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674 «&* iLcabrr. CSatohblay,
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THE DEBATES ON REVISION IN THE FRENCH AS...
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DLANQUI ON TRIER S. The Free Traders of ...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Lord Grey Versus Mr. Fairbairn. Lord Gre...
circulated by certain parties to cast a slur upon the association for their own vile purposes . " Mr . Pocock : I know that Dr . Abercrombie went to see the child . " Dr . Abercrombie , who was standing at a distance from the table and was not seen , came forward and stated that he had gone out to see the child , and when he came to Mr . Holloway's he found Captain and Mrs . Stanford there with the dead baby , and that nothing , could exceed the readiness with which Mr . Hollo way attended to their wants under the distressing circumstances in which they were placed . { Cheers . ) It was a proof to him that the principles which the association avowed were adapted more to the relief than to the injury of man . " This needs not one word of comment more than that which Mr . Fairbairn bestows upon it when he says : —
" Nothing can be imagined more different from the feelings " and spirit entertained by the people of Capetown in the trying circumstances in which they were then placed by Lord Grey ' s now admitted " error " than the evil passions which , under erroneous information , he ascribed to them on Tuesday night . "
674 «&* Ilcabrr. Csatohblay,
674 «&* iLcabrr . CSatohblay ,
The Debates On Revision In The French As...
THE DEBATES ON REVISION IN THE FRENCH ASSEMBLY . The revision debates commenced in earnest on Monday . In opening the discussion M . Dupin said : " Legislative Assemblies had been called to frame constitutions in place of those overturned by revolutions . But this was the first time an Assembly had received that mission by virtue of an existing constitution , although a majority of three-fourths was required for that purpose . The Assembly was accordingly in a totally new situation . The discussion should be serious and peaceable . Parties should be moderate , reserved , and listen patiently to their opponents , if they wished to be listened to themselves , always bearing in mind that the country was attentive to the discussion and would judge them . ( Bravo !) "
The first speaker was M . Payer , who decared that the Republic offered as much , stability as the Monarchy , and certainly more security ; that , to use M . Dupin ' s words , the Republic was the sole government practicable , and the only bulwark against anarchy ; that the partial revision of : the constitution which he proposed , was merely to improve Republican institutions , and would not be attended with the fatal consequences which must follow any attempt at total revision . M . de Falloux then took up the debate and attacked the Republic and the Republicans with great boldness . He accused the most strenuous advocates
of universal suffrage of daily violations of it . To revise partially would be doing nothing—less than nothing . His adversaries objected that a total revision would lead to Monarchy , for which the country was not ripe : — " In the mean time , " he exclaimed , " the red spectre was progressing in spite of the state of siege and the skill and energy of the Administration . Its growth was the result of the divisions of that side of the Assembly ( pointing to the Right ) . The Republic , said a great statesman , is the form that divides us least . M . de Falloux
thought that it was the form that permitted men to be longest divided . The country had enjoyed that form for the last three years . ( Laughter . ) In his opinion , it was that regimen that ruined France , paralyzed her power , and condemned the party of order to impotence and to a state of lethargy , to which death was preferable . M . de Falloux then referred to the inability of the different Governments , during the last forty years , to check the march of Socialism , which had in turn concealed itself
under the appellation of Liberals , St . Simonians , Republicans ; and the present Government was ub incompetent as the others for the task . The remedy , in his opinion , lay in the radical revision of the Constitution , and the substitution of Monarchy for the Republic . JBut , all the fractions of the party of order , obeying only the voice of their conscience , should sincerely unite for the purpose . Their disunion had sadly compromised the country . "
He declared that Europe was profoundly moved and alarmed , and tlint nil who sought for protection against the invasion of anarchy and demagogy , looked to Russia , that Hercules in her cradle , us M . Thiers called her . " Should Europe throw itnelf into ker arms , it would be vain to proclaim insurrection the holiest of duties . Europe will respond to you that coalition is the most legitimate of interests . " He concluded by demanding , in the words of Genefal Ilochc , " a remedy that was not repose . "
M . de Morniiy followed . In the historical annals of France was a . day called the Journ / e des Dupes . He thought that the present day might be called Aa Journe ' e ties Masques . He wai entirely opposed to revision . The greater part of his Bpeech turned upon the petition movement , which he denounced a & the work of tho Administration : — " If the prolongation of Lou in Napoleon ' s powers was to be sanctioned by an election , what should the Government do under those circumstances ? ( Laughter . ) The Presidential press had agitated the country by frightening it with the phantasm of tho red spectre , and seduced it by describing the prolongation of the President's power as the forerunner of tho golden age . Thooe petitions did not contain the expression of public opinion . " Qeneral Cnyaignac , Amidst " murmurs on th «
