FRANCE. 



Mft 



and Telegraphs, was born in 1820. In 1848 he 

 held un oth'ee in the Ministry of Justice. !! 

 Vcted ;i member of the Corps Legislatit' 

 '.i, and was one of the 84 who voted 



against the wiir with Germany. In the Nation- 

 al Assembly he was one of the best friends of 

 M.Thurs. Ho has been a member of the Cham- 

 ber for Loiret since 1876, and acts with the 

 Republican Left. 



FERRY, JULES FBANOOIS CAMILLE, Minister 

 of Public Instruction, was born April 5, 1832. 

 He was a member of the Corps Legislatif in 

 1869, was Prefect of the department of the 

 Seine in 1870, and in 1871 was elected to the 

 National Assembly, and in 1876 to the Cham- 

 ber of Deputies. He gained considerable celeb- 

 rity in 1879 by his higher education bill, on 

 account of which he was retained in the Cabi- 

 net of M. de Freycinet. Ue is a member of the 

 Republican Left. 



Elections were held on January 5th for one 

 third of the members of the Senate. As indi- 

 cated by the elections on October 27, 1878, of 

 the delegations who choose the Senators, the 

 result was a complete victory for the Repub- 

 licans. Of 82 Senators chosen, 66 were Re- 

 publicans and only 16 belonged to the opposi- 

 tion. The new Senate therefore would contain 

 177 supporters of the Government, against an 

 opposition of 123. 



The Chambers resumed their sittings on Jan- 

 nary 14th. In the Lower House M. Grevy 

 was reflected President, the members of the 

 Right abstaining from voting ; and in the Sen- 

 ate M. Martel was elected President by a large 

 majority. 



M. Senard in the Chamber of Deputies de- 

 manded the sacrifice of Procurators-General, 

 District Prosecutors, and some Prefects. A 

 murmur of dissent was raised when he pro- 

 posed that the Ministers should convene a joint 

 meeting of the Deputies and Senators, to set- 

 tle in conjunction with the former the dismis- 

 sals deemed necessary. M. Dufaure, in reply, 

 said that the Ministry regarded the recent elec- 

 tions as finally establishing the republic as the 

 government of the country, and as consolidat- 

 ing republican institutions. Now more than 

 ever they must require from public function- 

 aries a really republican spirit, and this the 

 Government intended to insist upon. Those 

 officials, however, who had conducted them- 

 selves under the preceding Government as the 

 docile instruments of their ministerial chiefs, 

 and those, on the contrary, who had resisted 

 their wishes, could not both be treated in the 

 same manner. He enumerated the officials 

 who had already been dismissed, and said that 

 the work had never been considered as at an 

 end. He concluded by expressing the hope 

 that 1880 would pass as peacefully as the pre- 

 vious period of the republic. M. Madier de 

 Montjau, representing the Extreme Left, and 

 M. Floquet, representing the Republican Union, 

 both spoke against the ministerial programme, 

 which they characterized as incomplete and 



unsatisfactory ; and at the conclusion of M. 

 Floquot's speech the sitting wu* suspended. 

 During the interval an understanding was ar- 

 rived at between the Government and the Re- 

 publican Left and Left Center ; and on the 

 resumption of the sitting Jules Ferry proposed 

 the following resolution : 



The Chamber of Deputies, confiding in the declara- 

 tions of the Government, and convinced tliut the Cab- 

 inet, henceforth in possession of its full liberty of 

 action, will not hesitate, after the general vote of Jan- 

 uary 6th ; to {five the Republican majority the legiti- 

 niutc satisfactions it has long demanded on behalf of 

 the country, especially as regards the administrative 

 and judicial staff, passes to the order of the day. 



This resolution was adopted by a vote of 223 

 to 121, after a motion of M. Floquet for the 

 order of the day pure and simple had been re- 

 jected by a vote of 168 to 222. On January 

 25th M. L6on Say submitted to the Cabinet 

 Council the list of changes he proposed to 

 make among the Treasurers-General. Presi- 

 dent Mac-Million said nothing, but asked M. Du- 

 faure to remain after his colleagues. When 

 they were alone the President said: "I will 

 not sign those decrees. M. Leon Say is a Min- 

 ister who gets into a passion. These changes 

 must not be made. There must be no going 

 into a passion." M. Dufaure replied that M. 

 Say was not a Minister who goes into a pas- 

 sion ; that the Cabinet at a previous meeting 

 had taken a formal pledge to carry out the 

 changes demanded, and that they were resolved 

 to act up to it. He added that each Minister 

 had his list of dismissals ready, and he hoped 

 the Marshal would sign them ; " for by not 

 signing, so far from screening the functiona- 

 ries, you would perhaps expose them, seeing 

 that what we do not do others will do still 

 more energetically ; and if yon prefer, as you 

 tell us, to retire, not only will you not save 

 those you wish to protect, but you will jeop- 

 ardize those whom we are now really protect- 

 ing." The following day the President signed 

 the financial changes. On the 28th M. Du- 

 faure laid before him the decree affecting six 

 public prosecutors. He examined it, and then 

 turning to M. Dufaure said, " I am going to 

 sign this decree, but I leave the responsibility 

 of it to you." General Gresley in turn sub- 

 mitted his list on the morning of the 29th. It 

 dealt with nine generals, of whom four, includ- 

 ing the Due d'Aumale, were to be transferred, 

 and five generals Bourbaki, Lastigues, Ba- 

 taille, Du Barail, and Montaudon definitely 

 relieved of their command. The Marshal de- 

 clared he could not sign this decree. " I can 

 not," he said, " sign a decree suspending brave 

 generals, my own friends and companions, 

 whose legal term of command only expires in 

 five or six months. There is no danger in my 

 refusal. I can not consent to stay at such a 

 cost. I blush at the thought of it. I assure 

 you on my honor I will not do it. It will have 

 to be another who does it. Political catego- 

 ries must not be created in the army. I would 

 prefer to resign if I am forced to it My chil- 



