M. Rattazzi has formed his Ministry at last, but declined
to state why he happened to be entrusted with the task. He could not, he said, " divulge " the reasons. He promised, however, all manner of pretty things,—the restoration of the finances, the reorganization of the army, the decentralization of administration, the " liquidation " of Church property, and the establishment of a system of retiring pensions. There are to be no new taxes, and the deficit is to be balanced by economies, by care in collections, and, as we take it, by transferring many local expenses to local funds. Rattazzi may accomplish many of these ends, as we have explained elsewhere, if Napoleon's real object in appointing him is not to neutralize Italy as against France, but as against Austria, to leave Austria free to act when the hour arrives as his ally in the field.
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