Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1871-03-29
UNFORTUNATE FRANCE.

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Gently may prove ultimately to be e1-
agserated, and that what now seems
to be the overthrow of everything like
government, social order and safety In
that distracted country may be only
the temporary ascendancy Of a mob
that the Government can and will put
down. But there still remains the
formidable statement that three Of the
Generals so lately engaged in the life
struggle Of France with the over
whelming power Of the Germans have
been deserted by their troops (who
were themselves charged with the
maintenance of order, were captured
by the lawless band encamped on
Montmartre, tried by some sort OF
revolutionary tribunal, and have been
shot. All this is so revolving to people
trained to reverence for law and order,
and is so horrible as being the acts Of
people living in a civilized country,
that it is not surprising that the &C
counts of such events come to us In
words that foreshadow q new "reign
Of terror" in unhappy Paris. The
insurgents call themselves National
Guards, and their method Of guarding
the nation is to resist and defy, and
finally destroy, within the limits OF
their power, the only national authority
In France. These men call themselves
"RepublicanS," too, and yet the Gov
eminent of the National Assembly,
which they are making their blind war
upon, is founded upon the most recent
vote of the people Of France. 1t so
happened that the nation chose an
other sort of representatives than those
in favor with the impracticable doctrt-
neires and reckless dcstructives who
dominate Paris, and they outvote the
Paris "irreconcilab.es" in the Assem-
bly,, and the constituents Of the latter
show their understanding Of what re-
publicanism means by revolving against
the overwhelming majority of their
countrymen in the Other cities and
Departments. Then comes the alarm
ing news that the troops Of the line In
Paris, which are the last resource and
reliance Of the Government for the
enforcement Of order and authority in
that city, have "fraternized," rs they
call it, with the rebel National Guard.
For the present the Government
seems so far paralyzed within the
walls Of Paris that the mob Of in
surgents not only murder in cold
blood the officers who tall into
their hands, and do so with impunity,
but they forward demands to Yer
sailles, and make nominations for the
local government and for the command
Of whatever military force there Is re-
naming, and have these demands ap-
parently ratified by the constituted ma
tional authorities. This could not hap
pen if it were not true, as the cable
kilograms inform us that there Is "no
longer anything like military suoor'
dination or discipline" either among
the line or in the ranks Of the National
Guards. Yet these are the troops with
which the crazy revolut;onlsts Of Paris
demanded to have tie war carried OH
against the disciplined and perfectly
trained soldiers of the German En-
pire. 1t must have been the knowledge
on the part of NJ. Theirs and his col
leagues that the soldicry in Paris and
its vicinity were utterly demoralized,
that kept him and them from dealing
more promptly and forcibly with the
Montmartre mob and the insurgents
must have been thoroughly aware also
that they were safe from any assault
by the government forces. Thus un-
fortunate France continues to be with
out a government that can enforce It's
authority, and still more unfortunate
Paris seems to be at the mercy Of a
mob, whose acts thus far seem to be
inspired by the Internal spirit that
ruled that city during the "reign Of
terror" in 1892. What Is to be the
future of all this, may very we'll excite
the anxieties Of the civilized world.
No IL familiar with the horrible
events Of the revolution Of 1912 can
contemplate the possibilities of the
Ease without a shudder. Men with the
same fierce passions, with the same
savage thirst for blood, with the same
blind fury for victims, seem to be in
the ascendant in a large part Of Paris
now, as during that "fatal saturnalia,"
which has given the mobs Of Paris q
terrible pre-eminence owe all those in
modern history.