318 



FRANCE. 



perse the mob. Gambetta was not allowed by 

 the police to leave the hotel for fear that his 

 appearance would lead to further disturbance. 

 He advised his friends not to persist in collect- 

 ing in large bodies in the streets, or to attempt 

 resistance to the authorities, and not to pro- 

 voke a collision. The relations between France 

 and Germany appeared to be, on the whole, 

 of a friendly character. Baron von Arnim, 

 the German ambassador to France, was pre- 

 sented to President Thiers on January 9th, and 

 reiterated his former expressions of friendship 

 for the French nation. The French ambassa- 

 dor in Berlin, Goutant Biron, reported to his 

 Government that he had been most flatteringly 

 received by Prince Bismarck. In the country, 

 however, in the districts occupied by the 

 French troops, the excitement of the French 

 people against the Prussians continued. At 

 Luneville, a Prussian soldier was assassinated, 

 and at Epernay another was, on January 24th, 

 badly wounded. 



No serious complications, however, resulted 

 from these occurrences. A movement for the 

 payment of the war indemnity by voluntary 

 subscriptions proved to be a failure, and the 

 Assembly in February rejected a motion to 

 commit itself to the measure. A serious dif- 

 ference of opinion showed itself between Pres- 

 ident Thiers and the majority of the Assembly 

 with regard to the tax to be imposed upon 

 raw materials. The tariff bill submitted by 

 Minister Pouyer-Quertier to the Assembly im- 

 posed the following duties : On wool, 80 francs 

 per 100 kilogrammes ; cotton, 4 francs ; resin, 

 from 1 to 7 francs ; copper, 15 francs; cheese, 

 from 15 to 18 francs ; hops, 60 francs. Against 

 this project an intense opposition soon showed 

 itself not only in the Assembly, but through- 

 out the country, and numerous deputations 

 hastened to Versailles to protest against the 

 measure. President Thiers, in addressing the 

 Assembly on the subject (January 19th), strong- 

 ly insisted upon the absolute necessity of the 

 new tariff, but that body, by a vote of 376 to 

 307, adopted a resolution offered by Deputy 

 Feray, providing that the Government shall 

 only resort to the taxation of raw materials 

 when other taxes fail to produce sufficient 

 revenue to meet the expenses of the nation. 

 A committee of fifteen were appointed in the 

 mean time to make a thorough examination of 

 the tariff. 



At Vitry-le-Francais a German court-mar- 

 tial condemned the principal of the college to 

 three months' imprisonment, on account of a 

 hostile demonstration made by the students 

 of the institution. 



President Thiers appeared to be deeply 

 mortified at this result, and on January 20th 

 sent to the Assembly his formal resignation as 

 President of the Republic, accompanying it 

 with the announcement that all the ministers 

 had also tendered their resignations. These 

 communications produced a profound excite- 

 ment in the Chamber, and a vote was almost 



unanimously adopted (only six members dis- 

 senting), appealing to the patriotism of the 

 President, refusing to accept his resignation, 

 and passing to the consideration of the order 

 of the day. A deputation was appointed to 

 announce to the President the action of the 

 Assembly, and all the parliamentary clubs sent 

 deputations to dissuade the President from his 

 purpose. The deputies of the Right Centre 

 held a meeting and adopted a resolution de- 

 claring that the tariff was solely a question of 

 finance, not of politics, and that in voting 

 against the proposal to tax raw materials they 

 had no intention of expressing want of con- 

 fidence in the Government. The deputation 

 appointed by the Assembly waited on Presi- 

 dent Thiers on the same evening and informed 

 him of the vote by which the Chamber had 

 refused to accept his resignation. President 

 Thiers, in reply, said he was worn out and dis- 

 couraged. He could not change his opinions, 

 and he believed that conflicts similar to the 

 present one were likely to occur between the 

 legislative and executive departments of the 

 Government when the military and educa- 

 tional bills came before the Assembly. For 

 the present he consented to withdraw his 

 resignation, but he also expressed his opinion 

 that sooner or later he would be compelled to 

 retire from the presidency of the republic. 

 The members of the ministry, at the earnest 

 solicitation of Thiers, resumed their portfolios. 

 Telegrams were received from several foreign 

 governments, congratulating Thiers upon, his 

 continuance as chief of the executive power, 

 and on January 2d the diplomatic representa- 

 tives of foreign governments waited on him in 

 a body to present their congratulations. As 

 the French journals on this occasion again, as 

 for some time past, had expressed disapproval 

 of the constant participation of the President 

 in the discussions of the legislative body, the 

 ministry decided to make the proposition to 

 the Assembly that Thiers should address it 

 only upon important occasions, for which pur- 

 pose the pending debate should at any time be 

 adjourned. A bill proposed by the Govern- 

 ment concerning the merchant navy was passed 

 by the Assembly on January 30th, by a vote 

 of 422 against 239, and on February 2d an- 

 other bill, authorizing the Government to noti- 

 fy England and Belgium of the termination of 

 the commercial treaties between France and 

 these countries, was passed by an overwhelm- 

 ing majority. On the same day, Deputy Du- 

 chatel's motion, that the Assembly and Gov- 

 ernment return to Paris, was rejected by a 

 vote of 377 to 318. 



On February 5th the Minister of the In- 

 terior, Casimir Perier, resigned, and on the 

 next day the Minister of Commerce, Victor 

 Lefranc, was appointed Minister of the In- 

 terior, and Goulard (heretofore French minis- 

 ter to Italy) Minister of Commerce. At the 

 supplementary elections held in the month of 

 February, Rouher, formerly Minister of State 



