The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-05 00:00:00

THE FRENCH REPUBLI

We have received the Paris papers of yesterday.
The Moniteur du Soir of the previous evening had
the following paragraph :
" The reports which have been current respecting
the place designated for the negotiations on the
Italian question are premature. The seat of the
conference is not yet fixed, and it is certain that it
will not be Innspruck."
The Presse of yesterday is more explicit on this
subject. It says—
" The Great Powers, it is said, have not yet agreed
on the choice of a place where the Congress is to
assemble to confer on the affairs of Italy.
" Austria had proposed Innspruck as the nearest to
the scene of war, and most convenient for the different
Cabinets which were to be represented at the Con-
gress. But this selection has not been agreed to by
the King of Piedmont. Charles Albert feared that
the pressure of public opinion in one of the cities
devoted to the Imperial Crown might exercise a dis-
astrous influence on the determination of the plenipo-
tentiaries of Austria and Prussia.
" The Ring at first desired that the conference
should take place at Paris, but the proposal met with
a decided refusal from our Cabinet. The Sardinian
Government now insists that a town belonging to a
neutral state shall be selected, and it proposes Berne,
or some othar place in Switzerland. This proposi-
tion, it is said, is seconded by the English Cabinet."
The approaching discussion on the manner in
which the President of the Republic is to be elected
at present occupies the attention of all France. The
Committee on the Constitution recommend that the
election shall take place by universal suffrage. No-
tice of an amendment, to the following effect, has
been given by M. FLocoN :—" The National As-
sembly delegates the executive power to a citizen,
who shall receive the title of President of the Re-
public." After much hesitation, and after several
Cabinet Councils had been held on the subject, the
Goverment on Tuesday came to the determination
to support M. FLocon's amendment. On this sub-
ject we find the following in the Sack :
"A report has become current, and several journals
have announced that the Government, informed of
the resolution which had been come to by the Com-
mittee on the Constitution to maintain the articles
in which it is expressly declared that the French
people delegate the Executive Government to a Pre-
sident of the Republic, has itself given up the idea of
causing the President to be elected by the National
Assembly. Unfortunately this report is not confirmed,
and it now appears certain, on the contrary, that the
Government persists in its opinion, and will exert all
its influence to carry the amendment of M. Flocon,
even against the conclusions of the Committee.
" We do not call in question the intentions of those
who have conceived this idea, and who persevere in it.
We do know that the majority of them are actuated
by the most honourable motives : they fear that the
Republic may be menaced, that discontented or mis-
guided minds may be led to make a bad choice : that
the conflict among pretenders may lead to disorders
in the country, and in order to avoid these calamities
they have recourse to an expedient of safety, the ap-
pointment of the President by the Assembly. It is
positively stated that General Cavaignac, in parti-
cular, after long hesitation at length yielded to the
force of the arguments of his friends, that it was
necessary to confide the care of the constitution to
firm and faithful hands ; that, in a word, the wisdom
of the Assembly, which had formed the constitution,
would be for the maintenance of the work of the
majority a better guarantee than the vote of the
people, uncertain, divided, and worked upon as it is
by the most conflicting passions.
" We do not in any way underrate the value of
these considerations, the sincerity of these scruples ;
and if we anywhere saw a right equal or superior to
that on which at this moment alt the edifice of our
new institutions reposes, we should perhaps allow that
it is reasonable to take such precautions, and to pre-
vent by a judicious choice the possible egarements of
the mass of the citizens.
" But let us not seek to deceive ourselves. What
is now the basis of public right in France ? Evi-
dently it is the sovereignty of the people expressed
by universal suffrage. From what source do the
powers of the Constituent Assembly emanate ?
From universal suffrage. If the Assembly itself has
faith in that which is its vivifying principle, to whom
should it confide the nomination of the President of
the Republic after having proclaimed the absolute
necessity of the division of power ? Undoubtedly to
universal suffrage. Since, then, that there is a ques-
tion of depriving the country of this right which
belongs to it, and conferring it either definitively on
the Legislature, or temporarily on the present Na-
tional Assembly, what does it signify if not that it
suspects the wisdom of the people, that it is feared
that the majority may be led away, and that it is
wished therefore to guard against the dangers which
may arise from a bad choice ? Is this, we ask, any-
thing more or less than a suspicion of universal
suffrage ; a denial of the sovereign right on which
the new Government supports itself, and a moral
blow, almost irreparable, directed against the Re-
public ?
" We do not, for our parts, contest the embarrass-
ment which might result from an election made with-
out due reflection ; but we rely on the good sense
and patriotism of the majority of the people ; we are
maybe
areenter
hthoaptesthwehdiacnh mgeras
w
mveadd ;
apprehended will be avoided ; that, in fact, reason will
tiaeirnseuda dweidl that l
b e
deceived
i
prevail over intrigue.
" The almost infallible means to prepare the public
mind and to determine the most judicious choice
would be immediately and unhesitatingly to respond
to the almost unanimous wish of the country, by
seriously organizing the Government in an idea of
order and of progress. Indispensable measures are
indefinitely postponed; the personnel is insufficient to
meet the immense difficulties both at home and
abroad, and it is not apparent that moral authority
prevails, and hence arise those embarrassments and
those alarms against which it is sought to guard by a
sort of usurpation a thousand times more dangerous
than the danger itself."

The .11oniteur publishes a return of the imports and
exports for the first eight months of this year com-
pared with the results of previous years. The im-
portations of the month of August yielded to the
Treasury 8,656,022 f. In the last year the same
month produced 11,500,000 f. But it is in taking the
period of eight months that the deficiency becomes
the more striking. The duties levied during the
eight months of 1848 only amounted to 54,000,000 f.;
during the corresponding period of 1847 they were
89,000,000 f. ; and in 1846 exceeded 100,000,000 f.
The greatest diminutions have taken place in linen
threads, hemp, cast-iron, coal, linens, and zinc of the
first fusion. As to the exports they have been kept
up, and there has even been progress in certain re-
spects on preceding years. It is the consequence of