344 



FKANCE. 



bat was finally adopted by a vote of 164 

 to 95. 



On March 15th the Senate proceeded to the 

 consideration of the second Government bill, 

 the state-of-siege bill. Clause 1, as passed by 

 the Chamber, read thus : 



The state of siege can be declared only in case of 

 imminent peril consequent on a foreign war or an 

 armed insurrection. A law alone can declare the 

 state of siege ; that law specifies the communes, ar- 

 nm Jissements, or departments to which it applies ; 

 it fixes the duration, at the expiration of which time 

 the state of siege ceases unless a new law prolongs 

 its operation. 



For this the Committee proposed to substi- 

 tute 



A law alone can declare the state of siege, subject 

 to the exceptions hereafter named. That law speci- 

 fies the communes, arrondissements, or departments 

 to which it applies. 



The second clause as proposed by tbe Gov- 

 ernment was as follows : 



In the case of adjournment of the Chambers, the 

 President of the Republic can declare the state of 

 siege, on the advice of the Council of Ministers, 

 but they then meet of full right two days afterward. 



For this the Senate Committee proposed to 

 substitute 



In case of the absence of the Chambers, the Pres- 

 ident of the Republic can declare the state of siege 

 on the advice of the Council of Ministers, but must 

 then assemble the Chambers within eight days. 



In both these cases the Government clauses 

 were adopted. The third, fourth, and fifth 

 clauses were also passed in the form proposed 

 by the Government, and the entire bill was 

 then passed by a large majority. The third 

 clause provides that the President should have 

 no power to declare the state of siege during 

 a dissolution, except in the event of a foreign 

 war. Clause 4 provides that the Chambers 

 shall immediately meet in the event of the 

 state of siege being proclaimed during a pro- 

 rogation, when it should be raised unless both 

 of them agreed to renew it. Clause 5 renews 

 the law of 1849 so far as not repealed by this 

 bill. 



The third of the Government bills, granting 

 amnesty for offenses against the press laws 

 during the interval between May 16 and De- 

 cember 14, 1877, was passed on March 29th. 



The Senate adjourned on April 1st, and the 

 Chamber on the following day, until April 

 29th. The Chambers met on that date, but 

 very little business was transacted. On June 

 7th the Senate passed the bill authorizing the 

 direct taxes for 1879, but by a vote of 135 to 

 134 struck out a clause providing that the di- 

 rect taxes should not be levied until the rest 

 of the budget had been voted. The Chamber, 

 however, restored this clause, and the Senate 

 thereupon deemed it best to concur in the 

 resolution of the Chamber. The Chamber 



COURT OP THE LOUVRE, PARIS. 



also rejected tbe Franco-Italian treaty of com- 

 cc, signed in July, 1877, under the former 

 itration. A proposition inviting the 

 toverament to open fresh negotiations with 

 was passed. M. Waddington, in reply to 

 a qoestion put by M. Renault, made his prom- 

 statement as to the policy which the 

 government had pursued during the 



recent negotiations in the Eastern question. 

 France, M. Waddington said, had invariably 

 acted in favor of peace. "With regard to the 

 Congress, she had stipulated that the questions 

 of Egypt, the Lebanon, and the Holy Places, 

 should be excluded from its deliberations. In 

 conclusion, the minister said that the mainte- 

 nance of peace was now almost a certainty 



