The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-01-27 00:00:00


Etc stottqribge qserbtr.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 1872.

li. TRIERS AND THE ASSEMBLY.

The long tenure of office which M. niers has
had has been a remarkable fact, but it may per.
hops he accounted for negatively, inasmuch as
he never seems to have possessed the entire con-
fidence of any great party in France, and that
therefore he has been regarded as by no means
a dangerous man in the exalted position be has
held. But in one respect he has undoubtedly
been somewhat dangerous—in his financial po-
licy. To meet the enormously heavy demands
of Germany, the President of the Republic pro-
posed to raise money in a way that fairly deserves
to be called suicidal. His scheme was to levy
import duties on silk, cotton, jute, and a variety
of other articles; in fact, to tax heavily the raw
material, which would have been a long step to-
wards the exploded policy of Protection. A
proposal which was most undesirable in itself
was advocated in a very unfair way. M. Thiel,
is confessedly a man of splendid oratorical power
and he brought all this power to bear on the
advancement of his hobby, and this contrary to
the general understanding that he was not to
make so free a use of the gift of oratory. It
was understood when he assumed office that he
was only to speak under certain conditions, and
on certain occasions, but, in spite of this, he has
done his utmost to carry away the Assembly by
his eloquence, and to force a distasteful financial
scheme upon them. What the country desired
of him was that he should aid France in regene-
rating herself, by his counsel and wisdom, by
thorough impartiality, by maintaining respect
for the law, and by the judicious administration
of afthirs. But instead of this, the President of
the Republic has evidently aimed at personal
government, apparently determined, at all
hazards, to carry his financial hobby. But
France has evidently had enough of personal
government, and the Assembly has declined to
submit to his dictation. The financial proposals
of M. Thiers have been decisively rejected, and
this fact, we think, speaks well for the future of
France. The policy which the President pro-
posed, and which he did his utmost to carry out,
would have been detrimental to the best inte-
rests of the country. To raise the price of raw
material would have impeded production, and
therefore would have repressed industry and re-
duced the wages of the working classes ; it
would have raised the prices of the manufactured
articles, and therefore would have injured the
commerce of the countay. It is well, therefore,
that the Assembly has rejected this mode of
raising money, whatever other mode they may

scheme-

thorough

adopt.
That M. There should tender his resignation
on the rejection of his favourite crotchet was
perhaps only netural, and that the subordinate
members of the Ministry should follow his ex-
ample is not surprising, while the latter fact may
be regarded as an evidence of the esteem and
respect in which M. Thiers is held by his col-
leagues. But the President of the Republic,
who, we doubt not, has the good of his country
at heart, has done much to redeem his faults by
consenting to withdraw his resignation. There
is, indeed, some ground for believing that hail
he thought the Assembly would readily have ac-
cepted the resignation he would never have ten-
dered it. Be this as it may, whether he were
thoroughly sincere or not, in resigning, he is
doubtltss sincere enough in withdrawing his
resignation and again seizing the helm of the
State ship. It is, however, to be hoped that the
President of the Republic will, so long as he re-
tains this position, know where to draw the line
between the legislative and the executive deport:
molts of the State, and will not attempt to carry
matters with a too high hand. It is said that
he has consented for the future only to take pai t
in the debates in the Assembly on most import-
ant occasions. This will be fairer to all parties
in the State than a President becoming an ear-
nest and energetic advocate of a particular po-
licy, as though he were a special pleader. For
the present Erance and England may alike be
congratulated on the mistaken policy of M
Thiers—a reactionary policy, as it would hay,
proved—being negatived by the Assembly. Had
raw materials been taxed, as he proposed, an in-
jury would have been done to both countries.
The great fact of the moment is that France
steadily refuses to retrace her steps from free
trade—under which, till the era of war, she was
prosperous—to protection, which would have
proved most injurious both to her trade and
commerce.