The Government gives orders for 10c.

worth of bread to all who are in want, and these orders are accepted as money by all the bakers.

In each arrondissement there are also what are called cantines economiques, where a mess of soup made from vegetables and a small quantity of meat can be bought for five centimes.

Very little, however, has been done to distribute warm clothing among the poor, and when it is considered that above 100,000 persons have come into Paris from the neighbouring villages, most of whom are dependent upon public or private charity, it is evident that, even if there is no absolute want, there must be much suffering.

Count Bismarck was not far wrong when he said that, if the siege be prolonged until our stock of provisions is exhausted, many thousands in the succeeding weeks will die of starvation.