FRANCE. 



313 



lin, testifying to the excellent relations existing 

 between France and Germany. He said similar 

 assurances had heen received from St. Peters- 

 burg, Vienna, and Madrid. M. Auguste Paris, 

 the Minister of Public Works, said the Repub- 

 licans were too anxious to discount the retire- 

 ment of President MacMahon, who was not the 

 kind of man to weary of the performance of his 

 duty. The minister then proceeded to defend 

 President MacMahon's right to dissolve the 

 Chamber, and, discussing his right of revising 

 the Constitution, said, amid exclamations from 

 the Left, that he did not admit that the Repub- 

 lic could be represented as definitive. He re- 

 proached the Left with desiring to replace 

 gradually the present Government by a con- 

 vention. He declared the President was not a 

 blind instrument in the hands of Parliament, 

 but ought to have a policy of his own. The 

 minister acknowledged that the Conservatives 

 were divided as to the form of government, but 

 the Republicans were divided on the question 

 of principles. He concluded that whatever 

 order of the day the House might pass, the 

 final decision rested with France. M. Jules 

 Ferry said the present conflict was between 

 personal and parliamentary government. He 

 expressed regret that the Constitution had not 

 been locally carried out, and reminded the 

 functionaries who abused power during the 

 elections that the House would judge them upon 

 its reelection. Replying to the arguments of 

 the Government, that the President is bound 

 to have a policy of his own, M. Ferry pointed 

 out that the Constitution provides for the trial 

 of the President if he commit high treason. M. 

 Ferry was repeatedly interrupted by the Right, 

 and at one time was compelled to leave the 

 tribune. 



The discussion upon the report of the bureaux 

 in favor of the dissolution of the Chamber of 

 Deputies was begun in the Senate on June 21st. 

 M. Jules Simon, speaking in justification of the 

 late ministry, said : 



Complaints respecting his conduct of public busi- 

 ness were mere pretexts. The real cause of the fall 

 of his ministry was that it had been in harmony 

 with the Republican majority. M. Simon con- 

 tinued : He was pained to see the rules of parliamen- 

 tary government trampled under foot with terrible 

 unceremoniousness. The present proposal for the 

 dissolution of the Chamber was intended to com- 

 plete the ruin of parliamentary government. He 

 appealed to the Due de Broglie to repudiate his 

 intention of setting up official candidacies, and to dis- 

 avow the disgraceful language of papers which pro- 

 posed to sweep away the Republic. He concluded 

 that the ministers would not and could not be Bpna- 

 partists, but were neither Legitimists nor Orleanists. 

 They were an ambiguous government, and the Repub- 

 lic would finally triumph. The Due de Broglie de- 

 monstrated that the proposal for dissolution wa not 

 contrary to the Constitution. He said : " President 

 MacManon is in harmony with the tendencies of the 

 majority of the Senate. Do not abandon him." In 

 reference to the charge that the ministers are not 

 Republicans, the Due said they kept within the spirit 

 of the Constitution. In reference to other accusa- 

 tions, he said the ministers were sincerely attached 

 to the Church, but they disowned no principle of 



public law. None of them desired to compromise 

 the country in religious intrigues or war on religi- 

 ous questions. He concluded : " The country will 

 not hesitate between President MacMahon and the 

 Dictator of Bordeaux, the chief of the Radical army." 



The Chamber subsequently refused to vote 

 direct taxes, but unanimously voted supple- 

 mentary grants to the Ministry of "War, the 

 reporter of the Budget Committee observing 

 that although the Chambers refused to pass 

 any vote which would imply confidence in the 

 Government, it was disposed to vote all that 

 was necessary for the conduct of the public 

 service. 



On June 22d, after a short debate, the ques- 

 tion of dissolution was voted on in the Senate, 

 and it passed by a vote of 150 to 130. The 

 last session of the Chamber of Deputies opened 

 at two o'clock of June 26th. M. Gr6vy, after 

 silence was restored, said: 



Before informing it of the communication which 1 

 have received, I wish at the last moment to thank the 

 Chamber for the great honor it has paid me and the 

 good-will it has shown me. The country before 

 which it is about to return will soon tell it that it has 

 never for a single day ceased to deserve well of 

 France and the Republic. 



M. Gr6vy then read a letter from the Minis- 

 ter of the Interior, asking him to notify to the 

 Chamber the decree by which the President of 

 the Republic, with the sanction of the Senate, 

 dissolved the Chamber, and that the Electoial 

 Colleges would be convoked for fresh elections 

 within three months. The whole Left then 

 rose, cheering the Republic, peace, and France. 

 The bureaux of the four sections of the Left, 

 at a meeting on June 23d, considered, among 

 other matters, the issue of an election manual 

 and the appointment of a vigilance committee, 

 to organize the elections, and, in concert with 

 a committee of jurisconsults, watch the pro- 

 ceedings of government functionaries from the 

 standpoints of legality. The bureaux also agreed 

 to the following declaration : 



That the 863 Deputies who voted for want of con- 

 fidence in the ministry of the 17th of May, remaining 

 united in a common idea, shall offer themselves col- 

 lectively, and on a footing of equality, to universal 

 suffrage when the electors are convened in their 

 Comitta. 



The political campaign on which France now 

 entered was one of the most bitter through 

 which the country ever passed. The Repub- 

 licans of all shades acted in perfect unity. In 

 no electoral district was there more than one 

 Republican candidate, and he received the 

 united support. The Government, on the other 

 hand, although using every means in its power 

 to influence the elections, found itself seriously- 

 hampered by the dissensions between the dif- 

 ferent monarchical factions upon whom it de- 

 pended for support. 



On July 1st, President MacMahon, after hav- 

 ing reviewed the troops stationed in and around 

 Paris, issued the following order of the day : 



SOLDIKBS: I am satisfied with your bearing and the 

 regularity of the movements which you nave juct 

 executed. I know, moreover, by the reports of your 



