The visit which the Emperor Napoleon paid to the inundated
districts of France has been followed by the practical result which we anticipated. Instead of limiting himself to an Impe- rial expression of sympathy for the sufferers, or a donation to- wards the funds, he looked upon the scene with a professional eye ; searched out the cause of inundation in the unchecked Roods from the Alpine districts ; pronounced dikes to be pallia- tives not preventives, and put his name to an engineering plan of prevention. The principle is, to grapple with the evil at its source, and to control the waters before they accumulate their strength. This is to be done by a combination of deep reser- voirs to receive the floods in the first instance, and by weirs to moderate and regulate the outflow through the rivers. The Emperor proposes to conduct some of these works in conjunction with the Government of Switzerland ; modifying the level of- the Swiss lakes, rendering them more convenient, more ornamental, more productive on their shores. It is one of the instances in which Louis Napoleon has rendered his government practically valuable to France, and has shown that he ponders more thoughts than are always to be found in imperial or royal minds.
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