Lettre de Defrance à Bion, sur sa réponse aux objections contre l'établissement de la régie intéressée des postes et messageries

A sharply penned missive opens a lively dispute over the organization of France’s postal and messenger services. The author, a seasoned administrator, addresses his colleague Bion with a mix of courteous sarcasm and pointed criticism, questioning the logic behind the “interested” regime that Bion defends. The letter quickly reveals a broader debate about public versus private management, the transparency of financial calculations, and the political maneuvering that shapes policy decisions.

Written in the ornate, rhetorical style of the late‑eighteenth century, the text weaves classical references with modern concerns about efficiency and accountability. The writer challenges the credibility of commissions that have endorsed the controversial system, demanding that their numbers be made public and scrutinized. His argument is both personal—calling out perceived arrogance—and principled, insisting that honest debate, not hidden agendas, should guide reforms.

Listeners will be drawn into a vivid portrait of bureaucratic intrigue, where scholarly wit collides with the practical worries of a nation’s communication network. The exchange offers a window onto the passions and polemics that animated early French administrative reform.