Paris, Aug. 26, 'The Government's programme of national economy sounds quite formidable. Its main features are' restrictions in the use of fresh bread, 80 as to decrease purchases foreign wheat; restaurants not be allowed to serve any meal of, rare than two courses; committees:
watch prices; registration of cheat-producing axes, as an ance in detecting "attempts howard grain; and granting sites and premises to contractors who are {cisposed to open restaurants at popular prices. The official statement concerning the Cabinet's deltherations says that "one of th essential conditions of the restora. Yon of sound fin since is the adaptation of the national economy to the exigences of the general situation by a vigorous limitation of the the community and of expenditure." Having'
hus stated the proposition in genal terms, the Government procceus to say that people must eat, stale bread, and eat less food in eneral, but does not specify how.
these objects are to be attained.
With that disregard of essential de-faite which characterizes French ministerial announcements and legislative texts, the Cabinet omits to state how bakers are to be persuaded to sell stale bread to their [customers and how the customers lire tu be persuaded to buy it. In F the only effective course to give the people black bread instead of white, but no one dares to suggest such a thing.
The restaurant policy is equally futile. The percentage of people who take more than two courses at staurant is infinitesimal. The Government statement refers to supposed excessive consumption of! food in luxury establishments fre-suanted by foreigners, apparently overlooking the fact that these retauronts consume only the best qualities, which the mass of the people could not afford to buy in any circumstances, Moreover, as a luxury tax of 13 [rer cent. is added to the bills at these restaurants, lo to see how the national exchequer can gain by discouraging foreigners from spending their money on food of a kind which the French people themselves do not want.
The attempts to control prices may have, some little effect at first, but they cannot prevail against trade organizations unless the pub-hie consistently and "wgorously sup-Ports the authorities, and this is precisely what the French public can never be made to do, They went the Government to do for them what they should do for them-elves.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.