FRANCE. 



317 



can, the Left retained their hold of Seire- 

 et-Oise, Eure-et-Loire, Loiret, and Loir-et- 

 Cher, but lost 3 seats in the C6tes-du-Nord, 

 which has now but 1 Eepublican Deputy, 

 against 8 Conservatives ; and Vendee and Fi- 

 nistere, which formerly returned 1 and 2 Re- 

 publicans respectively, have become Royalist 

 monopolies, except a single Bonapartist seat 

 in each. The religious question had evidently 

 influenced the northwest, and in the southwest 

 it had manifestly operated, the Left losing all 

 their seats near the Pyrenees and others scat- 

 tered farther north, the Bonapartists, how- 

 ever, sharing the advantage with the Legiti- 

 mists. In the late Chamber the southwest 

 was the least Republican division of France, 

 and it is now still less Republican than it was 

 then, though Creuse, Haute- Vienne, and half 

 Gironde remained true. In the second ballots 

 of October 28th, the Republicans gained in 11 

 out of the 15 districts, lost votes in 1 district, 

 and abstained from voting in 3, claiming that 

 their candidates had been elected on the 14th. 

 The final result of the election was that in 

 the new Chamber the Left would have 325 

 members, including the 3 disputed seats, the 

 Bonapartists 112, and the Royalists 96. 



The combined Royalists and Bonapartists 

 suffered another defeat on November 4th. On 

 that day elections were held throughout France 

 for members of the Councils General, the As- 

 semblies of the Departments. In these elec- 

 tions the Republicans gained over 100 seats 

 from the Conservatives. In some departments 

 this success changed the majority in the De- 

 partmental Assembly. 



The supplementary elections held on No- 

 vember llth still further improved the posi- 

 tion of the Republicans. Out of 90 Councils 

 General, the Republicans had a majority in 49 

 and the Reactionaries in 38, while 3 were 

 doubtful. The Left had gained the majority 

 in 15 departments, and had lost it in 5. The 

 new Chambers met on November 7th. No 

 business of any importance was transacted 

 beyond the election of M. Gr6vy as provi- 

 sional president, and afterward as permanent 

 president. On November 12th, M. Grevy, in 

 returning thanks for his election as permanent 

 president, said he would strive to show him- 

 self equal to the occasion in the same manner 

 as the Chamber, by its moderation and firm- 

 ness, would know how to act up to its respon- 

 sibility, guided by the admirable wisdom and 

 will of the country. Urgency was then voted 

 for a motion to modify the standing orders, so 

 as to better enable the president to repress 

 disturbances during debate. M. Albert Gr6vy 

 moved the appointment of a committee to in- 

 quire into election abuses. He declared the 

 country expected a condemnation of the sys- 

 tem of official candidatures, and he asked that 

 urgency be voted for his motion. The Due 

 de Broglie, in the name of the Government, 

 supported the demand for urgency. He said 

 he wished light to be thrown on the accusa- 



tions against the Government. The ministry 

 would meet the inquiry with more readiness 

 than did the members of the Government of 

 the 4th of September on a former occasion, al- 

 though, perhaps, it might ask for more im- 

 partial judges than a committee of inquiry. It 

 was a strange theory which required that two 

 of the established powers ought immediately 

 to bow to the will of the third. Urgency was 

 voted, and the bureaux immediately appointed 

 a committee to examine the motion, with M. 



ABC DE TRIOMPHE DE I/fiTOILE, PARIS. 



Albert Gr6vy as reporter. On resumption of 

 the sitting the committee presented a report 

 explaining that the persons aimed at by the 

 motion as responsible for electoral abuses are 

 those agents who are recognized as responsible 

 by the Constitution, and not the President of 

 the Republic, whom the law renders irrespon- 

 sible. M. Gambetta, replying to a question by 

 a member of his bureau, gave a similar ex- 

 planation of the object of the motion. These 

 declarations were considered to represent the 

 unanimous opinion of the Left. After a vio- 

 lent debate, extending over three days, the 

 motion was adopted on the 15th. On the 16th 

 the committee was appointed, consisting en- 

 tirely of Republicans. On the 17th, a Con- 

 servative Senator, M. de Kerdrel, gave notice 

 of the following interpellation: "I have the 

 honor of submitting a demand of interpel- 

 lation to the Government as to the measures 

 it means to take respecting the investigation 

 ordered by the Chamber of Deputies." M. 

 Jules Simon asked whether such a question 

 could be put, and two other members char- 

 acterized it as a revolutionary step. The 

 president said that he had anxiously considered 

 the legality of the question. M. de Kerdrel 

 had declared that he merely intended to ask 

 what instructions the Government meant to 

 give to its agents, and within these limits the 

 question would be in order. The House was 

 not, however, the Senate of the Empire, and 



