318 



FRANCE. 



nitely agreed to elect successively Legitimist, 

 Orleanist, and Bonapartist candidates to the 

 vacancies occurring upon the death of the pres- 

 ent life-senators. But, in spite of this coa- 

 lition, the Republicans succeeded in electing 

 M. Dufaure, in place of Casimir P6rier, who 

 died July 6th, against M. Chesnelong, Legiti- 

 mist, who was supported by the united Right, 

 with the exception of the Right Centre. 



On July 15th Gambetta, as chairman of the 

 budget committee, reported that the discussion 

 on the budget would be begun in the Chamber 

 of Deputies on the following Monday, and that 

 then the budgets for the ministries of War, 

 of the Navy, of. Justice, and of Instruction, 

 and for Algeria, and the direct taxes, would 

 be taken up, while the budgets of the other 

 ministries, and the indirect taxes, should be 

 reserved for an extra session. The Minister of 

 Finance, however, desired the entire budget 

 to be settled before adjournment. On August 

 12th the Chambers were prorogued by a decree 

 read by members of the cabinet, declaring, in 

 virtue of Article II. of the Constitution, the 

 ordinary parliamentary session closed. The 

 budget was left in an unfinished state. 



Immediately after the adjournment of the 

 Chambers, General de Cissey, who had held 

 the ministry of War almost without interrup- 

 tion since 1871, was dismissed at his own re- 

 quest, and was immediately replaced by Gen- 

 eral Berthaut. 



On October 8th, 33,000 communes elected 

 their mayors. The result was mostly the re- 

 election of the former incumbents. Where 

 new ones were chosen, they were generally 

 Republicans, and in some cases Bonapartists. 



The Chambers met again on October 30th, 

 but adjourned after a short session, the Senate 

 until November 6th, and the Chamber of Dep- 

 uties until the 3d. On the 3d tne Duke Decazes, 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs, read a statement 

 in the Chamber, with regard to the Eastern 

 question, as follows : " France sympathizes 

 with the Latin Christians in the East, and will 

 take every opportunity to defend their cause. 

 France has not sacrificed a particle of its dig- 

 nity, but it will observe under all circum- 

 stances the strictest neutrality, and will not 

 enter upon a war in which the welfare, the 

 dignity, or the safety of the country is not 

 interested." Immediately after the reading of 

 this declaration, M. Gatineau's bill, providing 

 for the trial of Communists by the civil courts 

 instead of by the military courts, was taken 

 up and discussed, and was finally passed on the 

 4th, with the exception of the fourth article, 

 thus excepting from this provision those Com- 

 munists whose offenses had been of the gravest, 

 or who had been convicted of contumacy. 



A ministerial crisis broke out in the first 

 week of December. The Government had re- 

 fused military honors to several members of 

 the Legion of Honor, because they had for- 

 bidden any religious ceremonies to be observed 

 at their funeral. This caused considerable dis- 



satisfaction among the Republicans, and, to 

 solve the difficulty, the Government introduced 

 a bill providing that in future no civil legion- 

 aries should receive military honors, which 

 was, however, rejected by a decisive majority. 

 Defeated in the Chamber of Deputies on the 

 question of funeral honors, and again in the 

 Senate by a majority of 20 on the bill for the 

 cessation of prosecutions for participation in 

 the Commune, known as the Gatineau propo- 

 sition, M. Dufaure, on December 3d, decided 

 to resign his seat in the cabinet, and his col- 

 leagues, approving his decision, resolved to 

 follow his example, and to leave office with 

 him. The President of the Republic received 

 and accepted the collective resignation of the 

 cabinet, and through the medium of the Keeper 

 of the Seals and the President of the Council 

 begged the different ministers to remain in 

 office till he would be provided with their suc- 

 cessors. The deliberations on the formation 

 of a new ministry continued until December 

 12th. On the one hand the Liberals demanded 

 that General Berthaut should not resume the 

 ministry of War, while on the other hand Presi- 

 dent MacMahon was as firmly resolved not only 

 to save General Berthaut, but also to form a 

 Conservative ministry if possible. A compro- 

 mise was eventually effected, by which Jules 

 Simon was appointed Vice-President of the 

 Council of Ministers and Minister of the In- 

 terior, and M. Martel, First Vice-President of 

 the Senate and a member of the Left Centre, 

 Minister of Justice and Religious Affairs, the 

 remainder of the cabinet remaining unchanged. 

 On December 14th M. Simon, in the name of 

 the new ministry, read an address, in which, 

 after speaking of his appointment, he said : 

 "I am, as you know, a decided Republican, 

 and at the same time strongly conservative in 

 my sentiments ; devoted by all my convictions 

 and the studies of my life to the principles of 

 liberty of conscience, and filled with deep re- 

 spect for religion. The cabinet that is before 

 you is parliamentary, and desires to remain so. 

 We are in perfect accord with each other and 

 with the majority of Parliament. We desire 

 like the majority the preservation and the 

 final establishment of the Constitution which 

 France has given to itself." 



The close of the session was characterized 

 by a dispute between the Senate and the Cham- 

 ber of Deputies. The Chamber had stricken 

 off a number of items set down by the Govern- 1 

 ment, notably that for chaplains. The Senate 

 had restored these items. The Chamber made 

 a few more changes in the budget as it came 

 from the Senate, and the whole budget was 

 then passed by a vote of 412 to 30 in the 

 Chamber of Deputies, and by a unanimous 

 vote in the Senate. The Chamber then ad- 

 journed on December 30th. 



An agreement was entered into with Switzer- 

 land, according to which the commercial treaty 

 of June 30, 1874, should remain in force until 

 August 10, 1877. 



