324 



FRANCE. 



on articles of consumption, and the expendi- 

 ture at 231,041,489 francs, most of which goes 

 for interest and sinking fund on the debt of 

 2,295,000,000 francs. 



POLITICS AND LEGISLATION. The history of 

 the events of the year in France dates properly 

 from the fall of the Ferry Ministry in Novem- 

 ber, 1881. The Tunisian expedition had been 

 conducted nearly to a successful termination, 

 but at a terrible cost of lives and treasure. 

 Suspicions of the influence of private specula- 

 tions on the course of events in Tunis, rumors 

 of personal differences and intrigues in the 

 army, and, most of all, the sufferings of the 

 troops and loss of life caused by the inefficiency 

 of the hospital service and commissariat, had 

 brought the Cabinet into actual odium. The 

 public were alarmed for the republic when a 

 Government, representing the republicanism 

 which had trampled upon the sentiments and 

 traditions of the religious community, and 

 driven the clerical element over to the mo- 

 narchical minorities, was unable to prevent 

 corruption in high places, and when the army, 

 which is the subject of the most anxious solici- 

 tude with all parties, was found as disorganized 

 and mismanaged as when the military forces 

 of the empire collapsed in the German War. 

 The time was come when Gambetta, who was 

 looked upon as the guardian and guiding spirit 

 of the republic, and who had overshadowed 

 every ministry formed since the victory of re- 

 publican principles in the presidency of Mac- 

 Mahon, must assume the responsible direction 

 of affairs. The hopes of France were centered 

 upon the great orator and Republican leader, 

 who, when he exerted his full political strength, 

 was to compose the faction fights and personal 

 rivalries of the Republican party, and, as the 

 permanent head of the Government, pursuing 

 a continuous policy, to enable France to assert 

 her due position in Europe, which, with epheme- 

 ral ministries and a constantly changing policy, 



When the Assembly met on October 28th, 

 Gambetta tested his strength by again stand- 

 ing as a candidate for the presidency of the 

 Chamber, and was elected with the overwhelm- 

 ing majority of 317 to 47. Jules Ferry him- 

 self precipitated his fall by attempting an ex- 

 planation of Tunisian affairs without waiting 

 for an interpellation. In the debate which fol- 

 lowed, the ministers were accused of deceiving 

 the Assembly for electioneering purposes, and 

 with weakening and disorganizing the army 

 by allowing the generals to make up the first 

 Tunisian expedition with troops selected from 

 the different corps. Clemenceau charged Rou- 

 stan with having instigated the Government to 

 interfere in Tunis in order to further certain 

 financial enterprises. The outcome of the long 

 debate was the adoption, on the motion of 

 Gambetta, of a neutral order of the day which 

 simply approved the Bardo Treaty. Jules Fer- 

 ry, having failed to obtain the desired expres- 

 sion of confidence, resigned November 10th, 



and Gambetta was invited by M. GreVy to 

 form a ministry. Gambetta at first set about 

 forming the " grand ministry " that his organs 

 had heralded, which was to unite the Repub- 

 lican forces in a stable union. But Leon Say, 

 De Freycinet, and Challemel-Lacour declined 

 his overtures. He then made up a list from 

 among his immediate supporters. Dismay and 

 ridicule were excited by the production of the 

 names. Except two retained from the last 

 Cabinet Cazot, Minister of Justice, and Co- 

 chery, of Posts and Telegraphs all were new 

 men. The names of the other ministers were: 

 Waldeck-Rousseau, Interior ; Allain-Targe, Fi- 

 nance; General Campenon, Military Affairs; 

 Gougeard, Marine; Paul Bert, Education and 

 Worship ; Raynal, Public Works ; Deves, Agri- 

 culture ; and Proust, Arts. Gambetta took the 

 department of Foreign Affairs. The appoint- 

 ment of Paul Bert, eminent as a scientific 

 scholar, but best known as an exponent of 

 skepticism, to the post of Minister of Public 

 Worship, was deemed by many a direct insult 

 to the Catholic Church, and regarded every- 

 where with wonder. The ministerial declara- 

 tion of principles given in the Assembly on 

 November 15th aggravated the evil impression 

 created by the appointment of M. Bert, and 

 the prospect of a destructive campaign against 

 the Catholic ideas of the function of the Church 

 in the body politic. From the manner of the 

 programme it was suspected that Gambetta had 

 interpreted the national demand for the " for- 

 mation of a united government, free from the 

 conditions of internal weakness and dissen- 

 sion," not by seeking the co-operation of the 

 other lights of the Republican party, but by 

 assuming the sole direction of the destinies of 

 the nation. The conservative elements were 

 disturbed by the announcement of indefinite 

 constitutional changes, while the radical de- 

 mocracy had long ceased to put their faith in 

 Gambetta. He foreshadowed the reform of 

 the Senate " by wisely limited alterations in 

 the organic law, which would bring the politi- 

 cal power into completer harmony with the 

 democratic genius of French society." The 

 reform of the judiciary, the extension of na- 

 tional education, the completion of the military 

 laws, the conclusion of commercial treaties, 

 the strict application of the Concordat so as to 

 insure respect for the political authority in the 

 relations between the Church and the state, 

 and the rigid preservation of order at home 

 and maintenance of peace with dignity abroad, 

 were the other articles of the profession of 

 faith. The programme of the ministry was 

 confidently declared to be that of France. An 

 active opposition on the Extreme Left, and the 

 uncertain attitude of other sections of the Re- 

 publican party, boded ill for the ministry ; but 

 the Chamber waited until their policy was de- 

 veloped. In the departmental activity of the 

 ministry, M. Proust's petty projects excited 

 ridicule, while the new regulations announced 

 by Minister Bert confirmed the gravest fore- 



