New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-08-21


The main divisions of the Chamber were ana are,
Left, Right. and Center, subdivided into Radlcai
and Moderate Republicans, Legitimists,and orieans'
Monarchsts Left Centre inclining very sligh'y 10
Republcansm Right Center inclinlng 10 cohsu."-
tional monarchy. Although parliamentary, party
or any other kind of discipline was the least ueNei
oped feature of the Assembly the Right, recruited
from the Center generally offered or was coaNeu vi
scared, to sustain by large majority the policy VI
the Executive Chief When they were not Already
on common ground, he sometimes went part way
with such grace of gait and show OF PAGES 'ia' nc
had the air of going faster and further than he went
sometimes sl,illfnlly drew them up to his position,
but with an air as if accompanying, not to say 1ol-
| lowing after: sometimes when they were stubborn
| and he FESTIVE threatening to abdcate whereupon,
like whipped schoolboys they yielded, and remem-
! bered the smart of the whipping There have Deen
several occasions when they would have let the mas
ter CO. or barred him out except for distrust In the
ability of anv of their own members to I'll his place
"a wise distrust. This world has rarely
seen so large gathering OF elected
individuals, dressed Ike wel-informed men, with
scant a show Of persons capable of leadership 1t
is not the least of the numberless ills the Empire left
France heir to- this deaTh of men practiced in par
liamentary life and working politics. and rational
legislation. Its few surviving experienced and
otherwise capable men, like Rouhcr. Vinry, FORBADE
were naturally dropped from the list Of candidates.
The actual Chamber has been more occu-
pied with dynastc intriguing than with the
study of organic laws-despite the Pact of
Bordeaux and the Executive Chiefs inaugural
programme commentary on the same. The laws
which it has passed thus far not many.
OF these, few are in any proper sense organic-the
best of them are professionals the worst of them, like
the first laws on rents and deferred bills, were re-
pealed, because they simply could not be enforced
TO make way in the case Of these last named two
for substitutes not clearly Ineligible, and the en-
forcement of which, were Paris not dsarmed and
under martial law, would make street revolution
in the city to-day.
NJ Theirs is an ancient man, and a southern;
cute, shrewd, not intellectually deep broad,
postmaster in the technical probabilities Of politics.
and of the aTt-the trade Of statemanshp;t the most
skillful Of parliamentary tacticians widely and
profoundly versed in financial military, diplomatic
affairs. And so, being keenly ObseTvant of the in
feriorty of most of those whom he addresses, I'M
questioning his own superiority impatient by tenn
permanent and the exgence of old age, he is readily
irritable and, when irTtated, prOvokingy irritating
| The most impertinent phrase that was ever ad-
dressed to a so-called deberative openly, was what
he passionaely cast in the face Of his majority in
the anxious time just preceding the final triumph of
his military policy over the Commune-not in an
swer but as angry scOrnful retOrt to the vexatious
! questioning they were bothering him with. "Yet
few days and the danger will be over, and the last
will be equal TO your capacities." They were re-
| minded that they were in place where they could
breed no contentious with him, and the petulant
majority sank quat and ate the leek-but exc they
swore.
These dissensiOns, petulancies, spats and scenes
between him and the majority have much in
in eli he Of
Commune instruction. designations, mostly of
radical Republicans, death two, and where
the same person had in February been chosen by
more than constituency, left nearly 100 vacan-
cies to be filled by the elections of cd july Thepo
was in As departments more than one half ofFrance
The result may be regarded expressing sObered
second thought and largely favorable to moderately
| Republican and Liberal Conservative candidates
! They successful in departments that had pre-
viousy sentin the warmes Legitnists-not, as these
hadhattered themselves, because of their old pOlit
| cal opinions, but because they were influential
local proprietors known to be favorable to peace
To their vexaton at the strengthening of the mod
crate Left and Left Center, added another that
came of the Count of Chambord's very frank
| archaeological manifesto, mailing the old Bourbon
white flag to the mast Except for the look Of the
thing he might as we'll have nailed it TO the keel
used il for a private tabe-clOth. One of the nOta
| BILE results of these complimentary elections was
the return of Gambetta, who has become again what
as parliamentary man ana politician in peace times
| he always was a Moderate and is sure to become
| leader in his party.
| The movement for giving something more OF sta
| bilty TO government finally received a strong i'm
pulson from the Left Center. Its members devised
in caucus some ten days. ago a scheme of which the
| principal features were TO fix the duration of the
| N ar on
| for the same period the power Of naming and dis
missing ministers, presiding at Cabinet council.
| naming VicePresident to exercise the same func
tons during his absence Tor in case of his death ~
| he to reside in the town where the Assembly sits
and TO resign his powers into the hands of the Ma
| tional Assembly next elected.
| To the principle of prolonging and defining the
powers of the Chief Magistrate most of the Repub-
licans and enough members of other groups adhered
so that five days ago it looked if Government was
on the eve Of peaceful transformation. But OH the
| grave practical questions Whether the Chief Mag
strates title shall remain as it is or be changed to
that of President of the Republics whether he NAV
prorogue-even dissolve the Assembly; whether his
Ministers only being responsible, he shall retain his
| right to take part in the debates of the House;
| whether the Assembly breaking the Pact of Bor-
| deaux and becoming semi-cOnstituent would act
prudcntly in raising NJ Theirs by the straps of lis
boots to hight where ne could put his little heel on
its sOveTeignty-On these and other questions dis
cussion in and negotiations among the various eau
cuses result in wider dssension rather than agree
ment For the moment, though the Left Center have
admitted considerable notifications of their original
project it is doubtful whether they will hasten to
present il in the form of a bill to the Chamber
While however most of the well informed" report
els from Versailles say that the Professionally preva
lent sentiment with members is to professionally rest
| sfofti nun others aesur. mo t1,ot