The Moniteur of the 10th inst. contains M. Fould's report
on the French budget in extenso. We have read it repeatedly with anxious attention, and have not the faintest idea of what it means, or how M. Fould reconciles his figures, or in what way he arrives at the equilibrium which he says the accounts of 1864 will show. He writes about the budget of 1863, which is or ought to be a subject only for the historian, the budget of 1865, which is entirely prophetical, and the budget of 1864, which is his proper business, all at once, says the non-receipt of moneys anticipated is not a deficit, and only hopes that the "eventuality of a supplementary budget" for Algerine expenses may not occur. According to himself, 1863 showed a less deficit by 600,000/. than was expected, 1861 will show none, and in 1865 there will, if nothing happens, be a surplus, but he proves none of these things. He may be all right, but the general deduction from his report is that there was a deficit of 1,120,0001. in 1863, that there will be one for 1861 equal to the menaced supplementary budget for Algeria, and that in 1865 there will happen whatever God and the Emperor please. That is satisfactory, may be, but it is in no sense an account. The blank fact, according to the Times, is that in 1864 the expenditure was 89,800,000/., and the receipts 84,400,0001., the difference being made up by an increase of 5,360,0001., to be made up by payment from Mexico and other dubious sources, which is probably an approximation to the truth.
