THE FRENCH PRESS.

Otago Witness, Issue 64, 7 August 1852, Page 4

THE FRENCH PRESS.

(From Chambers' Edinburgh Journal.)

The newspaper, that political weather-cock — that moral barometer — that intellectual telegraph of civilised life — varies, like its producers and consumers, in form and features, according to the locality in which it flourishes. In Turkey it is an infant, in Russia and Austria it is a slave ; in Italy it is a dwarf, in Spain it is a muffled desperado; in Northern Germany it is a pipe : laugh not, we beseech you !— a pipe always puffed at, always going out, and always being lighted anew. Again : in America it is a prize-fighter, and in America it is — a firstrate speculation. But in England it is a manufacturer, while in France everybody knows it is a soldier to the backbone.

Generally speaking, in England a newspaper is at bottom an investment of capital ; in France it is more essentially a defensive and offensive engine — a sort of intellectual catapult or balister for throwing hard words and pointed invectives at the leaders of the enemy. In England a paper abuses a man on principle, and strictly as a matter of business ; in France it is passion that furnishes the powder, and hope of revenge the bullet to an editorial charge. Your Briton uses his artillery systematically, and spares his ammunition ; your Gaul loads to the muzzle of his gun, and cares little if lie burst his barrel in the explosion. Your venal journalist in England is a sturdy speculator — a man who knows how "to make a book," and " hedge" scientifically; in France he is a reckless soldier of for tun c— a condottiere, a brigand. In England it is the journal, as a house of business, that succeeds; in France it is the man, the leader of a party, who triumphs. In England the proprietor is rarely an editor ; in France the editor is generally proprietor. In England newspapers profess to represent, in France they pretend to form, public opinion. In England the press wears a mask ; in France it displays a cockade. An English journal utters the ideas of a class or party ; a French journal proclaims the sentiments of a man or clique. The English press forces the ruling powers to pacific submission ; the French press conspires their downfall and destruction. The Englishman warns, the Frenchman threatens. Lastly, in England, the unsuccessful speculator becomes bankrupt; in France the unlucky 'redacteur gets shot. The former is ruined by the capital, the latter killed by the bullet of his rival.

In other respects the contrasts between the two presses are equally striking. The English press is free, yet preserves almost invariably a certain tone of moderation and conventional politeness ; the French press groans under the most absolute bondage, being subject to fines guaranteed by the deposit of a large cautionmoney — for a daily paper a thousand pounds, which, if diminished by a fine, must he made up again before the reappearance of the journal ■ — and to seizure by the police. It is under the most arbitrary regulations as to sale. For example, no liberal paper is allowed to be sold in the streets where the monarchial prints are permitted to hawk their treason against the Republic unmolested. Such inconsistency under a republican government appears almost incredible ; nevertheless there is not an inhabitant of Paris, of any party, who will not bear witness to the fact. Yet the the " Evenement," a republican evening paper, has a larger sale than all the ' journaux de soir' of the reaction put together. It has a splendid office on the Boulevards, nearly opposite the Chausee d' Antin — a luxury in which none of its opponents indulge. Again, "La Presse," the great republican morning paper, is beyond all comparison the most popular and widely circulated journal in France. The indisputable success of these journals would lead a dispassionate observer to believe that republicanism has a broador basis in France than English journals usually admit; for, after all, why should the number of stamps consumed by the " Presse" and the "Evenement" so far exceed that used by any other morning and evening papers, unless there existed in various parts of the country a republican class of readers to subscribe to them ? Again : any one who will take the trouble to inquiry on the Bourse at Paris, will find that shares in "La Presse" are at a considerable premium, while those of nearly every royalist and imperialist journal are at a fearful discount. These simple facts, which are stated quite independently of all political views, are worthy of remark, as they afford a clue to estimating the present condition of our neighbours, not to be found in the passionate polemics of opposing factions. Notwithstanding the restrictions above alluded to — to return to our point of contest — the French press indulges in the most menacing and inflammatory attacks upon men, ministries, and parties ; and, though in England the anonymous system prevails, while in France every article is now signed (by law) with the name of its writer, personality in French journals runs much higher than in our own prints.

