FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. FRANCE. THE ABOLITION OF PASSPORTS.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XVII, Issue 1378, 26 February 1861, Page 3

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. FRANCE. THE ABOLITION OF PASSPORTS.

The ' Moniteiw' of December 16 publishes the following :—: — The Emperor has decided that after the Ist of Jan. next, and by reciprocity, the subjects of her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland coming into France, shall be admitted and" allowed to travel about without passports. The Minister^ fhe Interior will give instruction* to hit agents to «cc this measure carried out. In the Paris correspondence of the 'Daily News' tome practical remarks are made on the above decree : — "I cannot but sincerely applaud the (apparently) unconditional abolition in France, with respect to British subjects, of that passport system against which I have often written. I should indeed have been more rejoiced had the French Government boldly swept away the nuisance, instead of giving to my countrymen a privilege over its own citizens, as well as those of all the rest of the world. Still tho good feeling manifested by the measure is most satisfactory, and I entuely agree with the • Patrie' that it is ono calculated to multiply very considerably tho interchange o£ friendly relations between France and England. At tho same time, before I frame and glaze my passport ai an historical curiosity which I ghall have no fuither occasion to use, I cannot help asking ono or two questions), and iI am far from putting them in a cautious spirit. The

I word* of the note in the ' Monitcur* are that Biitish I subjeots will, from tho Ist of January, by way of reciprocity, be permitted to ' enter and circulate 1 in .the French empire without' passpoits. Does the word ' oirculftte I , imply the permission to leave the empire without showing a passpoit ' I must presume so, for otherwise the boon would be nothing at *U. Englishmen have never found any difficulty in landing at Calais or Bologne for want of a passport, and since the construction of 1 ail way ait is veiy seldom indeed that any traveller is asked to show hib passport in the in- | tenor. The leal difficulty has always been to get out of the country without one. It is meant to be said that after January 1, any Englishman may step on board tho Folkestone boat at Boulogne without being put to moie trouble than a Fxenchman would be in comingfrom Folkestone to Boulogne » How is the privilege to work? A Fienchuun, an American, and all men whatsoever, British subjects only excepted, must show a passport, ox the authorities will not allow them to go on boaid. How is ft gendarme to know an Englishman 1 His natiual answer to a man claiming the special privilege would be ' show me your paper.' Now it is the essential distinction of an Englishman from all men in Euiope that 'papers' aie no essential part of his identity. If you must have ' papers' of any kind the boat may go away while you are looking them up, and the ' reciprocity' fails. There would practically be less) difficulty at Boulogne and Calais than in any other frontier towns lesd exclusively used by English^ men. Take for instance the Pont de Khel over the Rhine, which is crossed several times every day by crowds of all nations going to or letuming fiom Baden Baden. How is the lespectable and polite functionary who watches that bridge to know an Englishman from anybody else. Merely speaking bad French would not be found a sufficient identification. It seems to me plain that until the passpoit system be altogether done away with, it is impossible iv the nature of things that Englishmen unpiovided with them can be seemed from annoyannce and delay,"

The negotiations at Paris for a commercial treaty between Fiance and Belgium aio prog»« 1115 favourably. When terminated, negotiations for <i comraeicial treaty between the Zollverem and franco will be opened at Beiliu. Tlie Paris correspondent of the ' Times' says that the formation of a touith battalion for each legiment of mfantiy is consideiably advanced. This new arrangement will add 40,000 men to the Fiench army. A gieat number of privates who had leave of absence foi months are being recalled to their regiments at the etpuation of their leave. Theie i& much talk 111 Paiis of the probability of a new loan of 750 millions, the pretext for which will be the loss occasioned to the levenue by the treaty of commeice. Attention is also atti acted to a luinour that the Fiench army will be augmented to the figuxe of 750,000 men. There aie now no less than six vacant sees in France. The Empeior does not fill them up because he (knows the Pope would not conhim his appointments. The 'Patrie' asseits that theJPope, guided by a conciliatory spnit, consents to a levision ofj the Austrian Concordat. A Parisian speculator has proposed the establishment of a great joint stock company for the government of the Chinesa empire on the same system as the late India Company governed JBiitish India. A Toulon letter of the 11th December says : — "The Eldorado frigate, Captain Sau van, is to sail on the 15th for Alexandria, after taking on board 2,000,000 fr in specie, and an immense quantity of stores for the fleet and expeditionary coips in China. The Ulloa will leave for the same destination, also carrying 2,000,000 francs in specie, and whatever stores the Eldorado may be unable to take." The second complimentary convention, added to the comraeicial treaty between France and England, was published in tha Paris Moniteur of December I, having been signed on the 16th Noverabsr, and^ an imperial decree puts it into force. It refers to the'reduction of all the Fiench customs' duties on textile industry, in whatevei material. The new duties, the specific as well as the ad valorem duties, which have been adopted m the case of prints and other similar cases, range in geneial between 10 aud 20 per cent. It appears pi obable that, in goods made of wool, as well as of cotton, flax, hemp, &c, a considerable trade will spring up between the two countries m consequence of this reduction.