right , " declared that Monarchy was no longer possible : — " M . de Falloux had said that he believed in the divine right of the Republic . That appellation was not his . It was invented by its adversaries , who , -knowing that institutions of divine light enjoyed little favour m France , had thus stigmatized the Republic . He would tell M . de Falloux that a Government that allowed its principle to be discussed was verging to ruin . " - It is precisely because it is a principle that the Republic is right . Entering into the question of the revision of the constitution upon its own merits , he concluded that his party would agree to a revision when they did not see a Monarchical enterprise behind the demand for revision . Referring to the celebrated Art . 45 , he said it was the most useful of
all : — «• I know , " he exclaimed , « that it may be violated . But we must warn the nation , and resist it afterwards . We have no Washington to maintain— -let us then maintain Art . 45 . It is our palladium ! It is said that the duration of the Presidential powers is too short , and we are asked to prolong them in the name of stability . Does that mean the stability of the Government or of those who exercise it ? The stability of things or of men ? If you wish for the stability of men return to the Monarchy . But if you wish to maintain the Republic , maintain Art . 45 . "
The speech of General Cavaignac concluded the first day s debate ; and we may remark * that the behaviour of the Mountain , even in the opinion of their enemies , was above all praise . The murmurs and interruptions came from the Right alone . In the second day's debate the most remarkable speech was that of M . Coquerel , the famous Protestant minister of Paris . He spoke in favour of revision , and derided the fears of the Republicans respecting it . But while he spoke as a Republican , he had the courage or the weakness to applaud the dynasty of Orleans , and designate Louis XVI . as the " Martyr King . " But he said : —
" He believed the Republican form to be the best , and hoped that it would be one day established all over the world . It was his conscientious and religious belief . In 1847 he wrote that the Republican Government was the best Government , that it was based on the Gospel , and that the Gospel was profoundly Republican . ( Murmurs . )" He did not believe that Louis Napoleon would violate his oath and the constitution at the same time , and he recognized but one personage who could violate the constitution with impunity — and that
personage was France . The remaining speakers were M . Grevy , who enumerated the political laws enacted by the Assembly —pointedly , the electoral law of May 31 , and the law which prohibited the right of meeting , and that which gagged the press , as reasons against revision—but he was compelled , owing to faint ness , to " give way to M . Michel de Bourges , who spoke against the revision in the sense of the extreme party of the Mountain . He said : —
" The reactionists had evinced much skill , and ably profited by the faults of their adversaries . They had crept into the councils of the Republic , sacrificed the man who had fought their battle and rendered them immense services , and placed the reins of the Government of the Republic in the hands of a Pretender , and the high offices of the State in those of the Royalists . It was a wonder to him how the Republic yet lived under those circumstances . The Republicans were only 200 in the Assembly ; their adversaries mustered 500 ; they had at their disposal an army of 600 , 000 men , and a legion of Royalist functionaries , and yet the Republic was standing !"
M . Berryer combatted the anti-monarchical sentiments of Michel de Bourges , and declared thut he thought an unconstitutional reelection of the President would be a great danger , and that the only way of obviating that danger , would be the Convocation of an Assembly of Revision , invested with all the powers of society . Thus , so far as the accounts have reached us , stands the question of revision . With respect to other matters , General Magnan hae been gazetted ns Commander-in-Chicf of tho army in Paris . The object 6 i this is not very obvious , except , we presume , that General Magnan possesses Home peculiar qualities which fit him to command the troops of the
myitC :: The Bonapnrtist papers have vauntingly boasted of the enormouu number of citizens who were signing petitions in favour of a revision of the constitution , and for a prolongation of the presidential powers . It now turns out , that up to the 1 st instant tho number of petitions amounted to 15 , 99 i , and that they contained 1 , 023 , 625 nignaturcB or adhesions , which are thus divided : —For the revision , 011 , 111 ; for a revision with prolongation , 370 , 411 ; and for the prolongation only , 12 , 103 . Admitting that nil these petitions are contttitutional nnd . regular ( which we are much inclined to doubt ) , the number of signatures is not in the lt'MHt surprising , especially if we consider thut the Government disposes of 500 , 000 public functionaries , not mentioning their relatives und connection *
Dlanqui On Trier S. The Free Traders Of ...
