Iowa capitol reporter. [volume] (Iowa City, Iowa) 1841-1855, 1848-04-05

F1ench Holltlcs.l
OF the n. 7. Courier and Enquirer.
PANS, Feb. 10th, 1e48.
The Chamber Of Deputies for the last
three weeks has been engaged in the dis
cussion Of the Address presented by the
Ministry in response to the speech with
which the King opened the session; and
the debate has been one Of extraordinary
interest and excitement. Almost every
paragraph of the document has been made
ffehting ground! And combatant after
coombatant has leaped into the gladiatorial
arena with an eagerness and impetuosity,
once thought none but true-bred con-
.ressional cavalier could exhibit. Great
O. and small, illustrious and obscure, raw re-
cr,,;ts and old veterans, have all alike in
sisted on splintering q lance in the hot
encounter. Never was . ministry more
fercely assailed than has been the French
Cabinet since the commencement Of the
present session. The air Of the chamber
has Kissed increasingly with the shafts
sped against their devoted front shafts Of
eyery description, from the tiny straw up
to the spear larger than weaver's beam.
Some flaming with passion, some barbed
with envy, some envenomed with deadly
malice, and some perhaps steeled with JUS
tice and truth. The cabinet has been ac-
cused Of official malfeasance at home, and
with treachery to the honor Of France,
and the interests Of freedom abroad. All
Of the acts, measures, policy and spirit Of
the administration have been attacked
and not even has the personal character Of
ministers themselves escaped the common
violence.
Every days session has been but Sc
ries Of onsets and repulses.
The minister is charged with subsidi.
zing the press, with traficking in the pub.
lie Offices, and tampering with the faithful
administration Of Justice. The charge
has been met by the assertion that if these
things have been done, they have been
done by his subordinates, and without his
sanction; and severity has been given te
the repulse by the allegation that the crimes
now sought to be fastened upon him were
but the habitual practices Of his predeces-
sors, who now have the audacity to be-
come his accusers.
The national character, according to the
opposition, is becoming fearfully corrupt
ed. A radical and disorganizing spirit is
fast leavening the whole popular mind.
Scandals, intrigues, frauds, vices and
crimes every where abound. Principles
and influences which go to sap all the solid
foundations of society, are daily develop
ing themselves more and more boldly, and
spreading more and more widely. Reli-
gion is denominated priestcraft, and is ha-
ted and derided; the sanctity of the Sab
bath is almost unknown; the marriage re-
lation is dishonored and trampled upon
the present unequal distribution of pro-
perry is denounced as an outrage upon the
natural rights of man; in short Socialism
with all its fell train Of doctrines, is ma
king rapid advance over the land. Elk
claims De Tocqueyille, (well known t
your readers as the author of that abb
work Democracy IN. .America sit is my
profound conviction that France is slum
bering on the brink Of volcano. TIL,
vision Of the future is full Of frightful ap
partitions. We know not what year,
month, or day may bring upon us. AL
we know is--there is storm in the no
rison; it sweeps on and may at any mo
ment burst over our heads" For thi
alarming state of things the opposition
hold the ministry responsible. 1t is it:
wasteful prodigality, its bestowment o
confidence and patronage upon bad men
its connivance if not direct participation
in fraud, and its general prostitution o.
power to selfish and base purposes tha
have acted upon the multitude and ell.
couraged them to give rein to all their evi
propensities. To this the administration
replies, not SO much by denying the exis-
tence Of the alleged decentralization, as b,
asserting that it originates in causes entire
ly beyond governmental control; and tina,
ii the responsibility rests any where, II
rests with its opponents, since the evils
complained Of are the natural fruit of the
radical principles and the disconnected spi-
rit which they themselves have sown.
The discordant state Of the public finan-
ces was made the ground of another at
tack. From eight hundred millions OF
francs under the Empire, the annual bud
get has now risen to sixten hundred mil
lions; and with an outstanding debt of Sc
ven or eight hundred millions, demanda-
BILE at any moment. Cries Theirs with
his shrill voice, Your expenses far ex-
coed your income, and there is no way to
supply the deficit. If foreign govern
ment should this day insult France, not q
franc could you raise to avenge her inju-
red honor" To this it was promptly re-
piled that there are two ways of augment
ing the resources of a nation. The one
has regard to the present, the other to the
future. The one consists in blindly clutch
ing, the other in wisely cxpending. Co
vernment choosing the path which led to
flnat ACKNOWLEDGMENT, had adopted the lat
ter policy, and therefore was appropria-
ting its three hundred millions annually
TO rail roads, and other great schemes Of
internal improvement.
of I'll 4