Another curious difference : in France there is no duty on advertisements; yet that vast engine of traffic is there in its infancy compared with its gigantic expansion in England, where so onerous a tax is levied upon ever)' announcement of our wants and wishes. But, indeed^ what is trade in France compared with trade in Great Britain ? What idea have the monopolists and pedlars of that young Republic of the burning fever of competition which drives the golden current through the veins of British industry and enterprise? France is following rapidly in our footsteps. She is already the second commercial state in Europe, and far in advance of all others in wealth and prosperity. Let, however, the following statistics, taken from a recent work on political comparative anatomy, convey some notion of the gulf which still separates the two countries in a financial and progressive point of view ! — *

Great Britain, it is calculated, has an income of about £550,000,000. Her taxes amount to about £50,000,000, or one-eleventh of her total revenue. France has an income of £320,000,000 only, with a taxation of £70,000,000, or more than one-fifth of her total revenue.f That is to say, France produces rather more than one-half what Great Britain produces, and is taxed more than doubly in proportion to her means !

To return to the advertisement department of the press — a department so important with us, so insignificant in France. At a rough guess, we should say that there are at least one hundred times as many advertisements annually printed and published in London as in Paris. From this conscientious guess the reader may form some dim notion of the vast disparity between the two countries in this particular walk of literature.

It is impossible to estimate the effect of the abolition of the naturally-detested advertisement duty in this country, which would put us in this respect on a level with the French. Probably, if our hypothesis be at all near the mark, that the number of British advertisements is now as a hundred to one in France, the ratio would not then fall much below one thousand !

As a sort of counterpoise to its political bondage, the stamp on a French newspaper is only one-half that imposed in England, and paper duties are unknown. Hence arises a further important distinction between the press of France and that of her island neighbour. There are several daily newspapers published in Paris edited and contributed to by the most distinguished men of the day, the price of which is only two sous, or one penny the number. Three sous is the price of the more expensive journals, Their sale is of course proportioned to their price, and their influence consequently much more extended than in England, where a daily paper is a luxury absolutely forbidden to the poorer and working classes. Hence the French, as a nation, are much farther advanced in political knowledge, right or wrong, than the English ; and far more excited and impatient on the subject of reforms which the dominant class — that is to say the ' bureaucracy' — naturally delay and oppose by every means in their power.

Now in France at least one adult in ten is either a soldier, a placeman, or a police spy. No wonder that the revolution sits ' en permanence' in the brains of French philosophers, and the hearts of French poets and patriots, when a tenth of the population consume more than a fifth of the total revenue of a country in which the result of an equal division of property would give about bevenpencej a day to every citizen shareholder.

Thus the want of abuses to attack or propose remedies for is not one of the misfortunes of a French Journalist, and newspapers flourish accordingly.

On tho other hand, the great unstamped press, which in England does so much for the education and civilization of the people, is entirely unknown in France, owing to the police restrictions thrown round everything connected with print and paper in that republic of contradictions. The place of these amusing and instructive periodicals is feebly supplied by the ' feuilleton' of the daily papers (weeklies are rare — they suit not the feverish progress of events in a revolutionary state.) In these are published tales, literary and dramatic criticism, and articles of various kinds by tlie belletristic writers of France. But as the novels of Alexander Dumas absorb the greater portion of the ' feuilletons' of the best -circulated journals, they offer small field either for literary aspiration or for popular instruction. However, all classes in France are at present so busy seek-

* Analogies and Contrasts, or Comparative Sketches .of France and England, by the author of Revelations of Russia, &c.

\ The taxation of France has been since increased. Let us hope that by some mysterious process her revenue has increased in proportion. I Proudhon calculates seventy-five centimes — a fraction beyond sevenpence per head per diem.

ing what they call a solution in politics, that they do not perhaps feel very keenly the want of lighter nutriment for their minds on the one hand, or more enduring literature on the other.

