The Express.
London, England, 1848-09-15 00:00:00

FRANCE.

PARIS, THURSDAY, Szrr. 14.
The leading columns of the journals this morning
are occupied with comments and analysis of the
speech of M. Thiere, of which I sent you a report last
evening. The report of the destruction and surrender
of Messina, and the departure of the Sardinian fleet
from Venice, is repeated, but without further con-
firms' ion.

The Duke of Sotomayor, ambassador from the
Queen of Spain to the republic, is expected in Paris
to-day.
General Cavaignao had a grand reception on Tues-
day evening, which was attended by Lord and Lady
Normanby.
The police paid a visit, the day before yesterday, to
the Duphot club, in the street of that name, and seized
a copy of the song called Monsieur Credit, the name
given to the Duke de Bordeaux, and by which he is
bailed as the restorer of confidence and credit, and an
anagram of the words Henri de Bourbon, by which
he is called the Roi de Bonheur.

The Union says:
A subject of conversation yesterday in the lobbies of the
Assembly was • meeting held the evening before in the
Palais National, and at which VITT grave questions were
discussed. The order of the day was the mode of electing
the President of the Republic, and on the means of election
which it would be proper to adopt. The club of the Nails
National, we have been informed, wishes to firm by the aid
of its members a majority of 300 votes, by means of which
it would get the President of the Republic named by the
National Assembly, is place of by univenal suffrage. If
we are well informed, the club equally decided that the
state of siege should not be raised until after the vote of
the constitution and the election of the President. An-
other proposition, it is said, has for object to extend the ex-
istence of the present National Assembly to the expiration
of the functions of the President, in order to thus influence
his acts, and keep the first functionary of the Republic in
the political course on which the PAW, National has
entered.

The same journal says:
On Monday, an ex-mintater caused to be handed round
amongst the representatives of the left a proposition,
which, it is said, he is to present to the Assembly.
It tends to declare in the form of a bill, that hereafter
none of the member of en-reigning families can be
elected representatives. It appears that this proposi-
tion was accepted by a part of the left, bat some re-
fused to give it their adhesion. One of them even said to
the ea-minister, the report goes, that the bill which he in-
tended to being forward had for object to curry favour with
General Cavaignac, who, as is well known, is no partisan of
Louis Napolvon. This proposition was the object of a dis-
cussion in the club of the Palais National, where, it is said,
it wu adopted.

It may be remembered that some time ago some
sensation was created by a M. Vignie potting forward
the Prince de Joinville ss a candidate at the elections.
He has just published another placard again propos-
ing the Prince to the electors as a candidate, and re-
commending him as President for life of the Republic;
or, if it be preferred, M. Viginie'e placard recom-
mends the appointment of the Duchess d'Orleans as
Regent. The placard has been seized, and a proem.
tion has been commenced against M. Vignie and his
printer for exciting to disobedience to the laws, and to
attempts to overthrow the government.
The Committee of Legislation ham examined the
proposition of Louis Blanc, tending to interdict, pre-
viously to the opening of a trial, the publication by
journals, er in any other way, of the bill of indict-
ment. The committee has completely altered the
proposition, and extended its bearing. Henoefur-
ward, according to it, the journals are not to have a
right to publish beforehand the papers belonging
to a trial, to give an account of cases of defamation
where proof is interdicted by the law, or to reveal
any thing of the private deliberations of a jury.

THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.
BITTING OP SEPT. 13.
The order of the day was the adjourned debate se
the Bth article of the preamble of the constitution,
which state. " The republic must protect the ettiett,
in his person, his family, hi. religion, his property
and his work, and place within the reach of esti
the instruction indispensable to all men; it ow,.
assistance to necessitous citizens, either by prosuri
•;
work for them in the limits of its resources, m
giving the means of ezieting to those who are unfit
to work.

In the sitting of the 12th the following amend.
went had been moved by M. Mathieu de la lhonle:
—O. The rbynblic must protect the citizen in his
pez,
eon, his family, his religion, and hie property:
recognises the right of all citizens to instruction, yolk,
and assistance."

Upon this the debate wee engaged. Asa preims
to the spot..ch made by M. Thiers on the 13th it any
not be ammo to give a summary of every 4,1,
speeches made on the 12th.

