The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-05-16
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE.

FURElGN CORRESPONDENCE
PARIS, April IS, 1850
To The Edaor of tie National Era:
The present excitement in the political world
and the exaggerations of parties are reflected
with great accuracy in the newspaper press
Which journal or which party will you believe
Or if.yoa refese 10 place garr trnst in theg viii
you do 80 in the Government? The best rule,
perhaps, is to confde in none of them, or rather
in each and all of them, making due allowances
for party feeling and coloring of statements. The
most simple fact is disfgured in passing through
the papers. Take, for instance, the conduct Of
the crowd at the Gingerbread Fair, when the
President passed through It. Half of the Napo-
leonist journals declared that the President was
insulted by a small band Of Socalits, stationed
there for the purpose; the other half that he
was not insuted at all, but treated with great re
spect the Republican journals all asked for in
formation, and wondered what had happened
the Socialist denied the insult altogether, bot
stated that an immense crowd of sixty thousand
people had shouted aHuzza for the Democratic
and Social Republicw the Orleanist foresaw the
speedy downfall of the present form of Govern
ment in the unanimous insults showered by an
immense populace on the President and the lie
gitimst asserted that considerable band of So
cialists had stationed themselves along the path
Of the President, to intimidate him by sedtious
cries, but that the crowd had not seconded them.
Everything that occurs is turned to party uses.
If burglar commits a robbery and escapes, he
always, according to the Royalist journals, leaves
a badly-spelled eulogy of Ledru Rollin and Louis
Blanc chalked upon the wall Of the piliaged
house or, according to the Napolsonist, a rude
expression of his admiration for the great prin-
ciples of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, with
his desire to spend an hour or two in spreading
equality of fortune by pillaging few stores on
Socialist principles. If some miserable wretch
kills his wife or children according to the same
authority he has been led to the crime by the
perusal of Socialist pamphlets, several Of which
are always found under his pillow, kept there in
honor, as Alexander kept the lliad. The Social
list journals are quite as incapable of making a
fair statement. They iusinuate that the Govern
ment knew well enough the weakness of the
18th regiment was sent, charge on their opponents
the fixed intention to betray France to an inva-
sion of the Cossacks, and On the Ministers the
formal design to kill political convicts, by trans
porting them to the Marquesas Islands There
| is not a political fact or question on which the
foul serpent of party hatred does not leave its
shiny trace. Twenty-three daily papers and
much larger number of semi .weeklies, weeklies,
and monthlies, enter with ardor into the debates
| of the day. Independent daiies, class so
merous in the United States, are here almost I'M
known. To decide on the degree Of confidence
to be placed in the statement of fact in jour
nal, one must know its political color, and deduct
or add, as may be necessary. The public is not
often long deceived on any point, but would get
much more readily at the truth il there were
more papers. At present, publication constitutes
a veritable monopoly, and the owners of the great
dailies, though they fight each other with great
energy, never tell tales out Of school, and agree
well enough on the capital point of putting down
| any new competitor. Ii is TO the interest Of II
| Constitutional, that few Socialist papers should
be published, for would never get subscribers
among the Socialists, and the existence of oppo-
nents is necessary to give life to its po!emical
| articles, and warm up the zeal Of its friends For
this very reason it was that, last week the Gazets
ds France and other papers of the Reaction
| blamed the Government 90 much for sending NJ
Proudhon to the Dollens prison, and forbiddng
him to write. What will these journals spice
their columns with, when Proudhon ceases to
manufacture his paradoxes1 II he cannot be re
leased, it will be necessary to invent another
Proudhon.
The student Of French politics may be greatly
assisted by classification of the daily papers
according to their political tendencies some
time since there was a curious confusion among
them, but the party lines are now broad ana wei
marked Each party has it's own editorial re.
unions, and the movements Of all its Journals tend
to the same object, though the manner OF step.
ping is different. Some do not keep time as wei
as the others.
There are sac Napoleonist dailies, the C'napt'
tiormei the Paf,s, the Pays, the LsoeHe, tne y"
Deeemlre, and the Epong Mo"aar Or these'
the first is the only one of influence and welgh'
The second had once very large circulation
owing to the low terms Of subscription. 'p'
third struggles on, nobody knows how, 10 'n'
crowd. and the others are mushroom, wa'on ""''
sprung up in the shade Of the Presidents MANI.
With the exception Of the hrs' the uo0P 70
sort of Falsta 8 regiment, with which the fres'.
dent should not venture to 60 into battle Inc
mos. compromising one Of all his friends in the
press is the Sunday mornings paper the Napo''en'
which attracts . good deal OF curiosity oy ~
saucy air Of speaking for the President and
.uDrosod TO be edited under his immediate super
,;.;on. II has done more than anything else 10
make impossible the perfect reconciliation OF the
prevident with the majority. The Republican,
are highly pleased with it's effects on their oPpo'
pents, and encourage in every way, the S""ap'
Emperor, - they nickname II, to unnask the pr
vste views Of the President. Its publication n''
been tho subject Of repeated protestations BY 'n'
Cabinet, but the President will mot give !" w
To the list Of dailies and the weekly may :"
added the semi-monthly Rtr@ dss Dssr "'""'s'
which wear before last was Republican, last ys'