The Moniteur de r Arme'e, a strictly official journal, denies
that the Emperor intends to form a National Guard. His plan is a much wider and more expensive one. The effective strength of 400,000 men is never to be diminished in time of peace, and a new, more available, and better instructed reserve will be created, which "will render any reduction in the War budget impossible, and necessitate some sacrifices indispensable for the honour and security of the country." It is understood in France that this reserve is intended to bring the total army up to a million of men, and to be formed by drafting a second 100,000 conscripts a year, who will be exercised as regular soldiers for three months in every twelve. It is believed that the Military Commission hail only been appointed to give a professional sanction to a resolve already fixed. Before the decree appears, it will, we trust, in the interests of the dynasty, have been submitted in some form to the people, whose blood-tax is thus increased one-fourth.
