The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-30 00:00:00

set aside by a general committee whose duty it is to
determine the validity of all elections, although
the candidate so chosen had obtained a clear
majority of votes. An election had taken place,
and one of the candidates was officially declared to
have polled three hundred and twenty-six votes
more than his opponent, but nevertheless, for
reasons which were not stated, the election was dea
Glared invalid. Party spirit runs high at Geneva
as elsewhere, and, under circumstances such as
these, it is scarcely a matter for surprise that the
supporters and partisans of the supposed victor
should have rather angrily questioned a decision the
justice of which, to say the least, was not apparent.
Hence arose the disturbance at Geneva, and were
we not painfully aware of what have been the con-
sequences in America of the election of an executive
officer who does not command the confidence of the
entire community, we might be at a loss to under-
stand how such a circumstance could have led to a
little insurrection. 'We published yesterday the
official report addressed by the State Council of the
Republic of Geneva to the Federal Commissioners
appointed to investigate the causes of the late dis-
turbances, and on Saturday last some correspon-
dence bearing on the same subject, and from these
joint sources there is but little difficulty in discover-
ing the merits of a quarrel which, for some hours
at least, disturbed the repose of one of the frontier
cantons of the Swiss Confederation. A vacancy
having lately occurred in the Federal Council
owing to the appointment of M. Poida, one of its
members, to the Legation at Turin, M. Chaliet
Veuel, of the State Council of Geneva, and repre-
sentative of the Radical party of that canton, was
elected to the vacant place. An election of a mem-
ber to the State Council followed as a matter of
course, and gave rise to a trial of strength between
the Conservative and Radical parties in Geneva, the
former supportiag M. Cheneviere, and the latter M.
James Fazy. The result of the election is thus stated
in the official report :—" The scrutiny showed that
M. Cheneviere had obtained five thousand six ham.
dred and seventyeseven out of eleven thousand and
seventeen valid votes, giving him, errors excepted, a
majority of three hundred and twenty-six votes over
M. Fazy. The committee of the General Council,
which, according to the constitution and the law,
is alone competent to determine the validity of an
election, after having announced this result,declared
the election invalid, for reasons with which we are
not yet precisely acquainted." As soon as this de-
cision became known the supporters of M. Chene-
viere repaired to the Hotel de Ville, and called upon
the Vice-President of the State Council to annul it,
aad declare their candidate duly elected. M. Vautier,
the Vice-President, stated that the State Council
had no jurisdiction in the matter, but promised to
assemble its members without delay. Shortly
afterwards the members of the State Council met
at the Hotel de Ville, the approaches to which
were thronged by the Conservative voters, and the
President of the General Council, whose committee
had annulled M. Cheneviere's election, formally
notified the decision of the committee, at the same
time stating that, in his opinion, it was based on
insufficient grounds, and that it was his intention
to convoke the committee again, with the view of
reconsidering its decision. A deputation from the
citizens meantime pressed upon the State Council
the necessity of declaring M. Cheneviere to be duly
elected, which the latter, with equal resolution, re-
fused to do, on the very intelligible ground that such
a declaration would be ultra vires. A compromise
was at length agreed upon between the deputation
and the Council of State, by which the latter agreed
to set forth in a proclamation the result of the
scrutiny, the decision of the committee adverse to
M. de Cheneviere, and the fact that the committee
had been convoked for fresh deliberation. This com-
promise did not, however, satisfy the body of the
Conservative electors, and the Police Commissary
despatched by the State Council to read the pro-
clamation to the people was not for some time per
witted to leave the Hotel de Ville. When at
length he succeeded in doing so, he was attended
by a vast concourse of people, and on reaching a
quarter of the town chiefly inhabited by the
Radical section of the community, a shot was fired
which killed or wounded some of the supporters
of the Conservative candidate. A report then
spread in Saint Gervais, the quarter to which
we have alluded, that the State Council was im-
prisoned in the Hotel de Ville, and the Radical party
immediately determined to rescue its members. The
arsenal was then broken into, and large quantities
of arms were distributed amongst the crowd. Then
followed those collisions which unfortunately were
attended with loss of life. The conflict was not,
however, of long continuance. The members of the
State Council were permitted to leave the Hotel de
Ville and visit the " faubourg," as St. Gervais, the
St. Antoine of Geneva, is called, iu order to prove
that they were free, and shortly afterwards order
was once mere restored. M. Forneroel, the commis.
sioner despatched by the Federal Council to Geneva,
happily found no necessity for the employment of
the Federal troops which were placed at his disposal.
We have no desire to express an opinion on the
conduct of the rival factions, or to apportion the
blame of having occasioned the recent disturbances.
Nor do we think ourselves called upon to form an
estimate of the character of M. Fazy, the Democratic
candidate, a character which certainly has not been
painted in the brightest colours in the communica-
tions which have been addressed to us. Regarded
as a question of pure law there can be no doubt that
the committee of the General Council to which, by
the constitution, the power is entrusted of deter.
mining the validity of elections, was entitled, if he
saw proper, to annul Mr. Cheneviere's election.
But in the presence of surrounding circumstances,
and more especially of the substantial majority by
which that candidate was placed at the head of the
poll, the exercise of their power, apparently without
any reason assigned, was impolitic, if not unconsti-
tutional, and, as we are inclined to think, properly
provoked opposition. The loss of life must afford
subject-matter for regret, but otherwise we might
say that we are sorry to see a people ready, though
it may be with a strong arm, to vindicate the free
exercise and the unqualified recognition of those
electoral rights which are all in all to the,members
of a republic.