The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-03-22
Correspondence Of the Commercial advertiser.
France.

Correspondence Of the Commercial Advertiser.
France.
PARIS, Feb. 9th, 1851.
The reactionary course of the French govern
ment, since the revolution Of l848, has been q
subject of surprise and grief. One is at a loss
to understand why a republic should enact laws
against the liberty OF speech and of the press,
and adopt measures of repression SO hostile to
every theory admitted among US of the rights Of
the citizen. The cause is not transient one,
growing out Of the present troubles, but lies
deep in the traditional manners and institutions
of the country. In the absence of important
political news, propose to devote the present
letter to the Calculation of this subject
Whoever would understand the movements
of French politicians, the causes of the frequent
revolutions which paralyze, for the moment, the
commercial prosperity of the nation, and the
failure Of each one to establish liberty on dur
able basis, must begin with the study Of the
received doctrine Of
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE ADMINISTRATIONS.
From time immemorial, the actual possessors
of power in France have acted without any eff
cient restraint.
The feuda lords, aided by their armed vassals
and immortal courts, and still more by the igno-
rance and superstition of the people, who sought
from them protection against the violence then
prevalent, were almost absolute within the lim-
its of their domains.
When the kings overthrew this power, they
became absolute in their turn Royal procla-
nations had force of law. The King named
governors for the different provinces, as he
would have done directors for his country es-
tates he levied taxes, and either sold the coec-
nf Ia a for Of hn 20
round sum, or made present of them to some
favorite Louis XVI was held by the learned
lawyers of the time sole master of the proper
ties of his subjects, and to concentrate in his
own person all the rights Of society. :" / am the
State" was with him n common expression.
This state of things, with its terrible abuses,
was borne patiently for centuries by the people,
who have ever proved themselves an emnently
conservative class. twas sare thing for them
to murmur at the insults and blows rained on
them by the nobility, courtiers and kings.
Before 1889, the provinces of France had been
governed without uniformity; each had its own
laws and customs, courts and officers. The revo-
luton destroyed these differences, and abolished
numerous abuses in the administration. Butt
immediate effect, owing to the imminent peril of
the country from foreign invasion and from in
ternal Instructions, fomented by Romish priests
and royalists, was to increase to desperate en-
ergy the action of the central power Individual
liberty and popular rights were sacrificed.
Napoleon pushed, to its utmost limits, the sys-
tenn of Capitalization, already established. He
invented nothing new, but perfected what seemed
to him political engine OF immense power
One of his measures was to seize, in 1873, on
all the landed property belonging to the different
townships. Another was to prohibit all suits
by citizens or public prosecutions against State
functionaries, without a previous permission
from his council.
The Restoration, Louis Philippe and the Re-
public of l84S preserved, with slight modilica-
tons, the system as established by Napoleon.
Much has been said and written in France
about popular sovereignty, but no idea is so little
understood. Several of. the schools of repub-
licans conceive of it as the dictatorship of some
man chosen by the people, and none Of them in.
terpret it as the people of America do. At pre-
sent it is admitted in theory, hut is so encum.
bered by fictions so restricted by administrative
necessities, and so torturd by party legislation,
that its most beneficial effects are not seen.
What is called good society is not yet pre-
pared to adopt the doctrine of popular sovereign
ty. Its pretences in that way are only made to
shade the demands of the masses by an appear
ance of concessions. This is natural in an old
society, one long accustomed to control the ma
ton and vain of its requirements, its science
and its accomplishments To polished class
in any country, in which democratic institutions
do not exist, the people always appear vulgar,
ignorant, brutal and incapable What wonder
is it, them that they resist to the utmost the en-
croachmen;s of their interiors As they are
more experienced and able than tieir antago-
nists, and have already the manners and customs
of the nation on their side, they get the better,
sooner or later, in every struggle for ascendancy.
ORGANIZATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM.
The part of this not in immediate contact with
the people need only brief notice. as they are
comparatively unimportant. If the ministers
hold Office at the good pleasure of the President,
each one is uncontrolled in his own department.
Members Of the council of State are chosen by
the national assembly, and hold Office for six
years. They sit with closed doors, and not
wthstanding their influence, are unknown to the
people, and in effect almost irresponsible to pub
lie opinion.
The territory of France is divided into depart
ments, ACCOMPLISHMENTS, cantons, and con,munes
In each department Ohere are eighty six the
administrative power is in the hands of project
appointed and removable by the minister of the
Interior and acting under the advice Of n general
council, and council Of prefecture In each
arrondissemem is a sub project, who depends on
the minister and on the project of the depart
ment. No power whatever has yet been con-
ceded to the cantonel council. 1t gives its nd
vice when requested by the project The ad-
ministration of the commune, being in imme-
date contact with the people, and more import
ant than any of the others, in its effect on their
political habits and business intelligence, de-
serves particular notice.
CoMMUNEs.
These territorial divisions correspond to the
American townships. They are 36,sl9 in num-
Der and very greatly in population and extent
The department OF Seine, which includes Paris,
is divided into 81 communes, and that Of Pas de
Calais into 9O3. In the other departments, they
range between these two numbers. Fifty-nne
communes contain each population of twenty
thousand Paris, Rouen, and few others, con-
tain more than one hundred thousand At the
other end of the scale are 3,OO0 which contain
each less than 300 inhabitants, and nearly 3d.
600 of less than 1000. The same inequality
exists in the extent of territory. These defects
in the communal organization must be explained
h,.l