We have noted elsewhere one grand difficulty of governing France
through a Chamber wielding sovereign power, namely,. its possible incompetence to manage negotiations. There is,. however, another. The Chamber is as extravagant as an extravagant Sovereign. The Deputies seem unable to resist any demands, and grant votes for the Army, for 'Walk works,. and for fortifications, as if the revenue came out of a mine,.
instead of taxpayers' pockets. M. Tirard, the Finance Minister, now admits officially that the deficit will be £2,000,000) sterling, and proposes to meet it only by reductions on the interest allowed to some Military funds. At the same time,. the Budget of the Army has been swollen by vote after vote, until it has reached the immense sum of £24,000,000 a year. Yet the French Army is only on a peace footing, and the great difficulty, which can only be met by more expense,. the supply of competent non-commissioned officers, still embar- rasses and enfeebles the regiments. Some day we shall all recognise, we greatly fear, that the temptation of democracies is not an "ignorant impatience of taxation," but an ignorant readiness to spend. There is a healthy meanness in Kings and aristocrats, which the peoples are without.
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