The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-01 00:00:00

THE DEBATE IN THE ITALIAN PAR.

LIAMEIVT.

SIGNOR RATTAZZI'S DEFENCE.

In the sitting of the Chamber of Deputies, which
took place on the 26th inst., Signor Rattazzi de-
fended his policy in a speech of which the follow-
ing is a summary :-
4411. e stated in the first place that it was as much
from principle as from a desire to reply to the accu-
sations directed against him that he had so warmly
desired to explain his conduct. 'As for personali-
ties,' he added, disdain them.' Throwing a re-
trospective glance upon the events which had taken
place, he showed, without blaming any previous ad-
ministration, how the different parties had been led
to organise themselves. The present Cabinet,find-
ing those parties opposed to each other, endeavoured
to reconcile them, and for that purpose introduced
into its combinations men of advanced opinions.
From the moment of its accession to power it an-
nounced its intentions by the fusion of the two
armies ; and if it had been stopped in the path of
conciliation, was that the fault of the Ministry—a
Ministry which, despite the antagonistic elements
of which it was composed, had never changed, and
always maintained in its councils the utmost unani-
mity ? The conciliation inaugurated by the fusion
of the two armies was, in the first place, disturbed
by the Sarnico scandal; and afterwards at Aspro-
munte. Who was to blame? Supposing it even
to be true that Aspromonte would not have occurred
but for the want of authority of the Ministry,
would not the responsibility fell upon the majority
which refused its support to the Cabinet without
having the moral courage to overthrow it ?
Turning towards the right, Signor Rattazzi ex-
claimed, " Since we did not inspire you with con-
fidence, why did you not oppose us ?" He then
energetically repelled the accusation brought against
him by M. Nicotera. If the law had sometimes
not been applied in all its strictness the fault must
be attributed to those terrible moments in which
the safety of the country was endangered by Gene-
ral Garibaldi. As to the reproaches of weakness,
were they applicable to a Cabinet which had dis-
solved the Emancipation Society, prevented popu-
lar manifestations, resisted Garibaldi, and induced
the recognitions of Russia and Prussia ? Referring
to the questions of Signor Boncompagni, Signor
Rattazzi declared that the Government had never'
authorised clandestine armaments in Sicily or else-
where. Before the troubles at Palermo he had done
all he could to hinder them, and if he had not suc-
ceeded better it was because he was fettered by the
law. It was owing to this that he had recourse to
the law respecting associations. Signor Rattezzi
then showed from a legal point of view the diffe•
rence that exists between the right of meeting re-
cognised by the law, and the right of association,
the signification of which could not, he said, be
misunderstood. Referring next to the nomination
of the Marquis Pallavicini to the Prefecture of
Palermo, he said that nomination, which took place
before Sarnico and Aspromonte, was also a concilia-
I tory act. The Government had never concealed its
intentions from the Marquis Pallavicini ; and if it
afterwards hesitated to accept his resignation, it
was from prudential motives, and out of regard
to i
as tth
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taking. As to the state of siege in the Southern
provinces, the speaker maintained that, when the
country is in danger, the Government- has always
the right to suspend constitutional privileges,
and that if the state of siege was not decreed
until after Garibaldi had entered Catania, the rea-
son was that it became necessary to go beyond the
law, in order to preserve the law. A less energetic
measure might have failed to convince the people.
If the state of siege was continued afterwards the
brigandage and the camorra were the causes. The
minister then referred to the exciting question—.
the arrest of the deputies. It was, he said, in con-
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sc
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at
his duty to arrest them.
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who

hesitate to act as he had acted.
" A despatch from the general to the cabinet was
here read by Signor Rattazzi, in the midst of the
utmost commotion of the Left. After much inter-
ruption, the speaker endeavoured to explain the