The Sun.
London, England, 1868-02-12 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, FEB. 12, 1868

The debate on the Press Bill was resumed yester-
day in tie Cori,s LegUatif, and some amendments
were proposed, curiously enough, identical in mean-

ing, by M. GLTEROULT and M. BEAUVERGER, to the
effect that the penalty of imprisonment should be
maintained in the present bill in cases of defama-
tion of character, but they were rejected by one
hundred and seventy votes to fifty-nine, thus
making a majority of one hundred and eleven.
This is satisfactory as a sign of progress, and the
less imprisonment is put in the better in
these items of the bill, more especially
as we all know very well how slight a charge of
this nature may be regarded in a very serious
light in France. It is still believed by those most
likely to know that this measure will be for the
good of the country, and hence it is to be hoped
that it may speedily pass the Legislature. If it
never gets itself further than it has done we shall
have the satisfaction of knowing that a great deal
has been done by the discussion upon the point.
The EMPEROR cannot shut his eyes to the
fact that public opinion has declared it-
self against the course that he has so
persistently pursued for years past. If he
has stopped the voice of the Press, he has
been taught very significantly by the language of
the Corps Legislatif. The calm reasoning of M.
Tut Ens, the fiery eloquence of M. FAvnE, and
all the secondary speeches in the debate, have
pointed in one direction, and have proclaimed the
fact that the time has gone by for fettering the
Press. LOUIS NAPOLEON is wise in his gene-
ration, and he knows full well how to ap-
preciate such an illustration as he has just
had afforded to him. It cannot surely be that
he will wilfully turn from the warning he has
received and refuse to learn wisdom, though it be
at the eleventh hour. At first sight, and at a
hasty glance, he may not seem to do much, but
before long we shall expect to see some change for
the better come over his dreams. Be this
as it may, the Deputies have done their work
well, and their patriotic efforts must be
appreciated by the country wherever any
intimation of them has appeared. It is some time,
indeed, since the French Senate came out so well,
and we trust that the zeal, tempered with discretion,
that it has exhibited may not be without its due
effect. It is, however, to the Ministers that the
speeches were really addressed, and it remains for
us to see the impression which they have pro-
duced upon them. It would be more than
a crime, as it has been said, for it would
also be a blunder, if the Imperial Go-
vernment refuse to accept the situation in which
it finds itself. Coupled with this Army Bilkand the
hurry with which it is pushed on, it is indeed a
momentous time in Paris, and it is not at all likely
that, with the prospect of a serious war before them,
the Government should any longer hesitate to pur-
sue the boldest and the safest policy, and render
France internally secure from disturbances, what-
ever may be the storms that assail her from without.

The news which the City of Antwerp brings us
from New York on the Ist of February shows very
plainly in what direction American Radicalism is
tending. It reminds us of the reign of those doc-
trines of liberty, equality, and fraternity which
ended in bringing every " brother" and " citizen"
whom envy or malice might point out to the scaf-
fold. In those days the guillotine supplied an effec-
tual and convincing answer to every one who dared
to think for himself, and to give utterance to his
opinions. In that free and outspoken community,
in which it has been sometimes thought that free
speech degenerated into license, a man is nowadays
to be called to account for his private conversation.
The House of Representatives has just passed a
resolution instructing the Judiciary Committee to
inquire into the truth of a report that a Judge of
the Supreme Court had, in private conversation,
denounced the Reconstruction Act as unconstitu-

tional, and declared that the Supreme Court would
so decide. The committee is instructed to report
whether the offence demands impeachment. For a
judge to express a personal opinion on a public
measure of law is no doabt incorrect; but the au-
thority must be weak indeed which has so much
reason to fear such breach of etiquette. The fact
is that the Supreme Court is the terror of the
Radicals, and one of their last moves has been
to curtail its powers. This is a desperate course,
and one that can hardly fail to provoke the strongest
opposition. The subversion by the highest regal
authority in the country can hardly be accepted
with equanimity by any party but that extreme
section which has lately domineered in Congress.
The Radicals are above all things anxious to avoi
the adverse decision of the Supreme Court in their
Reconstruction Act, but this they will scarcely be
able to do. Governor JENKINS, of Georgia, has
notified the military acting governor and treasurer
that he has filed a bill in the Supreme Court to in-
hibit them from using the State funds.
General MEADE, as we know, has been using his
power unscrupulously, and it is well for Georgia
that her civil governor is a man of sufficient deci-
sion and energy to resent his displacement after a
constitutional fashion. In Georgia itself the dis-
tress continues very great, and the State Conven-
tion has passed a resolution asking Congress to vote
a loan to the destitute planters in the South of
$30,000,000 on Mortgage Bonds. This appeal is
not very likely to receive much attention from Con-
gress as at present constituted, since the misery of
the Southern States seems a matter of perfect in-
difference to the Radical party, excepting as it
furthers or retards their political ends.
The most important item of intelligence
brought by this mail is the account of a De-
mocratic mass meeting in New York on the
30th of January, at which resolutions were
adopted denouncing the course of Congress as re-
volutionary and partisan, and endorsing the acts
of President JOHNSON. The principal speakers
were in favour of Mr. JOHNSON as a candidate for
the Presidency. This would be an unexpected
move on the part of the Democrats, especially as
since the adverse elections of last year Mr. JOHN-
SON has been believed to have no chance of a re-
newed term of office. lie has himself disclaimed
any wish or intention of being nominated, and his
whole course has been marked by an indifference as
to the popular verdict on his acts, rare in an
American statesman. The leading politicians of
the States are, from the constitution of the coun-

try, so constantly immersed in the excitement of
contested elections—past, present, and to come—
that to gain the breath of popular favour becomes
their primary object. Mr. JOHNSON'S disregard of
the ordinary means by which Presidents strive for
re-election, Ministers ingratiate themselves with
Congress, and rulers generally flatter the public,
has no doubt brought him many times into
gr,:at disfavour. nis own rash and intemperate
language at a critical time has also militated
very much against the success of his policy
by throwing weight into th,l Radical scale
during the elections. At the same time the people
are beginning to recognise the truths which he
has often roughly and inconsiderately proclaimed.
They are forced to admit the fulfilment of his
warnings that th© Radicals, unchecked, would do
more to overthrow the Constitution than the Con-
federates ever did, and they cannot help acknow-
ledging that the policy of his opponents has re-
sulted in total failure. The country is disorga.