M. de Tocciuzynms, who spoke after M. Gautier de a,.
mil I y and M. Pelletier, opposed the amendment, &elm,.
that It led to socialism. The vote of the Atsemb'y en
amendment would decide whether the revolution at Peam.
ary was a socialist one or not. Socialism in all ewes appeelad
net to the mind but to the material hattinets. lie dealt
that anything good or great could emanate from such feel.
logs or ideal. If eminent acts were to be lotlei for from g
nation, elevated views and generous sentiments mutt be st.
couraged. The republic of February ought tobe dem •
bat not social. What would the republic become if it ass
not democratic ?

M. de TOCQI:EVILLE, turning to the part of tl.e been
whence the voice proceeded, said, with great energy :
it would probably become royalist, if we were to allow yea
to act as you please. l Hear, hear, and great agitation whit/
lasted SOON time.) The hon. representative then deddced
that the revo'sution of February ought not to be considered
merely an accident—it had been naturally called forth by
the current of events ; he referred to certain warning' d
the coming change. given by himself in the Chamber d
Deputies. Re concluded by declaring that the republic
ought certainly to be dem:erotic, and just as certainly ncg
social.

M. Lrimto rboLus maintained that the right of lab se
was the mainspring of the conduct of the conventin,
supported, in every case, that right, as would appear frau
its numerous of declarations. The sonstitriu ought a
aim most especially at realising the system of fraternity tog,
bibbed by the men of other days. Could the republic,
1793, set forth the right of labour, an 1 the presint republia
refuse to admit it ? Ho maintained that it was the duty of
the assembly to urge to the farthest possible limit the rig.
ciple of fraternity, even if attended with some risk, gat
he denied the existence of any loch danger, as the very spy
of putting an end to all disturbance, all feeling of din ithhin
tion, was to show the working classes that their ease us
duly considered—that their )ust claims were att nded to.
As to the right of labour being identical with facia izza,
even connected with it, nothing, he said, mid be a greater
error. They had nothing in common. He maintained that,
so the old revolution had inserted the right of labour in in
prwgramme, so ought the new.
DUVZILOTHIL nee Hangsatax said that his object is
coming forward to oppose the annulment was to dearly
state the question, on d disembarrass it of the metaphors
exaggerations which bad been dung around it. Cornice to
the tight of labour, he pointed to the different remedies
brought forward by hon. representatives, and deslgtatal
them all as nothing but words. The right of labour wen ha
said, this, that when work was plentiful the workman
' aced fur liiinself, but whey times grew disastrous, the stets
was to supply his wants. It must happen that a this
should occur occasionally in all countries, and pirtiate
Lally in commercial and manufacturing ones. In that
case, either the state aided the working classes, ez
private charity stepped in • or lastly, workman lived
on his sayings, if he had any. But under the tight
of labour, each workman depending on the state only
for the moments of difficulty, would never think of say.
log anything. Why save, when the state must support bin
in case of hard times ? Also, private charity, finding that
the state was the general source of support, could think it
unn to lend assistance, so that out of the three sum
of aid whi the workman ought to look to, two would it
once disappear. He referred to the doctrines set kith im
this point by M. Proudhou, whe had declared that if the
right of labour were given up to him, he would willingly,
in his turn, give up property. And the bon. gentl►
man was correct in his views, for the right of labour ins
an attack on property. The value of property des
pended on the prosperity of a country, and when any erhis
occurred the state obtained azretance from one of two

