The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1871-04-10
Uh. Causes and Purposes oil tne NC"
French Revolution.

Freuch Revolution.
The men who have recalled the reeohee- |
,ion of the "red spectre OF 1872" by caus-
ing the flow of constant and copious
stream of human blood in the outskirts of
Paris, during every day of last week, are |
shrouded in kind of mist as to their motives |
and purposes. But the simple fact that this |
fanatical mob has held out so long against the
legitimate government, and that it has eylnced
sufficient resolution to sustain the loss OF
several Thousand lives without wayerlng,
shows that it is something more, than a
spirit of mere lawlessness or mad caprice
that has given rise to this new reign of terror.
There is a real grievance at the bottom of
the instruction. Under the Capitalization of
Empire the municipal independence of Paris,
like that of all other cities, was of course sac
rificed On the overthrow of the Empire, the
establishment of the more democratic Theirs
government and the Withdrawal, of the Prus-
slams, there was not unreasonable expecta-
ton that the rights of the city would be re-
stored-that instead of the Mayor and other
officials appointed by the general government
the "communes," corresponding to the wards
of our cities, would elect council like our city
councils by universal suffrage and that this body
should have the same functions as to matters of
purely local concern as corresponding bodies in
our own country. The National Guard, which
ismerely the local militia of Paris, also claim
ed the right to elect its own Off GERS. These
expectations failing to be fulfilled, the ''com-
munists" as they are cal, in reference, as we
suppose, to their idea of local self government
through the political machinery of the com.
munes, and not to the agrarian and socialistic
theories that are so rife among them, collect
ed in considerable numbers at Montmartre
which they fortified. On Saturday, the 18th
OF March, the National Guards sent by the
Theirs government to disperse the insurgents
fraternized with the mob, and the situation
became so serious that the A ssenhiy with.
drew to Versailles whence it has since direct
ed the campaign against the "Reds." On the
22d of March an unarmed demonstration in
favor Of the Assembly was met by the fire of
the insurgents near the Place Vendone and
ten or a dozen men were killed. This was
the first serious collision, though Generals
Thomas and Lecompte had already met their
dea.h at the hands of the infatuated mob
The first accounts of this unfortunate affair
gave the impression that the @Reds" massa-
cred an unarmed crowd without provocatlon,
but later and more reliable intelligence is to
the effect that the people fired the first shots
and that the Nationals suffered as serious loss
as the mob which had attacked them.
On the same day with the fight at the
Place Vendome there took place an election
OF the communal council. Hitherto the pro-
visional- government of the insurgents had
been in the hands of central committee"
that had taken up its quarters at the Hotel de
Vile on the withdrawal of the Theirs gov
ernment., At the head of this committee
was Assy who has since been obliged to flee
for his life on account of one of those sudden
and inexplicable changes in public sentiment
that attend the progress Of Partisan insurrec-
tons. Blanqui is said to be at the head of
the present government.
The serious fighting begun on Sunday, the
second inst, when the insurgents unhap-
PLY felt strong enough to march out of Paris
and drive the Assembly from Versailles. But
the legitimate government, to its own sur
prise, we suppose, found some of its troops
faithful and the garrison of Fort Valerien in
stead of fraternizing with the mob fred upon
it with terrible results. Through all the hard
fighting up to the close of the week the As
sembly party seems to be entirely successful,
but we have not yet seen anything indicating
the capture of the two forts, d'Issy and Van
yre, held BY the Reds, that command the en-
trance to the city. Il is hoped, however, that
the terrible punishment suffered by these
misA uided men will deter them from making
any further resistance to the legitimate au-
thorities. ~ .r -.t-. i.--.--. ... r.
The insurgents are wrong in their methods
rather than their purposes. Though they
hold theoretically to ultra radical doctrines
though their notions of the right of holding
or inheriting property are remarkably lax and
rationalism is widely prevalent among them,
their only serious design seems to be strictly
"a political one-municipal Independence
But the Empire, like the Bourbons, left race
of children and not men. The puerilities of
the communists might be endured by an in.
duigent world, but the bloodthirsty spirit in
which they work for the avowed purpose of
establishing democracy in which war,
bloodshed and injustice shall be impossible
causes all humane and thoughtful men to de.
sire their immediate and final overthrow.