312 



FRANCE. 



state of siege, there is only a partial abolition 

 of martial law. 



On November 23d, M. Barthe, Moderate Re- 

 publican, moved an amendment forbidding the 

 Government from suggesting candidates to the 

 electors. The amendment was rejected by a 

 vote of 314 yeas to 318 nays. M. Picard and 

 other Deputies endeavored to elicit a declara- 

 tion from the* Government as to whether it 

 repudiated the system of official candidatures. 

 Ministers Dufaure and Buffet evaded the ques- 

 tion, the latter saying he could not add any- 

 thing to his previous explanations. On Novem- 

 ber 29th the Assembly finally adopted the clause 

 of the electoral bill providing for voting by 

 arrondissement. In the division the Assembly 

 stood 401 for and 200 against the clause. On 

 November 30th the entire electoral law was 

 adopted by 532 against only 87 votes. 



The balloting for the election of the seventy- 

 five Senators who, according to the new elec- 

 toral law, were to be chosen by the Assembly, 

 and to hold their office for life, began on De- 

 cember 9th. At this time the strength of the 

 several parties in the Assembly was computed 

 as follows : 



GROUPS OF THE RIGHT. 



Extreme Eight .............................. 68 



Moderate Eight .............................. 72 



Eight Centre ................................ 107 



Group de Clercq .............................. 30 



Group Pradi6 ................................ 40 



Total Eight .............................. 812 



GROUPS OP THE LEFT. 

 Eepublican Union 

 Eepublican Left ............................ V 814 



Left Centre 



) 

 V 

 ) 



GROUPS OUTSIDE OF THE TWO COALITIONS. 



Irreconcilables of the Extreme Eight ......... 10 



Bonapartists ................................ . 80 



Group Lavergne ............................. 45 



On the first ballot only two Senators, the 

 Duke d'Audiffret-Pasquier, President, and M. 

 Martel, First Vice-President, of the Assembly, 

 were elected, no other candidates obtaining an 

 absolute majority. The Left developed surpris- 

 ing strength in the voting. Their candidates 

 received an average of 325 votes each, against 

 317, the average number thrown for those of 

 the Right. The members of the Right were 

 astounded at the result. 



On the second ballot, sixteen Republicans 

 and only three members of the Right were 

 elected. The success of the Left was owing 

 to a coalition with the extreme Right. The 

 Assembly did not complete the election until 

 December 21st. Of the seventy-five Senators 

 elected, fourteen belong to the extreme Right 

 and the Right, four to the Right Centre, thirty- 

 two to the Group Lavergne and the Left Centre, 

 twenty-four to the Left, and one to the Bona- 

 partists. M. Jules Dufaure, member for Cha- 

 rente-Inferieure, made the important statement 

 that Marshal MacMahon pledged his respect for 

 the newly- elected Senators, and asserted that 

 they occupied a position in the Government 

 second only to that of the marshal. 



On December 19th, M. Noquet, a radical 

 leader, introduced a motion that amnesty be 

 granted to the Communists, and requested that 

 it be declared urgent. Great tumult followed 

 the introduction of this motion, and the pre- 

 vious question was almost unanimously carried, 

 the Left considering the motion, which cannot 

 pass, an electioneering trick. The affair caused 

 a complete rupture between the extreme Rad- 

 icals and the Left. 



During the discussion of the press bill, M. 

 Grevy, on December 24th, proposed that the 

 press law and the state of siege be dealt with 

 in separate bills; that the state of siege be 

 raised throughout the country, and the con- 

 sideration of the press bill be postponed. M. 

 Buffet defended the Government's bill as it 

 stood. He denied, notwithstanding the result 

 of the senatorial elections, the existence of an 

 opposition majority. The ministry would sup- 

 port the conservative union, both at the elec- 

 tions and in the Chambers. He pointed to the 

 overthrow of several previous Governments to 

 which the whole conservative population freely 

 adhered. The conservative union would ap- 

 peal to all the partisans of those Governments. 

 He showed how the Bonapartists had support- 

 ed the senatorial candidates of the Left and 

 gained nothing in return, and asked, "Will our 

 alliance afford them any less guarantees ? " He 

 concluded as follows : " The Constitution of the 

 25th of February is not the last word of polit- 

 ical wisdom, but we must admit that it is law. 

 The country requires reorganization. It must 

 return to the Chambers men who are disposed 

 to pursue, in conjunction with President Mac- 

 Mahon, the policy of social preservation, and 

 give aid to the victor of Magenta, who will 

 never become the docile instrument of radical 

 passions." M. Gravy's proposal to legislate 

 separately on the press laws and the state of 

 siege was rejected by a vote of 376 to 303. The 

 Bonapartists voted with the Government. 



On December 29th a long and animated de- 

 bate took place, on the clauses providing for 

 raising the state of siege. M. Challemel-Lacour, 

 radical Deputy for Bouches-du-Rh6ne, urged 

 that the siege be raised throughout the country. 

 The Government, he said, desired to maintain it 

 in the great cities because they were too strong- 

 ly Republican. Minister Buffet declared that 

 the Government did not hope to influence the 

 elections. It simply wished to prevent mani- 

 festations in the great towns which might dis- 

 quiet and alarm the whole country during the 

 elections. The proposal to raise the state of 

 siege throughout the country was rejected by 

 a vote of 377 to 329. The Government's pro- 

 posals to maintain the state of siege in Paris, 

 Versailles, Lyons, and Marseilles, were voted 

 on separately for each city, and were carried 

 by large majorities, the continuance of the state 

 of siege in Paris being voted by 381 yeas to 273 

 nays. The Government withdrew a similar 

 proposal in regard to Algiers. M. Gambetta, 

 on behalf of his friends, declared that, although 



