The Government of France is determined to conciliate Paris, and
to show that it believes in the Republic. Accordingly it has sanctioned a universal Fyhibition of Industry and Art for May 1, 1878. The Prefect of the Seine, M. Ferdinand Duval, has, moreover, proposed to the Municipal Council to raise a loan of £4,800,000, with which to adorn Paris for the great festival. He proposes to finish M. Hausmann's uncompleted designs, particularly by spending £2,640,000 on the Avenue de l'Op6ra, and to rebuild the wine entrepots at Bercy. The money will, it is believed, be voted, as Paris has a surplus, and the shopkeepers are delighted with the thought of a European gathering. It looks very much, nevertheless, as if the Republic felt itself pressed by the same necessity of giving the Parisians panem et circenses as Napoleon felt.
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