286 



FBANCE, THE PEESS OF, IN 1868. 



Minister of the Interior, issued a few days af- 

 terward to the prefects of the several depart- 

 ments in regard to the new press law, shows 

 the important changes which it introduced in 

 the legal condition of the political journals : 



M. LE PBEFET : In realizing the promise of January 

 19, 1867, the new press law puts an end to the discre- 

 tionary power of the administration. The necessity 

 of previous authorization and the disciplinary powers 

 of the minister are at the same time abolished. Hence- 

 forth the press will only have as its judges the judges 

 of every citizen. It will no longer be under tutelage. 



Henceforth it is incumbent upon the Guardian of 

 the Seals to give detailed instructions to the public 

 prosecutors as to the execution of a law which only 

 maintains the repressive action of the tribunals tow- 

 ard the press. But if the part of the administration 

 is profoundly changed, it remains none the less con- 

 siderable ; it is transformed and does not disappear. 



What is this part as toward the judicial authority? 

 What, as toward the writer? In what degree shall 

 you concur, as administrative power, in the applica- 

 tion of the new law ? Brief explanations will suffice to 

 settle upon these three points the character and the 

 nature of your intervention. 



When the judicial authority has to begin a prosecu- 

 tion having a political character, it is essentially de- 

 sirable that it should be in agreement with you. It 

 alone has to decide the question of legality, but you 

 will often have to give your opinion as to the question 

 of opportuneness. This situation implies that fre- 

 quent relations and an understanding will be more 

 man ever necessary between you and the public min- 

 istry. It also requires that you should not point out 

 any article to the bar without having previously re- 

 ferred it to me, and that you should keep me fully 

 acquainted with the phases as well as the results of 

 every prosecution. 



Toward the writer, who does not come under the 

 application of the repressive laws, you have a double 

 duty to fulfil the duty of surveillance and the duty 

 of good relations. The duty of surveillance is indis- 

 pensable to place you in a position to rectify erroneous 

 tacts. The more the control of the press is extended 

 to the acts and intentions of the authorities, the more 

 it becomes important to establish its truth. You have 

 at your disposal either the communique, a direct re- 

 ply to the journal that has led the public into error, 

 or the contrary asserted insertion in another journal. 

 These two methods of rectification possess no serious 

 value save when they are made use of immediately. 

 They only strike the mind of the reader when they 

 put on a brief, a taking form, when they avoid the 

 warmth of controversy and the length of discussion. 

 They should confine themselves to correcting the er- 

 roneous figures of the inexact fact. As previously, 

 you will be good enough to submit to me in advarice 

 every communique together with the article by which 

 it is called forth. The duty of good relations is the 

 best means of defence. It compromises neither the 

 dignity of the Government nor the independence of 

 the writer. You will understand how to keep up 

 these relations with all those who shall address them- 

 selves^ loyally to you. When essential questions do 

 not divide us, these relations may often prove the 

 cause of voluntary rectifications. In bringing men 

 closer together, they may bring ideas closer also ; 

 they may, at any rate, obtain more justice in appreci- 

 ating intentions ; they may cause private wounds to 

 be avoided, and may take from controversy that ag- 

 gressive character which sometimes separates men 

 more widely than the contradiction of principles. 

 _ You will have, M. le Preset, to assist in the applica- 

 tion of the law by watching over the execution of 

 three new regulations. These refer to the declaration, 

 to the deposit, and to the authorization of special 

 printing-offices. 



The declaration is to be made upon stamped paper. 



It must precede the publication of the journal by at 

 least fifteen days, and must be accompanied by evi- 

 dence establishing its sincerity. Article 2 sets forth 

 all that this declaration must contain. The declara- 

 tion only gives the right of publishing a journal to 

 those who^are at the same time Frenchmen and of full 

 age, and in enjoyment of their civil and political 

 rights. The declaration once received, you will de- 

 liver a receipt to the declarant, and you will employ 

 the fifteen days elapsing between the declaration and 

 the expiration of the term fixed for publication in 

 verifying the capacity of the declarant. You will de- 

 mand for this purpose bulletin No. 2 from the judi- 

 cial file at the public prosecutor's office in the decla- 

 rant's original domicil. You will first communicate to 

 me the declaration, and ultimately the evidence you 

 will have gathered as to the declarant in the course 

 of this examination. 



The deposit of two copies of the journal, as pre- 

 scribed by Article 7, shall be made at Paris at the 

 ministry of the Interior. In the departments it must 

 be made at the prefecture in the chief town of the de- 

 partment, at the subprefecture in the chief town of 

 the district, and at the mairie for other towns. One 

 of these two copies must be sent immediately by the 

 pr6fet, the sub-prefet, or the mayor, to the ministry 

 of the Interior (departmental press-office). A sim- 

 ilar deposit is required, by .the second paragraph 

 of Article 7, for the office of the public prosecutor. 

 In towns where there is no tribunal of first instance, 

 this deposit must be made at the mairie, and the 

 mayor must immediately send to the public prosecu- 

 tor's office the two copies of this second deposit. You 

 will be good enough to watch that these various de- 

 ' posits are made with the greatest regularity. The 

 more liberty is extended, the greater the necessity for 

 the surveillance of the Government. 



Every manager of a journal shall be authorized, 

 when he may request it, to have a printing-office re- 

 served exclusively for printing his newspaper. Tke 

 Legislature has not yet settled the question by the 

 monopoly of liberty of printing and publishing, but 

 it has desired that, previous to this definitive solution, 

 the journalists might always be certain of having a 

 printer. It promises, henceforth, an authorization, 

 and the Government would not be able to refuse it 

 either to the manager of the industrial, the literary, 

 or the purely political journal. Furthermore, this 

 printing-office could not be diverted from its object. 

 It is created for no other purpose than to secure the 

 free establishment of the journal. It must only print 

 that journal itself, or any thing forming an essential 

 element of its publication, as prospectus, posters, 

 postage bands, subscription lists, and receipts. It 

 could not go beyond this without encroaching upon 

 establishments now in existence, and whose monop- 

 oly is still maiatained by law. 



This arrangement shows you, M. le Prefet, the lib- 

 eral intentions animating the Emperor's Government 

 and the Corps Legislatif in this matter. If the Legisla- 

 ture holds that the manager of a journal should al- 

 ways find a printer, it is a logical and legitimate con- 

 sequence to favor the establishment of new printing 

 and publishing offices wherever it might be justified 

 by serious needs. Thus, in making proposals to me 

 upon this point, you will have to take into account at 

 the same time the guarantees candidates must ofier, 

 and the degree of utility the issue of new privileges 

 would present in certain localities. 



I confine myself, M. le Prefet, to these brief ex- 

 planations. It would be useless to revert to the other 

 arrangements of the decree of February 17, 1852, 

 which still remain in vigor, and over the execution of 

 which you have watched up to this day. Should the 

 stamp right disappear in some cases, should it be re- 

 stricted in others, the application of these arrange- 

 ments comes more especially within the province of 

 the Minister of Finance, who will instruct his agents 

 upon this point. 



No change is imported either into the amount of 



