New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-06-13
DEGRADED FRANCE.
Important Interview With General De
Tr0briand-Her Only Hope of Saliva
lion n Republic.
From the Cincinnati Gazette.l

Important Interview With General De
TrObriand-Her Only Hope of Saliva
lion a Republic.
From the Cincinnati Gazette.l
NEW YORK, June 9.-The World pub
fishes the report of an interview with Gen
eral De TrObriand, of the United States
army, who has just arrived from France.
In the course of the interview he says:
Everything in politics in France now is
quicksand-an unsubstantial, treacherous
mixture of traditional IDEAS private inter-
ests, prejudices and irrational theories-and
in all this cOnglomeration of feeling there is
no solid ground to build anything perma-
nent. All may depend on accident.
l do not believe legitimacy will be re-
stored mainly because all the cities are op-
posed to it and inclined toward republic.
The strength of that party is the old fami
lies in Brittany and the south of France.
The clergy are also favorable to legitimacy
in those sections of France, looking to it as
their best protection. The peasantry of
France are as a mass eminently ignorant,
prejudiced and selfish. Those of them who
are in the hands of the priests or mobiles
would vote whatever they were told or do
anything else blindly for the restoration of
prince, for no other reason than that they
were told to do So At this moment, if
plebiscite were proposed, very large num-
Der of peasants would vote for the empire,
knowing absolutely nothing of anything
concerning national concerns. AS for the
republicans in the cities, certain number
of them are good, liberal and intelligent
men, but they are in the minority. A larger
number of the republicans of France are
impracticable men.
The mOnarchist will never admit differ
ence between one sort of republican and
the other. Their constant cry has been of
late, "You will see how impossible is a re-
public in France. AS soon as we have re-
publican government you will see what it
will do by what is going on in Paris" (al-
luding to the cOmmunists). So, although
the communists in Paris were fighting the
republican government, the mOnarchists al
ways say that it is impossible to have re-
public, because the republicans are incapa-
bic of forming and maintaining it. But l
consider the only really possible chance of
salvation for France is in the republican
form of government. l do not think either
of the claimants for the crown can do much,
because, as soon as one of them gets even
an apparent chance, the others will imme-
diately unite against him with the repub-
leans l do not believe much in the fusion
of the two branches of the Bourbon family.
'You can not have any idea here of the
deep decentralization of the people of France
under the imperial government. 1t was
worse government than ever France had
before. But there is no fear of its restOra-
ton. Although many of the peasants are
in favor of it, their master has gone, and
they have no leaders, no officials to lead
them to the polls and tell them what to
vote, consequently they are like sheep with
out a shepherd"
General de Trobriand will start next week
to join his command at Utah. to report
July |.
Commenting on the report of the capture
of Khiva by the Russians, the Tribune says:
The Russians proceeded directly to the city
of Khiva and were satisfied with little less
than absolute subsection, thus obtaining
possession of country having about two
millions of inhabitants, mostly nomads, and
an area of one hundred and eighty thousand
square miles of desert, excepting an oasis,
about the city of Khiva of about one-sixth
| of the entire area. The Russians, however,
had deeper purpose than the mere acquisi-
ton of the uncultivated territory, as will
readily be seen from the fact that nothing
but Afghanistap now separates them from
India. At no distant day England will be
obliged seriously to devise plans for pre-
venting formidable rival from competing
with her for the wealth of the Indies.