NEWS OF THE WEEK.
ACAREFUL examination of French finance makes it doubtful whether the immediate difficulty has not been exaggerated. The "deficit" of forty millions is one which has been accumulating over a series of years, and consists of obligations which may be met by degrees, while the annual deficit, or direct outgoing year by year, in excess of the revenue, is not greatly more than six. It may be possible, therefore, to meet the emergency without an instant addi- tion to the funded debt, and, perhaps,- to tide on without a dangerous increase of taxation. The impost on stamps may be increased, and a stamp required on each hundred lucifers sold, without any dangerous ferment, while every nerve will be strained to avoid honest reductions in military strength. Still the Senate has been summoned to meet to discuss the finances. There must be a Parliamentary audit of the ac- counts, and it remains to be seen whether the French Don Giovanni has not invited the Statue to dinner.