The writers of French journals are simply all the men of note and talent in France, who rarely fail to defend with their pens in a newspaper the principles they have advocated with their lips in the House of Assembly. Even the very subs and penny-a-liners, as we Bhould call them in England, are mostly ambitious though penniless young adventurers, whose fortune it is not often easy to prophesy Their boldness of invention, when a corner is to be filled up at all hazards by an extempore ' canard,' or • duck,' as it is termed, is truly admirable. We were much amused by reading in a French evening paper the other day how, owing to some eggshells being thrown down in the street, an unfortunate cab-horse fell down, and his feet sliding out in opposite directions, broke all four legs on the spot. " The knacker," continues the duck-maker, " was humanely sent for to put the poor animal out of its agony." Whereupon follows a profound moral reflection on the wickedness of throwing egg-shells into the street, which to more confiding readers must have proved highly edifying and commendable.

The India Rubber Shoe Trade. — A statement has been published respecting the manufacture, cost, quality, and profit of the Indiarubber shoes, under Goodyear's patent, which is astonishing. The first cost to manufacture ladies' shoes is about twenty-two cents per pair, and the retail price is one dollar. The first cost of men's wear is from thirty-two to thirty-eight cents per pair, and the retail price is about 1\ to If dollars per pair. The daily product in the United States is over 15,000 pairs. The process by which these shoes are made has thus far been a secret. The profits on this business will reach almost two millions of dollars this year, and, the present manufactories cannot supply the demand. Shoes that will weigh nine ounces per pair have only about three-and-a-half ounces of rubber, the other material being worth only from one to six cents per pound. One girl can make from twenty to thirty pair a day, for which her wages are from two to three cents per pair. The expense of curing or heating twelve hundred pairs does not reach three dollars. — (American Mag.)

Agriculture. — In an article on this subject in the " Sydney Morning Herald," the writer, in speaking of Cue difficulties which the agriculturists have to contend with in seasons of drought, thus prescribes a remedy : — " Many of the difficulties in the way of the agriculturists are such as may be overcome with a little attention and industry. Even the greatest of all drought may often be thus successfully grappled with. The bad effects of dryness may at all times be greatly counteracted by the judicious application of manures. But in many situations large reservoirs of water might be made by taking advantage of the natural formation of the ground, and erecting a small embankment or two. The fall of rain during the year is very great. In the neighbourhood of Sydney it amounts to above forty inches. It is clear, therefore, that if the water flowing over the surface and serving only to increase the power of the floods, could be secured in tanks, a very copious supply -would be ensured. In the neighbourhood of running streams or large water holes (ponds), Irr'gation is simple enough although but little practised. Where there is anything like a current a small water-wheel, fitted witb float boards, and moved simply by the velocity of the stream, may be used with advantage ; but generally speaking, a small windmill turning a simple crank, and thus working an ordinary pump, will be found best. The water should be pumped into a reservoir, and from thence it may be spread through a farm by means of wooden gutters. The latter are readily formed by nailing together at right angles two pieces of sawed stuff, or even of the split stuff ordinarily used for fencing. Water may be raised to any height for the purposes of irrigation by the formation of additional reservoirs, and the construction of additional windmills." How Nations can Acquire Wealth. — There seem to be three ways for a nation \o acquire wealth : the first is by war, as the Romans did, in plundering their conquered neighbours—this is robbery 5 the second by commerce, which is generally cheating ; the third by agriculture, the only honest way, wherein man receives a real increase of seed thrown into the ground, in a kind of continual miracle, wrought by the hand of God in his favour, as a reward for his innocent life and his virtuous industry. — Franklin.

A Sea Foundling. — The following touching incident is related in a private letter from Yarmouth, written by a lady, and giving an account of the disastrous result of the late shipwrecks upon the east coast : — " Last Friday

a dear little babe, supposed to be about four months old, was picked up in the roads, off Yarmouth. Its long clothes prevented it from sinking; it was fast asleep, and almost benumbed with cold. There -was no trace of any ship in sight, or of any boat, for miles around, and it was supposed that the vessel, from which it had been thrown had sunk, ana^tferf^afi^hands had perished. The captain who picked it up lives at Yarmouth, and intends to rear it as his own. He allows the people, who come in crowds, to see it, and I have seen it among the rest. It is a 'sweet babe." — London paper.

