The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1869-10-21
How Napoleon Holds the Reds "a
French Revolution Postponed.

| How Napoleon Holds the T" Ne1s ~
French Revolution Postponed.
The French democrats and revolutionary
''reds" have, as we are assured by cable te'e-
grams and our special correspondence by mail
from Europe, abandoned the idea of their
grand legislative oppositionist demonstration
/, in Paris on the Goth instant. The programme
| of the movement was duly prepared, but has
not, it appears, been perfected, for the simple
reason that the chief actors did not feel them
selves quite ''up to" the parts in which they
were likely to be cast. the managers becoming
convinced at the same time that the play was
old-fashioned and not likely to 'draw." The
fact is it was not popular. The Paris press so
far from ''puffing" the enterprise, came out
fatty against it, the Auenir National-the
only sincere paper, it may be, of the republican
organs-pronouncing it useless, inopportune
and susceptible of ending fatally" 1t was
shown, indeed, that it was more than ''sus-
ceptible," if that is the word, of producing
very unpleasant results for we find that the
democratic republican "reds" were assaulted
and every roughly handled by the populace
after the adjournment of preliminary meet
ing. The Parisans, in truth, are out of tone
with trading agitators and emeutes made to
order or undertaken in the interest of foreign
government intriguers. They have become
commercial, trading and shop-keeping They
invest their money in the funds and savings
banks, and find that it pays better in such shape
than it would when in the pantaloons pockets
of the political ''leaders." The Paris Pays,
indeed, tells us so in the following words =
"When an 6neute is likely to cost something
more than box at the Opera Comique the
Partisan keeps aloof; and if the disturbance is
likely to interfere with the sale over the coun-
ter, and, by frightening the bill discounters,
imperil the monthly settlement, he becomes
ferocious against the disturber of order. In
lS4S the grocers dispersed the bands who
perambulated the streets to the tune of the
Lampions, and the last riots on the Boulevard
owed their repression to the resistance of the
proprietors and walters of the cafes, whose
receipts were reduced to zero by the row."
The sales 'sacross tn counter" and the
monthly settlement speak the whole story,
particularly ''the monthly settlements" Since
the establishment Of the empire under Napo-
leon III. the French government has asked
six loans from the French people. embracing
the period from the year 1854 to 66-67.
The first in 1854, was for two hundred and
fifty millions of francs; in 1866 two loans,
amounting in the total to twelve hundred mil
lions, the entire aggregate of the six footing
up the enormous sum of two thousand six
hundred and ninety millions of francs. The
French people supplied the cash 80 freely
that on different occasions the doors of the
places of Inscription" had to be closed by
the police against persons wishing to invest
after the required sum had been obtained.
Then, again, we find that in 1868 the total
interest payable on French rentes yearly was
343, 544 sos francs, and that the holders of
scrip numbered 100, O95. 683.
This is the real secret of how Napoleon,
with all his faults and the coup Getat, holds
the ''reds"-not in personal letters of steel, as
in the days of the Bastile-but by warping
French society against them in delicate wavy
threads of gold. The 'sreds" do very little
work and consequently have very little cash
to 'inscribe" in any useful investment, and
just so far the Emperor and the people repudi-
ate them. France has had about enough OF
revolution. An old Asiatic tiger hunter at
Singapore, having been severely wounded in q
struggle with one of the animals, gave up tiger
hunting Immediately after his escape, remarking
to his friends, who advised him to continue the
exercise, "Tiger hunting is very fine sport SO
long as you hunt the tiger, but when the tiger
begins to hunt you it is very bad sport indeed"
Such is the situation, as it appears to va, in
France.