320 



FRANCE. 



ment of a committee to ascertain the amount 

 of material existing in the arsenals in July, 

 1870, how it was disposed of during the war, 

 and what amount the arsenals contain at the 

 present time. It also proposes to submit to 

 the committee a system for an efficient con- 

 trol of the military administration by an inde- 

 pendent civil comptroller, travelling through 

 France, inspecting the stores of material, and 

 suggesting the necessary reforms. The Duke 

 d'Audiffret-Pasquier drew a startling picture 

 of the utter unreadiness and disorder of the 

 Imperial War Department, and censured the 

 want of control under the military administra- 

 tion of the 4th of September. He energeti- 

 cally stigmatized the dishonesty and shame- 

 less greed of the persons who had undertaken 

 contracts. The disclosures he made excited 

 strong indignation in the Assembly. His 

 speech was heard throughout with deep inter- 

 est, and he concluded with an earnest pero- 

 ration praising the army as the best and only 

 school in which the young generation could 

 have a nobler and better training than that 

 which produced such lamentable examples of 

 want of patriotism and want of probity, and 

 recommending the introduction of compulsory 

 military service. The Assembly unanimously 

 adopted the proposals of the committee, and 

 intrusted the inquiry into the war material 

 to the committee on contracts, of which the 

 Duke d'Audiffret-Pasquier is the president. It 

 was also unanimously agreed that the speech 

 of the Duke d'Audiffret-Pasquier should be 

 printed and distributed in all the communes 

 of France. 



On June 29th M. de Remusat, Minister of 

 Foreign Affairs, and Count von Arnim, the 

 German ambassador, signed the treaty, which 

 for some time had been in negotiation, con- 

 cerning the evacuation of French territory by 

 the German troops. The treaty provides that 

 the first payment of the indemnity still due 

 Germany be made by the 15th of February, 

 1873, and consist of one milliard francs; 

 that the second payment, a similar amount, 

 be made before the close of 1873 ; and the third 

 payment, also a milliard francs, during the 

 year 1874 ; that the departments of the Marne 

 and Haute-Marne be evacuated as soon as 500 

 milliards of the indemnity have been remitted ; 

 and the present force of the army of occupa- 

 tion be reduced by one-third after the payment 

 of each milliard to Germany. 



The most important discussion of the As- 

 sembly during the session, which began on 

 April 22(1, was on the reorganization of the 

 army. The discussion on the bill in general 

 commenced on May 27th, and was closed 

 on May 29th, afer a number of speeches, 

 among which those of Generals Chanzy and 

 Trochu, Colonel Denfert, and Bishop Dupan- 

 loup, were the most important. The discussion 

 on the special articles of the bill ended on June 

 22d, when the Assembly adopted the entire 

 law as proposed by the Government. The law 



recognizes the principle of compulsory service, 

 abolishing the right of furnishing substitutes, 

 and fixes the time of service in the active army 

 at five years. Thiers did not profess any con- 

 fidence in the principle of compulsion, and, in 

 union with most of the French generals, would 

 have preferred a longer time of service for 

 those actually enrolled in the standing army ; 

 but, though reluctantly, consented to shorten- 

 ing the time to five years. The amendments 

 which advocated a further reduction of the 

 time of the service to three or four years en- 

 countered, therefore, his most determined re- 

 sistance; and the Assembly, in accordance 

 with his wishes, rejected, on June 8th, the 

 amendments moved by the deputies Trochu, 

 Keller, Randon, and Chevalier, and providing 

 for a three years' service by 463 against 228 

 votes ; and, on June 10th, those providing for 

 a four years' service by 495 against 59 votes. 

 General Trochu, the chief champion 'of a 

 three years' term of service, expressed his be- 

 lief that a few years' practical experience 

 would show the correctness of his view, and 

 the disastrous consequences of the present le- 

 gislation. Soon after, he notified the Assem- 

 bly of his resignation. At the beginning of 

 August the Assembly adjourned to Novem- 

 ber llth, after electing a standing committee 

 which remained in session. 



The session of the General Councils of the 

 French departments began on August 20th. 

 Those who had expected that these councils 

 would use their influence in behalf of a resto- 

 ration of monarchy saw themselves disap- 

 pointed. Only a few expressed a preference 

 for monarchy, and voted down resolutions 

 which might be construed as an approval of 

 the continued existence of the republic. The 

 royalist members of the standing committee 

 complained of these resolutions, and particu- 

 larly the addresses expressing agreement with 

 the policy of President Thiers, as exceeding 

 the proper bounds of the functions of general 

 councils. In general, the transactions of these 

 councils made the impression that the cause 

 of moderate republicanism was steadily gain- 

 ing ground in the country. The same impres- 

 sion was produced by the result of the supple- 

 mentary elections for the National Assembly 

 held in October. Only in one district, in the 

 department of Morbihan, a Legitimist was 

 elected by a vote of 39,700, against 30,000 

 given to the Republican competitor. In the 

 department of Vosges, a Radical candidate, 

 Mellinet, received no less than 30,000 votes, 

 against only 2,400 given to the royalist candi- 

 date. In each of the seven other districts 

 Moderate Republicans were successful. In two 

 districts the candidates of the Bonapartists, 

 though defeated, polled a heavy vote For- 

 cade, in the Gironde, who received 28,700 

 votes, and Schneider, Jr., in Indre-et-Loire, 

 who received 29,300 votes, against 30,800 given 

 to the Republican Rioche. 



The strength and the hopes of the Radical 



