New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1872-01-04
roo MUCH GOVERNMENT

| and presents it to tho Legislative Body as his
| conception of the model they want, leaving to
| them the task of filling up the details. AS
might have been expected, tho statue Ii q
COPY of the eminent man himself. 1t was
sad of Richard Hayden that his Moses and
bis Napoleon were too short in the legs, be-
cause his own figure was deficient in the same
respect. IL is rather unreasonable to demand
of an artist that he shall make his ideal much
better than himself and 20 we have, perhaps,
no right to be surprised that the Republic
which Mr.. Theirs is framing has many or the
traits of the old champion Of authority, who
has always believed so thoroughly in freedom
| for all men to do az Mr. Theirs likes.
| The paper we have mentioned must curb It's
| taste for mOrdant sarcasm, or 1T VIII lind the
atmosphere of Paris AZ deadly to wit as that
| of New York Our last attempt at comic
paper persisted here because it would not
speak evil of digntics, and the ObdriUari may
find itself endowed with the fatal love OF the
gods for the opposite reason. 1t would puzzle
| the journalists of France to give any satlsfac-
| tory account of the difference between the
| Republic and the Empire, so far az the free
| dom of the press is concerned. Many hap
| less writer, who has 80 far forgotten what Is
due TO the position of Mr.. Theirs as to speak
of him az good citizens love to speak of their
| rulers, has learned in bankruptcy and
| Jail to regret the days of Bonaparte, and
of Nj. do st. Pol. when you knew what
| to expect. and when you were not Knocked Oy
| a derisive liberty that fattered you with the
| name of the republic, and brought you under
| the grasp of the law il you spoke your mind.
II is not only the press which is made to
dance in letters by this new democratic ad-
ministration. The delight of tho badauds OF
the sidewalk in Paris has always been the
caricatures in the windows of the print shops
The Partisan taste for eccentric and piquant
art h9s always keenly enjoyed these products
of the cynical spirit of the studios. Lisette
looks and laughs, with flying ribbons, on her
way TO her shop. The pastry cooks boy lets
the pies on his head cool in the wind while
be has his grin ut tho follios of his betters
The man in the blue blouse stops moment
to enjoy his comfortable grumble at society
But we are told that political Carlcatures are
TO be prohibited heDcetorth by the Govern
ment The very fact of this prohibition will
drive vagabOnd genius into something worse.
The caricature of mere hUmOr will have no
flavor, when the Jest at the expense OF the
big b0nnets" becomes an unlawful thing.
A still more foolish thing is the prohibition
of the sale of tho photographs of the Com
munist leaders. 1t is easy to imagine that it
is not very pleasant for gentlemen of the Gov
crnment TO see the shadows OF their Banquos
everywhere in the shop windows. Talleyrand
onoe escaped visit from Aaron Burr by let
ting him know that portrait OF Hamilton
hung in his library. But however disagreea-
BILE it might be for the men who ordered the
execution of Rossel and Ferr6. who sentenced
| Rochefort to penal servitude, and Elisee
Reclus TO exile, to see their images bought
| and sold like those of saints and martyrs, 1T
| ia hard TO sec what right they have to pre-
| vent it, The faces arc well worth buying as
matter of history and physiognomy.
| The inyeterate and implacable honesty
you see in tho rugged face OF
| DeIescluze; the intense stare of ROchefort
which shows tho near alliance of great wit
and madness the fantastic courage OF Flou-
rens, and tho exquisite and almost feminine
beauty of Pascal Grousset. give positive
value TO their pictures, which even 80 great a
historian and statesman as Adolphus Theirs
might study with pleasure and profit. Some
|
the Philistines say of the Commune, and some
| are 40 fine a. TO make us cOnsider-what it is
| always well to cOnsider-tbat even the worst
| and most reckless of our opponents are not
| without redeeming clements of human ma
| ture
But this f,lssy anxiety Of the Government
TO nip even the unopened buds of treason
reaches point where it becomes grotesque.
| An officer of the Department of the Interior
has been detailed TO examine the stock OF the
oy-shops TO sec if perchance any germ OF
sedition may Turk among the tin soldiers and
the wooden dogs. y would not be possible to
conceive of measure better calculated to
excite "hatred and contempt against the Gov
| "ernmentn than that Of setting some middle
aged employs, with spectacles on his nose
and the red ribbon of tho Legion of Honor in
his button hole. to spying out the deadly
dangers to the State that might lie con-
cealed in tho box Of a jumping jack or the
small satin petticoats of Nuremberg doll.
All this attempt to bottle up the manifesto
tons of party spirit, which would be com
paratively harmless if left TO themselves. are
altogether futile, and may result in serious
| damage. In tho ambitious romance of Mr..
Ward. the pirate captain, after his head ID cut
off. falls to the deck exclaiming The world
ia governed too much" IL would be well If
Mr. Theirs and his Cabinet would recognize
| this great truth without waiting Tor a similar
| catastrophe.