318 



FRANCE. 



had no right to sit in judgment upon the Cham- 

 ber. If the latter had exceeded its powers, 

 which he did not admit, the Government could 

 have recourse to a dissolution. On the 19th, 

 M. Arago moved the previous question when 

 M. de Kerdrel's question was brought forward, 

 on the ground that the question was unconsti- 

 tutional and an encroachment on the rights of 

 the Chamber. This motion was rejected by 

 155 to 130 votes. M. de Kerdrel then put his 

 question, and said that his sole object was to 



Jrevent the prerogatives of the Executive and 

 udicial Powers from being threatened by the 

 inquiry. The Due de Broglie, in reply, main- 

 tained that the inquiry was an encroachment 

 upon the rights of those powers. M. Laboulaye 

 held that the Chamber had the right to carry 

 out the investigation. The president then read 

 the order of the day drawn up by the Right, 

 which declared that the Senate, having taken 

 cognizance of the declarations of the Govern- 

 ment, would not suffer any infringement of 

 the prerogative of either of the public powers. 

 After some remarks from M. Dufaure, defend- 

 ing the course adopted by the Chamber, and 

 advocating a policy of conciliation, the order 

 of the day moved by the Right was adopted. 



One fact became patent during the struggle 

 in the Senate, that the Senators of the Right 

 Centre, belonging to the Orleanist party, and 

 led by the President of the Senate, had almost 

 all severed themselves from the Government, 

 declining to share the responsibility of its elec- 

 toral acts, and had rejected all idea of a fresh 

 dissolution. The new Budget Committee met 

 on November 21st, all the members being Re- 

 publicans, and elected M. Gambetta its presi- 

 dent. On the 20th the Journal Officiel an- 

 nounced that the ministers had handed in their 

 resignations to the President, who had ac- 

 cepted them. The new ministry was formed 

 on November 24th. It was composed as fol- 

 lows: President of the Council and Minister 

 of War, General Grimaudet de Rochebouet; 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Marquis de 

 Banneville; Minister of the Interior, M. de 

 Welche ; Minister of Justice, M. Lepelletier ; 

 Minister of Finances, M. Dutilleul ; Minister of 

 Commerce, M. Ozenne ; Minister of Public 

 Works. M. Graeff ; Minister of Public Instruc- 

 tion, M. Faye; Minister of Marine, Admiral 

 Ronssin. On the same day General Grimaudet 

 de Rochebouet, the newly appointed President 

 of the Council, made the following statement : 

 In consequence of the recent discussions in the 

 Chamber of Deputies, President MacMahon has in- 

 trusted the ministry to men outside of political 

 struggle. They will faithfully observe the law and 

 afford the Marshal the support he requires, impor- 

 tant to facilitate commercial intercourse and the 

 preparations for the Exposition. We shall respect 

 and require respect for the republican laws by which 

 we are ruled. The Constitution will pass intact from 

 us to our successors when President MacMahon 

 judges opportune to replace usBy" parliamentary 

 ministers. We rely upon your cooperation in our 

 work of appeasement. 



M. Lepelletier, Minister of Justice, read the 



same statement in the Chamber of Deputies, 

 whereupon M. de Marcere, in behalf of the 

 Left, interpellated the ministry respecting its 

 formation. M. de Welche, Minister of the In- 

 terior, asked for a postponement of the inter- 

 pellation till the next day, but the Chamber de- 

 cided to discuss it. M. de Marcere urged that 

 the cabinet represented personal, not parlia- 

 mentary, power. He said " better tell the Mar- 

 shal the' truth and spare the country a fresh 

 crisis." M. de Welche urged the Marshal's 

 constitutional rights. Jules Ferry moved, on 

 behalf of the Left, that the Chamber consider 

 that the ministry, by its composition, is a de- 

 nial of the national rights of parliamentary 

 law, and can only aggravate the crisis which 

 has cruelly weighed business since the 16th of 

 May, and cannot enter into relations with this 

 ministry. The motion was adopted, 323 against 

 208, after a Bonapartist motion for an order 

 of the day, pure and simple, had been rejected 

 by a similar number. After this unparalleled 

 event, the rejection by the Chamber of a min- 

 istry on its first appearance before the Cham- 

 ber, the struggle between the President and 

 the Chamber continued unabated for some 

 time. But in the beginning of December Presi- 

 dent MacMahon began to make overtures to 

 the Republicans, by inviting M. Grevy and the 

 Due d'Audiff ret-Pasquier to an interview, and 

 finally even called upon M. Dufaure to form 

 a cabinet. But, as he insisted on retaining the 

 selection of the Ministers of War, Marine, and 

 Foreign Affairs, M. Dufaure declined to under- 

 take the formation of a cabinet on these con- 

 ditions. Finally, on December 14th, President 

 MacMahon gave M. Dufaure full power to form 

 a cabinet from the Left, and the following cabi- 

 net was, in consequence, organized: M. Du- 

 faure, Justice and President of the Council ; M. 

 de Marcere, Interior; M. Leon Say, Finance; 

 M. Waddington, Foreign Affairs; M. Bardoux, 

 Public Instruction and Worship ; M. de Frey- 

 cinet, Public Works ; M. Teisserenc de Bort, 

 Agriculture and Commerce; General Borel, 

 War; and Admiral Pothuau, Marine. The first 

 decree, nominating M. Dufaure, was counter- 

 signed by General Rochebouet, and the other 

 decrees by M. Dufaure. M. Dufaure then sent 

 the following message to the Chambers: 



: The President of the Eepublic has 

 charged my colleagues and myself to present to you 

 the following message : 



The elections of the 14th of October once more af- 

 firmed the confidence of the country in republican 

 institutions. In obedience to parliamentary rules, I 

 have formed a cabinet selected from the two Cham- 

 bers, composed of men resolved to defend and main- 

 tain those institutions by the sincere practice of the 

 constitutional laws. The interest of the country 

 demands the termination of the crisis we are travers- 

 ing. It demands, with not less force, that it shall 

 not be renewed. Eecourse to the right of dissolu- 

 tion is only, in fact, a supreme mode of consulting a 

 judge without appeal, and cannot be erected into a sys- 

 tem of government. I deemed it my duty to make use 

 of that right, and I conform to the reply of the country. 

 The Constitution of 1875 founded a parliamentary 

 republic by establishing my irresponsibility, while it 



