The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-04-26
MORE NAPOLEONTO LOGTC.

MORE NAPOLEONIO LOGTC.
The proclamation of the Emperor has been
promptly followed by the manifesto of the
ministry, which we published yesterday. The
latter document breathes a spirit akin to that
of the former, and both alike appeal to the
people for an affirmative vote on the pJe5tscjte
for the sake of one prime object. Says the
Emperor, "Give me a new proof of conf
dence in bringing to the ballot-box an affir-
native vote, and you will render easier
in the future the transmission of the crown
to my son" and the obedient ministers echo
his appeal, "to the end that on the throne, as
in the humblest dwelling, the son may sue
ceed the father in peace and quiet" But the
ministerial manifesto makes an important ad-
mission, which is of marked significance. 1t
asks:--
"Can they [the revolutionary party ignore the
fact that to abstain from voting or to vote mo- will
be to strengthen those who only combat the trans
formation OF the empire in order that they may de-
stroy 1t, and with 1t the political and social organ-
Zation to which France owes her greatness?"
Here the Emperor, speaking through the
ministry, frankly acknowledges that the re-
fusal of the people to ''approve the liberal
reforms which have been effected in the con-
''ratify the Sen0tuS C0nSuLtum of April 20,
1870" whether this refusal be manifested by
negative vote or bya silent protest, will be
an open condemnation of the imperial reginae
a direct defiance of the imperial power. To
still further strengthen their appeal, the min
listers assert that the Emperor ''does not sur
render the empire to discussions he submits
to vote only its liberal transformation. If
the people choose liberty and order under the
empire, well and good-for the sake of the
peaceful transmission of the crown to his son,
he is willing that they should SO choose. But
if they do not select this side of
the question, they are declared to be revolu-
tionary in spirit, enemies of peace and order,
and as false to the principle and practice of
liberty as they are unfriendly to the imperial
regime. The invention of this one-horned
dilemma is worthy the genius of Napoleon.
He has driven the whole French people to
the wall, and given them the choice between
absolute obedience and outlawry. Doubtless
he and his ministers are fully confident of
favorable result, fully persuaded that only
those who are already proclaimed as 'irrecon-
cilables" will elect to vote ''no" on the pLe6is-
cite, or abstain from voting altogether. The
ministry and their imperial master being
thus confident of an affirmative response, the
words of NJ Olivier
''When l hear you maintain as an invncible
thesis that universal suffrage carries with IL the
destruction OF a monarchical government, say
experience pronounces against you
are clothed with even stronger significance
than they possess intrinsicaly, and the vot-
ing upon the pIebiScite resolves itself into an
empty and ridiculous farce. But neither
Emperor nor ministry should forget that in
the appeals made by both, great stress is laid
upon the eight millions of votes by which the
Bonaparte throne was set up second time.
The day may yet come when, by an equally
unanimous vote, that same throne will be
toppled over. Napoleon evidently realizes
the possibility of such a revulsion in popular
sentiment, and rightly fears that his death
may prove the signal for it's practical express
sion. His anxiety to strengthen the chances
of the Prince Imperial is quite
natural, and the feeling which prompts it
is as pardonable in his case as it is in that
of the humblest parent in the land. Just at
present the lovers of liberty and order
throughout the civilized world are arrayed
on his side, for the empire, as he claims in
his proclamation of Sunday, ''has procured
for France eighteen years of calm and pros
perity, which have not been without glory"
and which the Republic that preceded the
Empire gave but little promise of securing.
The crimes which in the past have been
perpetrated in France in the name of liberty
have done much to ALLEVIATE the sympathy of
the liberal people of all other nations, and
to cause them to regard order without liberty
as better than liberty without order But
when the Republic again rises from the ruins
of the Empire, it is possible that by that
time her devotees may prove sufficiently
schooled by adversely to avoid excess and to
give to France both liberty and order without
the empire.
| SYMPATHY FOR CAPTAIN EYRE.
A CABLE telegram states that Captain Eyre,
of the steamer Bombay, is in the British