The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1871-03-11
The Future of france

IayeIeve. which from its correct portrayal OF the
nosition in France. and its sound reasoning. has
attracted no little attention. Our space forblds
! the reprinting of the article entire, bat we give
some extracts. The writer opens with a refer
ence to the principle of Christianity, that chas-
| tisement is wholesome, and punishment the con-
dition of improvement. rt
One of the members of the Government of the
National Defence. Eugene Pelletan, was one day
| developing this thesis to me, with all the spirited
brllliance and imaginative eloquence which dis
tinguish him that just as III gambling '.qui
pera gagne," so in modern wars the vanquished
draws more advantages from his defeat than the
! conuueror from his victories. "In fact" he
said, whence dates the present greatness Of
Prussia? From Jena, when she Law PROSTATE in
the dust at the feet of Napoleon. Cut to pieces,
exhausted by acquisitions and contributions of
war, ruined, almost efaced from the map of
Europe, it was in the depth OF her fall that she
laid the foundations of the institutions which
make her so powerful to-day. After 1915 France
loses her new-made conquests, and even ii slice of
the conquests of Louis XIV. she pays a milliard
of francs to the Allies, a milliard TO the eiaigreS.
And this was the moment which saw the begin
ming of that period of literary renovation, of
scientific activity, of parliamentary life, of in
dustrial development, which gave France the pre-
ponderating part in the affairs of Europe. In
1913 Piedmont is crushed by Austria. 1t forth
WITH concentrates ItseiI, reforms ltselI, cStaDllSDeS
liberty, and. THANKS to the prestige of its liberty,
annexes Italy. Russia is beaten in the Crimea !;
ellie Sc rec1eiHe, according to the well-known
phrase of her First Minister she recognizes the
causes of her weakness, and, to remedy it, she
emancipates her scrfs, covers herself with an i'm
mense network of iron roads, and appears to-
day stronger than she ever was. Austria tri-
umphed over Hungary and Italy ID 1849, and
never was she SO feeble as after her success. She
was beaten in 1859 and 1866, and her reverses
deliver her from theocracy and despotism. and
win for her the enjoyment of every liberty, and
the sympathies of ali Europe"
Whence comes 1T that Germany has so rapidIy
and completely overcome France, which is equally
populous, more rich, and more warlike? Every
one answers, it is because Germany had COM
pulsory instruction for all, military service for
all, the SchulpfLichtigkeit and the Diensphichtig-
keit. 1t was said before at Sadowa in 1866, it is
not the needle-gun which has conquered, but the
schoolmaster. This is still more true in 1870, as
the chassepot was worth incomparably more than
the acknowledgements. We cannot declare it too
loudly: it is Ignorance that has lost France.
Ignorance In diplomacy, which, knowing neither
the history nor the language nor the tendencies
of Germany, deceived the Emperor as to the atti-
Jude likely to be assumed by the different states.
Ignorance in the generals, who had never studied
either the Organization of the Prussians, or their
tactics, or their progress, or the lessons of the
campaign of 1866, or the quality of their leaders.
Ignorance in the officers, who, accustomed to
fight against Arabs, have been constantly sur
prised, COMPOUNDED, bewildered in their own
country. Ignorance in the soldiers, who, con-
sidering the German as a brute to be driven with
the but-ends of their muskets, lost all their self.
possession when confronted by men as brave as
themselves, more familiar with the ground than
their own captains, and with skill enough to
make a far more intelligent and deadly use of an
inferior weapon. Ignorance without bound or
H. 3 = - ri 81 n p. y -. - =
were a mere question of a military promenade.
The most formidable corps in the French armies
was, 1T used to be said, the Turcos and the
Zephyrs. They met men in spectacles, coming
from universities, speaking ancient and modern
languages, and writing on occasion letters in
Hebrew or Sanskrit. The men in speetacles have
beaten the wild beasts from Africa. In other
words, intelligence has beaten savagery. Are we
to be surprised at this, when we know that war
like industry lis becoming more and more an
affair of science?
The calamities which Ignorance is causing to
France during the war, are not to be COMPARED
to those with which she is menaced in peace.
The one, cruel as they may be, are transitory
the others are abiding. By universal suffrage
France has placed the decision of her destinies in
the hands OF masses who are completely incapa-
bic of discerning their true interest. and still less
what is demanded for the safety and prosper1ty
Of the country. Carried away by the Napoleonic
legenC-tle worst malady that can faint a nation
universal suffrage has thrice with genuine en-
thusiasm placed absolute power in the hands of
the hero OF Boulogne, and, obeying the preGets,
has invariably elected men who were profoundly
mediocre, but wholly devoted to- the personal
power. Everywhere and always despotism has
been the natural fruit Of ignorance. Now that
the blind multitudes will no longer be able to
vote for tile Man of Sedan, We have to fear that
they will choose the most extreme representatives
of thn nNpnSIta IpI.,n SrM,,l La. -. -
Ultramontanes, phrenetic Conservatives, who by
the desperate violence of their struggles Will
make men long for order, even at the price Of
liberty.
France finds herself drawn towards the old
policy of equilibrium by her dynastic traditions
and her aspirations after the supremacy of
Europe towards the modern policy Of non-inter-
vention abroad and development at home, by the
opinion of the more clear-sighted of her pub
licists. 1t is slightly late now to turn to the
first let her then resolutely adopt the second,
and above all remain constant to 1t. If after the
plebscite Napoleon had disarmed, declaring that
he intended to interfere no more in the domestic
affairs of Germany, he would have forced Prus-
STA to disarmament, for the South would never
have accepted the Prussian military burdens. and
already IN the Northern Confederation the Diet
was crying for economy. All alarm disappearing
on the side OF France, the pacific movement
would have been Irresistible. 1t was the writer's
and other men who thrust France into an atti-
tude. and a policy OF aggression, that prevented
her from triunphing over her rival by peace and
liberty.
There is another difficulty which republican
France will have to meet, IN the regulation of
the relations between the Church and the State.
The Liberal party thinks that the time has come
for abollshing the Concordat, suppressing the
budget of worship, surrendering ali rights of in
reference in ecclesiastical affairs, in a word. for
establishing, as in the American Union, the free
church in the free state. The best reasons NAV
certainly be invoked in favor of this project, but
if the Catholic clergy see in it an attenIpt upon
its rights, will the Republic resist the attack
that will resound without a DAYS cessation in
forty thousand pulpits and eighty thousand con-
fessionals? If, to reduce them to silence, re-
course Is had to the severity of the law, here
would be a persecution of religion as in 1898.