Curious Discovery. — A curious discovery has been made in a field near Frankfort. In digging a trench a labourer came on a depot of old firearms, quite decayed, and crumbling under the touch. The number was surprising — there were no less than 2000 muskets thus buried. From their construction, being all matchlocks, they must have been concealed during some period of the thirty years' war. Changarnier's Invasion. — Not long ago General Changarnier declared himself ready, with only 10,000 troops, to enter the metropolis, and the old soldier has kept an instalment of his word. Changarnier himself is in London, but the remaining ten thousand are yet to follow. — Punch.

Papal Bulls. — As the meaning of the word Bull, when applied to the papacy, may not be generally known, the following explanation of it may be acceptable: — In ancient times a seal, enclosed in a case, was attached to these documents by a string. The case, commonly of lead, was called bulla, a Latin word, -which originally signified a bubble of water, and afterwards anything which had the circular shape of a bubble of water, such as amulets, made of gold or silver, which were born by the free-born children of ancient Rome. In process of time the name of the case was transferred to the document, and Papal ordinances were called bullcp, namely " bulls." They are written on parchment, in the Gothic character. First comes the name of the Pope, Gregorius, for instance, servus servorum Dei; then the general exordium, from the first words of which the bull is designated. In cxna Domini, the famous ban bull of Urban V., in 1632, against heretics ; Unigenitus, the bull of 1713, condemning Quesnel ; Dominus ac Redemtor Nosier, the bull suppressing tlie Jesuits ; Ecclosia Christ i, the bull confirming the concordat with France in 1801 ; and Do Salute Animarwn, that relative to the oorabiiahment of the Roman Catholic Church in r Prussia. They have generally a large leaden seal appended to them, on the obverse of which are impressed likenesses of the apostles Peter and Paul, and on the reverse the name of the reigning Pontiff.

A Good Story is sometimes none the worse for being twice told. We give it, not without the hope that its moral may have an edifying influence. It is of course a Yankee story, but may pass muster here : — Proof that a man is dead. — A subscriber to one of the Eastern papers a few years ago, being sadly in arrears for the same, promised the editor that if his life was spared to a certain day he would without fail discharge his bill. The day passed, and the bill was not paid. The conclusion, therefore, was that the man was dead — absolutely defunct. Proceeding on this conclusion, the editor, in his next paper, placed the name of his delinquent under his obituary head, with the attending circumstances of time and place. Pretty soon after this announcement, the subject of it appeared to the editor, not with the pale ghostly appearance usiially ascribed to apparitions, but -with, a face as red as scarlet. Neither did it, like other apparitions, wait to be first spoken to, but broke silence — " "What the , sir, do you mean by publishing my death ?" " "Why, sir, the same that I mean by publishing the name of any other person, viz., to let tlie world know that you were dead." " Well, but I am not dead !" " Not dead ? then it is your fault, for you told me you ■would positively pay your bill by such a day if you lived till that time. The day is past, the bill is not paid, and I concluded you must be dead, for I will not believe that you would forfeit your word — O no." " I see you have got round me, Mr. Editor — but say no more about it, here is the money. And harkee, you wag, just contradict my death next week, will you !" "0 certainly, sir — just to please you — though, upon my word, I can't help thinking you died at tlie time specified, and that you merely came back to pay this bill on account of your friendship for me." — Geelong Advertiser.

"Waterproof Clothing-. — First make the cloak, coat, or trowsers, of linen ; then soak them well for a day or two in boiled oil ; then, hang them up in a dry place till perfectly dry, without wringing the oil out ; then paint them, without turpentine or dryers being in the paint, black, or any other colour you like, and lay the paint on thinly, and let it dry. (This is the method practised by seamen.)