DLANQUI ON TRIER S . The Free Traders of Franco are following up the discuwion in which M . Thicrs played bo gigantic u
part , with great vigour . The Free Trade party is by no means insignificant in Prance ; and though , in the tribune M . Thiers has no rival , he has many in the press . A letter from one of the latter has appeared m the daily journals . It is from M . Blanqui , of the Institute , an ceconomist of European renown . M . Blanqui warmly enters on his task ; characterizing the speech of M . Thiers as the " banter " of " an orator who appears to have no other religion than that of success ; " and , distinctl y suggests to M . Thiers whether a little more
modesty of expression would not become a man who has " taken a part in transactions after a manner far from successful . " M . Thiers , he admits , is " a partisan upon principle , of the protective system , " who has never " varied his convictions . " But that is the very reason , exclaims M . Blanqui , «• why he should know how to respect the convictions of men who differ from him , and not accuse them of creating a ' disastrous literature , ' as if the most disastrous of all literatures were not that which from the elevation of the tribune bepraises eternal war and everlasting dearth .. ' "
Leaving , however , the personal question , he grapples with the arguments of M . Thiers , and especially those drawn for the most part from the flying visit with which that small statesman honoured England . M . Blanqui denies point blank the assertion of M . Thiers , that the condition of the English labourers has not been much bettered by the repeal of the corn laws . He denies that wages have diminished . He has studied the working of Freetrade in England , and he has found everywhere that
English agriculture is making progress , bravely accepting its new conditions , and seeking in the improvement of processes and rotations a compensation for lost protection . Besides , diminutions of wages * ' do not take place in a general manner , so as to affect the entire population . They come , like storms , upon some isolated departments of industry , but it is not true to say that there has been any general reduction in wages in consequence of Peel and Cobden ' s reforms . "
He ridicules the idea of protection to the wool growers , to the cattle breeders , to the wine growers , to the silk manufactors , to the peasant proprietors who pay " five millions in quotas of less than five francs . But he makes an effective hit when he seizes and exposes the fixed idea of Thiers—that idea which he tries to conjure with—war . " The fundamental idea of M . Thiers's address , as well as of his system , is , that out of regard for a possible war , a nation should impose on itself , during peace , all the burdens of war itself . ? Beware of a war ! You wiJl
have no more iron * o defend yourselves , no more wheat to nourish you , if you accustom yourselves to buy cheaply of the foreigner . ' ? ? It is this always , this dismal Utopia of eternal war , which is present in the councils of French policy . War , always war , notwithstanding that all Europe is conspiring to preserve the peace , by railroads and commercial combinations of all kinds . Truly it is very wise to talk to-day of the policy of Henry VIII . and of King William , as if the times were similar , as if science , art , policy , and the genius of man had not changed from top to bottom the organization of societies , and the wants which demand to be satisfied . "
And , continues M . Blanqui , it is not only war but dearth which constitutes the basis of the political ceeonomy of M . Thiera , who seems only frightened at one thing— " cheapness " : — " He would have us buy evtrything at icarcity prices , and this he calls ' the intention' of God . The true design of God , so far as man may undertake to interpret it without presumption , is that every country shall buy with the products of its natural and least-distressing exertions the products of the labour of other nations . "
He taunts M . Thiers with belonging to the " orators of the paat . " He points out that the duty on steel prevents the manufacture of good tools ; that the duty on coffee compels the French to drink chicory ; and that the duty on oil nearly triples its price . The lesson he aces in the Exposition is that only one thing in wunting for French supremacy—" lownesa of price" ; and that this may be easily obtained by the removal of prohibitions or the reduction of taxes : —
" Rut , " he adds , " the reduction of taxes and the removal of prohibitions will have as their result the reduction of the profits of the few to the benefit of the salaries or consumption of all , M . Thiers has constituted himself tho defender of the first ; we have him , under all regimes , tiie advocate of the second . " The last sentences of this letter are very remarkable : — " The reign of political intrigue , fatal to so many characters , is in France drawing to a . clone . It will terminate with the Assembly , which is to disappear in 1863 . With tho
new Assembly revolution may be its complexion , tlie questions of political economy will no moro be discussed from the height of the donjons of Wesserlintf , or in the interest of this or that manufacture , but in ttie interest of the vrholo French nation . I will only add , that a time when all events conspire to draw men closer together , to avert wars , to multiply great public works , to ameliorate the lot of the greatest number , it is not Hophisin . that will tmccecd in persuading man that the dearth of provisions and othrr neceaaarics i « the will of God , or thut cheapness aud abundance is an inspira - tion of th « devil . " -- ~ _ :. i . .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 19, 1851, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_19071851/page/6/
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