NEWS OF THE WEEK.
WHE THE R, the French Government expects immediate war or not, it is evidently determined to be ready for it, clown to precautions against starvation from the complete in- vestment of its cities. On Wednesday, the Chamber accepted a Bill, proposed by the Minister of War, enabling the Govern- ment to stock all entrenched camps or fortified towns with a two-months' supply of flour for the civil population, at a cost of £1,720,000. Half the expense only is to fall on the Munici- palities, but in Paris this will be serious. Paris, however, needs the precaution most, as the dealers now depend upon -the railways and telegraphic orders, and keep scarcely any stock. The permanent store is, of course, independent of all the supplies which can be swept in when the enemy is seen to be advancing, which in 1870 amounted to a bad supply for six months. We have not recently seen a more significant item of news, or one which suggests more clearly how little the soldiers who really rule France confide in the German Emperor's optimistic declarations about peace. They are pre- paring not only for war, but for a war of invasion.
