The Sun.
London, England, 1871-02-15 00:00:00

THE ELECTIONS IN PARIS.

From Paris, February 13, the Daily News special cor-
respondent writes :—The one great fact to be noted is that
the Paris elections have turned out to be in favour of
men of the most extreme opinions who will find them-
selves in the National Assembly opposed to the
opinion of France. Out of this fact several ques-
tions arise, the first of which is—Can these elections
be fairly said to represent Paris ? The answer to this is
—No, for the elections are a surprise. It is true that the
Reds are very strong in Paris, and must command a good
number of its deputies, but in this election they have far
more than their due share. I need not trouble you again
with an enumeration of the causes wnich have led to
the present surprise ; but let me add this which I
overlooked in my previous statement, and which is
not unimportant. About 150,000 persons have left Paris
armed with the necessary passes. The majority of these
belong- to the well-to-do classes, who have business out
of Paris to attend to—families in the country, houses
and lands. The absence of these well-to-do electors
from Paris at the critical moment has seriously
affected the character of its representatives. It
is not likely, however, that the • Parisian elec-
tions will materially affect the question of peace or
war. They chiefly affect the character of the capital and
its position in France, There is evidently in progress a
strong movement towards decentralisation. There has
been for some time in the minds of many Frenchmen living
in the provinces not only a just, but even an exces-
sive jealousy of Paris. The capital was in a fair way
to be dethroned from its pre-eminence in France. One
set of politicians proposed that the seat of Government
should be changed to a country town—say Tours. Others
suggested that France should become a federation of pro
vinces—independent though united. There seemed every
likelihood, however, that the defence of Paris, from the
admiration which it excited throughout France, would
prolong the supremacy of the capital in the
national regard. It seemed as if the character of Paris
were altered, and as if she might be again trusted. The
recent elections have opened up the old sore, and will ex-
cite the old question—one of the very first to be en-
countered by those who consider what is to be the future
form of Government-What is Paris as the capital of
France, and what power can the country formally concede
to it ?

THE ARMISTICE AND PEACE PROSPECTS.
The special correspondent of the Daily News, in a com-
munication from Bordeaux, February 13, observes :
Many people fear a resumption of the war, be-
cause no candidate for the Assembly dares to
say more than that he will accept an " honourable "
peace ; and hitherto it has been assumed that any
cession of French territory would be dishonourable.
But I apprehend that when Parliament meets, with
the sound of Bismarck's cannon still echoing in
its ears, rhetoricians will be found to prove to a willing
audience that any peace which is necessary is honourable.
M. Thiers is a very likely man to devote himself to such a
task. If those at• the helm, who must necessarily be
few, are convinced that the only consequence of non-
submissisn to the terms dictated by Germany would
be to draw down upon the South and West of
France the slaughter, pestilence, and famine which have
already desolated the Northern and Eastern provinces,
including the capital of the whole country, it seems to
me a plain duty to avert so much misery; and I do not
see what " honour " has to do with the question.
Gambetta was the last man "not to despair of the
Republic," and his fall has, in my opinion, given a
check to war feeling and war preparations from which it
is impossible to recover. At the same time I wish to re-
cord my opinion, subject to correction, that the capitula-
tion of Paris was not honourable in the way in which it
was made. M. Jules Favre, knowing scarcely
anything of the condition of the provinces but
what Count Bismarck chose to tell him, signed, in
extreniis and under duress an armistice by which he
took upon himself to bind all France. The, position'
into which Bourbaki had got the Army of the East was
so bad that it may have been a crowning mercy that it
was enabled to be disarmed in Switzerland, instead of
being massacred or made prisoners. But Jules Favre
did not know of the desperate prospects of Bourbaki's
forces (admitting them to have been desperate) ; and
Gambetta's allegation is that his sending orders to
General Clinchant and General Garibaldi to suspend
operations two days before he was informed that the
armistice did not extend to the Army of the East led to
the loss for France of 85,000 fighting men, from whom
great achievements might have been fairly expected. By
Jules Favre's capitulation almost all the besieging
forces are now at liberty to ravage the French
provinces ; for with the Parisan garrison disarmed,
aid the forts in the enemy's possession, a corporal's guard.
so to speak, may hold Paris in awe. Paris, therefore, I
contend, did about as badly as it was possible to do. Her
rulers talked big for many months ; professed to
be able to hold out much longer than they
could ; and then suddenly, without giving any
intimation of their 'intention to their colleagues
outside the walls, put themselves entirely in the
hands of the successful besiegers, and did everything
that in them lay to force the whole nation to share in
their disaster. In this crowning feat I believe they have
been successful. The chances of saving the nation from
utter ruin and humiliation may not have been great ; but
after the purely selfish and altogether unheroic capitula-
tion of Paris, these chances are reduced to an unappreci-
I able minimum.