sources—either taxes or credit. Proclaim the right of le.
hour, and at once alarm would be excited, taxes and credit
would fall off, and property would of courts suffer. The
right of labour would certmoly effect the abolition, or, et
least, the transformation, of property. For my part, eon.
tinned the orator, i am profoundly convinced that we ought
to make every effort to ameliorate the condition of the poor
but I cannot consent to have the people deceived by lying
promises, and a danger be raised up for by the stet_ by
augmenting misery in plain of diminishing it. The new
wording of the committee, which proclaims, without corn-
prommang anything, the duty of society to aid all in the limit
of its resources, satisfies mo completely. I shall vote for it,
rejecting the amendment of IF Mathieu (de Is D.smt),
which, no doubt, without his knowledge, is a falsehood and
'a danger.
After speeches from M. Cremieux and M. Martins,
the sitting was adjourned.
On the 13th the attention of the house was fatigued
he Noe time by the written speeches of two mem-
bers and a socialist lecture by M. Arnault (de
l'Arriege), and it was in the greatest eiler.ce that M.
Thiers ascended the tribune and made the following
speech
I now come forward to make we of that right of which Too
have all taken advantage, of contributing to that constitu-
tion which is to Hz the destinies of our country. My friends
and myself attach a great importance to that conititutios.
We ad not make, nor did we desire, the republic, but we as.
cept It sincerely, honestly, and as all men of sense must do.
The lawful government of our country is worthy of ell
our newt. We have never conspired and will never
do so. We have neither flattered nor betrayed royalty—we
will neither flatter nor betray the republic. We will tall it
the truth; we have often had difficulties to contend wbh,
and will no doubt have more ; but these shall not stop no.
The form under which we were desirous to live is broken;
we have always been free from the influence of courts sad
that of the streets, and we shall be so still. The gustiest
now under consideration is the most important one of oar
constitution. Had it been simply one of political economy,
I should not have ascended this tribune. I em neither a
professor nor a disciple of the old political economy, yet!
respect it es an honest and conscientious science which hes
never deceived the people. It is a social, political, and me-
taphysical question. It has every character, and is of an im-
mense gravity. I beg, therefore, that you vill allow me, se
much aa insufficient strength, will oermit to treat it with
frankness and without reserve. For the last four months we
have been waiting for the new school to present to oi the
practical means of realising its system. We have, therein*,
advanced no farther, as far as regards property, than ths
erron of society in every epoch and in every country.. I alm
have written a book on property, and I might be
tempted to read it here, but I shall abstain from doing so.
(Laughter.) Society has mid to man, work, work, and take
pains; what you produce shall be your own, and alter you
your children's. Excited by this hope, man has warted
with courage till his last day. The hon. member, M. La-
martine, told you that when you look through hieing
factone 'tithes the mind, and it is that the pinsperitY ,
each country is in proportion to the respect which exists is
thst noun for property. Look back to the middle ages;
go into the East, which ls the living wwyonage, and you will
See the land uncultivated because it is what escapes least
from tyranny. Where property is more respected, the earth
is cultivated, embellished, and fruitful. The secondcondition
is liberty, not only political, but industrial. It says to
men—work at your soak and peril, you will be happy Or
miserable, rich or poor ; and then one sees successively those
who were rich become poor, and those who were poor bs-
come rich. This eight which shocks you is liberty, that is,
man exercising his faculties at his own risk and peril. It is
by virtue of this competition that marvels are produced—
'that steam is substituted for human force. For fifty years we
have seen miracles ; that which was worth 100 is now
' worth but 30, and to give one example we furnish
muslin, to India which before bad the monopoly of
It. Do you know what has happened from this admirable
law of competition ? The workman has for the last 50 years
been paid more, and why ? because he is no longer occupied
like • beast of burden and because, m a consumer, he prolitshy
the cheapness to which he contributes as a worker. I Ann
wish that, under the auspices of the Assembly, en intleirf
might be made into the situation of the workmen of Frame,
and you would see what lies, purposely or involuntarily, an
concealed under this question which threatens to overthrow
the world. (Sensation.) The agricultural labourer, As,'
vious to 1789 earned from 20 to 24 sons per diem ; in 1814
he earned 30 sous • now he earns 40. Stich is the state of
things round Paris. The progress is the same in proportion
on ether points of one territory. The weaver who at Lille
and at Rotten earned 30 sous now gets 40. The spinner
who gained 2 francs now gains 2f. 60e ; in iron macaw-
tures a turner or a smith canna 3fr. : he now gets from 4to
6th. There are some grinders who obtain as much as 8 sod
10 fr. As for food, it is almost the same. Breed is the
same price, and meat has diminished • little.
As for clothing, cotton has diminished by 80 Per
omit. and cloth 00 per cent. Lodging bas 14124
named. Instead of 90fr. per annum, it carts
120. With regard to lodgings, the assembly has lately
taken an excellent measure, ny giving advantages to thee*
building lodgings for workpeople. Propose to us similar
measures for the relief of the other branch of workmen, and
we shall then contribute to better their lot as honest men,
and not as factious ones.
A Voica.—Say as royalists.
M. Tutzsta.-1 hear a person interrupting. I do cot
know who he is.
M. FLOOOx rose and folded kis arms. (Cries of "order.")
Y. Txtnas.—l have heard the word royalist. I am
not new in these party struggles,; not long since
heard violent questions put from another quarter, an
they have not moved me. I regret that the gentlt"
man who interrupted did not belong to any of the old
assemblies. If, as one of these, whilst an orator was
at the tribune, some one in the majority had pro-
flounced the word republic, we should have ailcnced the
interruptor.