The daily national Whig. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1847-1849, 1849-04-27
FRENCH POLITICS.

Duty of Intervention ia Haiy-Defeciion OF
the old RepubGcans--End Of Louis Ma
{ poleon--Net1 DoctrinaIes- Progress Of
SociaHsm--Proudhon and the Bank Of
The People.
PARIS, March 90, 1919,
To the Editor Of the ~, 7. Tribune:
write under the impression Of the shame
and sorrow in which all those are to-day
plunged who have the true sentiment Of lib
erty and Of the work commenced ny the
French revolution. Italy has fallen or RAJ
Their, one Of the principal branches of that
grand nationality now seeking to assume
united, organic form; and France, deaf to
this last Of the many warnings Of Prov
idence received during the past thirteen
months--France, governed by the heir OF Ma
poleon--does no more than record as fore
seen fact accomplished, what Lord Aber-
deem prophecied week since in the British
Parliament. In '93 the new principle first
triumphed in France over foreign violence;
1904 confirmed this triumph by the invasion,
more moral than military, which she direct
ed at other countries; 1914 and '15 saw our
ambition chastised, and severe lesson be-
slowed on France, intoxicated with glory,
and forgetful Of her domestic interests and
duties; then followed period in which lib
eral principles terminated and took root
through the very hostility with which their
extinction was attempted; in 1880 France
herself awoke, and first ray Of hope fell
upon Europe hope Of which the siege Of
Antwerp and the occupation Of Ancona were
pledges. But ls4s was indeed the day Of
waking and emancipation for the entire Con-
tine mt though upon one condition! on the
condition that France should lend her ener-
gies to the aid Of the appealing nations.
Allow me to forewarn you against attri-
J buting any impulse of the military spirit and
of conquest to this opinion as to the inter-
vention Of France in the affairs Of other ma
tons. In your grand Republic you have
an entirely opposite maxim Of State, but,
true as it is for you, it would be equally false
for u.s. The very reasons which prescribe
for you non-interference render it necessary
that the foreign policy Of France should be
Intervention. II is our duty toward the OPP
pressed, it is our right in the name Of liber-
ty, and of the principles we represent, and
finally, it is our interest, for our own safety
is at stake. II the Revolution does not tri-
umph in Europe, we shall be anew assailed
and invaded. And it is no longer the emf
gres at Coblentz who desire this, but the
new refugees at Brussels and London; it is
the men Of the wealthy middle class from
Paris. This is a fact full Of alarm. Here
in Paris, If the invasion is not actually de-
1 mo lad io AZ haut .v,1
will presently tell you some positive facts
in this connection. But just as in the first
days Of your previous history, when the Pill
grim Fathers Of New England were beset
by nations Of warlike Savages, whose ensr-
giles were devoted to maintaining the suprem-
acy Of brutal force on the earth given to be
freely and peacefully cultivated and enjoyed
by man, war and invasion were necessarily
their poicy-so it is with us now. We ars
surrounded by what is in some respects
worse than savage tribes, namely, civiiza-
ton going to decay, and France is the only
power whose constitution is homogeneous,
the only nation which has nearly destroyed
the old feudal system, and finally, the only
nation through which the emancipation Of
others can be achieved. Without our aid
they must be overcome, because, in respect
Of national organization-wit without consider
ing the great work of religious reiorn-they
are where we were at the beginning of the
reign of Louis XII. Germany has still 81
sovereigns to uncrown in orderto arrive where
France was when Louis XIV mounted the
throne.
This duty, right, interest Of ours, history
should have taught US in the year ls4s.-
Providence has given US six different adver-
tisements in six capitals, namely, Milan,
Berlin, Vienna, Turin, Naples, and Rome!
We have remained deaf to every other
accent, insensible to every other inspira-
ton, than the chink Of gold and silver
Only Socialism has a ready heart and an
assured faith The skeptics, deceived or
corrupted dy the financial feudalism, have
delivered the Revolution and themselves
to its poisonous influence. Stocks rise as
the invasion approaches.
Let me repeat the cause of this defec-
ton on the part of our old Republicans,
for it worth repeating / recur to the Ex-
change, to-day, not only the most exact
reflex, but the most active force of our po-
litics. While in all other quarters business
is anguishing, while laborers are dying Of
hunger for want Of work, the movement
Of the Exchange is full Of ardor. 1t seems
as if all industrial activity were crowded
there Never has the financial feudalism
done more stirring business OF made fat
ter profits. It speculates in the universal
ruin 1t takes advantage Of the misery Of
those who arc forced in order to escape
starvation to sell the morsels Of State stock,
Of which economy and industry have made
them owners, And the gains of this war
Of anthropophagi are employed in another
war which, if possible, is yet more odiops.
They serve to Gust from their possessions
legally, Of course--at prices truly muir
derous, numbers Of ruined manufacturer