The Sun.
London, England, 1870-04-12 00:00:00

M. BUFFET AND THE PLEBISCITE.

The Timer remarks that although the gloomy recollec-
tions of 1851 caused every sensible man in France to
shudder at the bare mention of the word pl6biscite, still
the Emperor would have found his Ministers ready to
humour -him in that scheme on which his heart was so
strongly bent, had only a clear understanding on the sub-
ject been possible between them. M. Buffet, for'instance,
although he doubted the necessity and policy of the pro-
posed measure, although he deemed the Sovereign's direct
appeal to the people under any circumstances incompa-
tible with the principles of parliamentary rule, would
still not, within certain limits and on his own terms, have
withheld his consent. ire would only have stipulated
that no question should be submitted to the people's
sanction before it had been fairly discussed and before it
had received a favourable vote in the Senate and the
Legislative Body. We need scarcely point out than such
a condition defeated all the Emperor's purpose. It
is only when it departs from the forms of ordinary
parliamentary government that a pl4biscite ceases to be
a ;are delusion, and becomes a treason and a
snare. It is when the Sovereign takes the
people by surprise, overrides the Legislature, and, so
to say, passes his exceptional measures over its head.
It is the right of doing all this that the Emperor,
whether consciously or not, claims as his prerogative,
and it is upon these pretensions that M. Buffet's colleues,
who pledged himself to bring back themes ys-
tem of representative government in France, ought
not to consider themselves at liberty to come to a com-
promise. It would, however, be most unjust not to make
allowance for the immense difficulties with which the
011ivier Ministry have to contend—the necessity of avoid-
ing, a collision with the Emperca ; the anxiety to keep
their place to the exclusion of the old Imperial advisers,
who are only too ready to push them from their stools ;
the necessity of confronting " extreme parties " on all
sides, and steering a middle course between senseless
reaction and unbridled revolution. But there is danger also
in a too cautious and wavering policy ; danger for a man in
following any other policy than his own. M. 011ivier
and his colleagues did not take office merely to play the
parts of MM. Rouher and De Forcade la Roquette.
That part were better left to MM. Rouher and De
Forcade la Roquette themselves.

At the annual meeting of the Torbay Regatta
Committee on Monday afternoon, it was announced that
that the harbour at Torquay, which has been some years
in course of construction, chiefly with the view to accom-
modate yachts, would be formally opened during the
slimmer. It was resolved that on the day of the opening,
and in connection with the regatta, an ocean yacht-race
should be run from Southampton to Torquay, tow li
149 glniil244. which 5# P 4 smujitd RM.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT

HOUSE OF COMMONS—Ttirs DAY.
The Speaker took the chair at twenty-five minutes to
three o'clock.

TRIRD READINCIS.

The following bills were read a third time and passed
—Clyde Navigation Bill, Gloucester and Berkeley Cana'
Bill, and Midland Counties and South Wales Railway.

SECOND READINGS.

The following bills were read a second time :—Bedford
and Northampton Railway Bill, Dubin Trunk Connect-
ing Railway Bill, North British and Mercantile Insurance
Company Bill, Shoreham and District Water Bill.
METROPOLITAN AND ST. JOHN'S WOOD