The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-04-08
M. ROuber and nj. Emile Clll,,pr.
N the london saturday Revleto.

he has n duoed the process to a system. The |
appearance OF the Minister OF State, whether |
on the field of discussion or of action, usually |
befalds the disgrace of q colleague or the
abandonment of policy. There is no CONT
nuiiy between what he says or does and what
has been said or done by any other member
OF the Government. The explanation of his
conduct must usually be looked for in the
attitude of the Opposition. He has learnt by
intuition or practice the extreme point to
which resistance can be pushed with safety,
and his special function in the Cabinet SEEM
ingly Is to announce when that point has been
reached. Mr.. Disraeli played similar part
more than once in the session Of 1867
but M. Rouber has to include the
country as we'll as the Legislature in
his calculations, and the demands on
his aouteness are so much the more serious in
consequence. 1t is hard to say whether the
Prefeot of the Seine or the Minister of the Iu-
terror has most cause to smart under the
latest exhibition of this useful talent. Baron
Haussnann has been disowned, M. de For
cade La Roquette has been ignored. Neither
sensation be altogether pleasant, but per-
haps of the two sufferers M. de FORBADE La Ro-
quette deserves commiseration most. The
Perfect of the Seine may well have been
startled at hearing that he, and not the En-
peror, is responsible for the reoonstruction of
Paris. Still, when the first surprise was over,
there was an appreciable dignity in the posi-
tion thus unexpectedly assigned to him. To
have spent fS,0 600 invests man with
some Importance, even when he has been
only an agent, and he certainly does not lose
in this respect il it is suddenly discovered that
he has been laying it out at his own pleasure.
But the Minister OF the Interior
has no such consolation. He was suffered to
defend the administration of Paris in the
Cerps Legislatif in the undisturbed belief
that the Emperor had been the real architect
of every new street. Acting on this theory,
M. de FORBADE La Roquetts constructed an
ingenious and. even eloquent apology. He
appealed directly to the vanity, and indirectly
to the fears, of the French middle class.
Under the empire Paris has become the capital
of modern society, and the change in it's ex-
terror aptly symbOlizes the exaltstion OF its
position. The gaze of the civilized world is
fixed in reverent admiration upon the straight
streets and high houses which constitute the
Napoleonic ideal of architectural grandeur.
To be sure, good many of them have been
constructed in quarters where they are not
wanted, but this does but establish the fore
sight of the government. These now deserted
tho,oughfares will one day be psopled, and if
the work had been delayed few
years it would only have been more
costly in the end. And then Just
think of the workmen it employsi What
might all these skilled artisans have turned
their thoughts to il their strong arms and
active brains had been left without proper
occupation? Who shall say how many insur-
rectiOns Baron Haussmann may not have un-
willingly suppressed Take care of the
building trade, and society will take care of
itself. Nor is it only the mems working hours
that have been thought of. Their own labor
has been made the means of keeping them
contented during their intervals of leisure.
Those "objects OF luxury" with which the
critics Of the Corps Legislatif find SO much
m Of
artisan when the fatigues of the day are over.
He has been building fer himself as well as
for others.
When M Rouher rose, all this pretty theory
fell to pieces. There was not a word in his
speech about the advantages which Paris has
derived from Baron Haussmann's administra-
tion. The most pronounced member OF the
opposition could not have shewn q more 10y
indifference to those sentimental cOnsidera-
tions on which the Minister OF the Interior
has rested his case. Instead of defending what
the Emperor had done he boldly denied that
he had done it. To make the Sovereign re-
sponsible for the administration of the city of
Paris sis to commit deplorable error"
The idea of a regenerated Paris may have been
the Emperor's; but it is the execution of the
idea that is now subjected to attack and the
responsibility of this lies with those who un-
dertook the work. Having thus shifted the
possible blame from the EmpeIor's shoulders
to those of Baron Haussmann, M. Rouher
could afford to say a word or two in extenua-
tion of his scapeg0at's conduct. The impres-
sion left by his speech is that, in his
opinion, the Prefeot has rather mud
died away money than otherwise, but
that his intentions have been honest all along.
The prerogatives of the Legislature have been
too often dsregarded, "but the mistake will
not occur again." Perhaps the present is not
the right time for contracting a fresh loan,
and it is natural that the Corps L6gislati1
should be indisposed to leave it to Baron
Baussmann to determine when that time has
arrived. The necessities of the case will be
best met by allowing the Government ia
authorize the loan when II shall seem expe
dent. Nj. Olivier has said, with some truth
that it Is essential TO the success of NJ. Rouheri
method that he should have the last word
and, IL his speech had not come, as it usually
does, at the close of the debate, the result
could hardly have been claimed as a triumph
by the opposition. The real concession
offered by NJ Rouher was extremely small
It was invested with some importance by tn,
fact that it was made in the teeth OF a
fellow Minister, but when viewed apart from
this accidental circumstance it scarcel
amounts to anything. 1t Is we'll that the pre-
rogative of the Chamber should be respects
for the future, but the value Of the promise
good deal lessened by its being virtually de
pendent ON the willingness of the Deputies t
leave the hands of the Government who'll
united. Indeed, little reflection seems
have convinced the Opposition that M. Rouher'
surrender was only one in appearance. Thre
NJ days later, when the report OF the committe
again came before the Chamber, the Left suI
ported an amendment in favor of direct an