will 



