The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1874-01-24
THE PACIFIC
Commercial A0btrtlstt.
u -.
OUR PARIS LETTER.
PARIS, December 10th, IL

Cardinal de Richclieu observed two and a half
centuries ago 3 the French are not only light,
inpatient, and little accustomed 10 fatigue in
addition, they are accused % be never content
with the present they make no efforts 20 sur
mount their natural drawbacks for the advantage
OF their country they have no dread Of danger,
bat wish to encounter it without trouble the
least duties they feel 10 DO insuppOTtable they
have not sufficient GOODNESS 10 wait one minute
for the arrival Of their happiness, and grow tired
even from the continuation Of their prosperity"
The Cardinal added whaE to-day resembles a
truism, " il is next 10 a certainty, that the Opin-
ION universally entertained Of the French being
incapable OF discipline and rule, rests upon no
other foundation than the incapacity Of their
statesmen, who do not know how to choose the
necessary means 20 accomplish the ends they
propose" The nation has improved, but public
men are still defective. The new Government If
not agreed upon the republic or monarchy, Ger
taInly are upon the necessity Of sitting public
opinion. cit does not belong 10 the profession
Of a statesman, s" said CayOur, " 70 govern with
out liberty" Ii is only the feeble and the des-
POtie that rely on force and this Is the more
reprehensible, when no necessity exists for meas
ures OF severity. Ministers allege that the safety
Of society depends on the election Of local mayors,
and that the liberties which were possible after
the termination Of the war and in presence Of
the instruction Of Paris, arc to-day Inadequate
after two years Of order and repOse. To believe
the ministerial journals, each day finds society
III Nae ~ = - - 80 u eAAA VNA VI AAA@AL
challenged to indicate where these affected ter
rors could be found, pointed to the project for
taxing house property in the city, 10 cover the
expenses Of keeping the streets clean The same
tax has been more or less levied since the year
1000.
The country has no objection to march it only
demands TO know in what sense it marches, and
to where. IL has not the slightest faith in the
commission Of thirty bringing forth even a mouse,
as that body is condemned in advance 70 sterility
because it has been created in a spirit of exclu-
sIveness 10 serve the passions of a party. Royalty
being a contraband xticle-for seven years at
least-explains why the Orleanists essay to cover
q with the flag of republicanism. They will work
all the same for the reconstruction Of monarchy,
and when the edifce is finished, when McAIahon
shall have been thanked for drying the walls,
and be as summarily dismissed as Theirs was,
they will offer again the crown to Henri ", who
will decline the conditions, and then the Comte
de Paris, 1T is hoped, will prove as Ommoda
ing as his grandfather. The conspirators have
all the chances Of being caught in their own trap,
and experiencing the fate Of the viper and the
file. The nation is resolved to only enthrone itself.
France just now wants a little more light, even
an excess OF it is coveted, though this, according
to Pascal, is equivalent to darkness. She does
not believe that the reigning Ministers are neces-
sary to her salvation, nor that the present laws
they are forging, are destined to be employed
against others but themselves hereafter. There
are nearly $4,000 Communes, or parishes, in
France, with an average population of 1000 each.
The Cabinet proposes to have the right of nomi-
mating and of removing the mayors of these Com
munes, to have thus sc 900 electioneering agents,
to control the eight millions of electors in France,
and to secure thereby the return of official candi-
dates. The law will simply kill the unity of
Communal life, and break the bonds which really
link to the state; the Municipal Coup d. Fiat
will exasPernte, instead of intimidating, and will
be reflected in the first general election, for the
deputies are not like the Academicians, immortal.
Serious events may be expected when the pro-
gramme is presented formally, for cutting down,
not what is Objectionable, but disagreeable in
universal suffrage and also ON the suppression of
the law for filling up vacancies as at present, in
the Assembly. As for the press laws, the only
E R19 fGas tHanS Sna haS B DS4 sE5ad ] is I tbSs Bat IN ma Sa25c e
house to house search among the subscribers to a
certain Journal, to seize the copies of that ObnOx-
ious print, which committed the capital sin Of
publishing the very latest Papal Iucubration.
There is still another project French Governments
have never fairly tried, and which is now work
ing successfully in Austria, in the land OF the
Metternichs and the SchwarZenbergs, and rs de-
scribed by Francis Joseph in presence of the
deputation OF journalists who congratulated him
on the tWenty-6fh anniversary of his reign, as
follows al fully appreciate the Importance of
n free press, which develops intellectual life, and
instructs how to healthily judge public events,
and while guarding its own dignity, respects
private life, and discusses affairs of state with
independence and patriotism hence, why l have
to abolish all barriers which Obstruct
the free expression of opinions" French Min
Isters would do well not only to study these
imperial words, but to initiate such imperial
acts. instead OF ransacking the armory Of the
second Empire for weapons, and that the Bona
partists object, naturally, to any government en-
but themselves. When the old priest in
GascOny was upbraided with using the sermons
Of another, he replied: "Wel, what matter if
I borrow the musket Of my neighbOr to kill
Beelzebub the essential is, to kill the devil"
The essential with the monarchists is, to kill all
opposition to the restoration Of royalty, which of
course is more important than the claims Of
France.
Though Bazaine's trial has not revealed the
that was to be desired in the way Of
- c~linching the nails in his cofin,' no person
accepts him as innocent, and the majority of the
conclude, even in the tangled web, a sufi-
cient thread will be disengaged, to connect him
with the intrigues and Vaccinations that
led to the capitulation of his army as also with
the indiscipline and Reorganization, in which it
is alleged, he so adroitly speculated. All that a
lawyer could do TO save n mans honor, Nj.
has done for his client If he committed
IA fault, it was that of an excess Of zeal. He
made a great mistake in falling back on
the political situation to justify Bazaine's inact-
witty and the starving into surrender of his army.
The French know very well that it was not Gam
beta declared war against Germany, and that it
sedan gave the nnaI push, which topped
over the more than tottering throne of Napoleon
III. they also know, but it is for strangers to
recall it, that Gambetta was accepted till events
became too powerful for him, and had he been
successful in beating back the invaders, he would
have been applauded as a saviour of society
instead of being reproached as a dictator. Just
the same with the deceased Emperor, had he
secured the natural geographical boundaries of
France, which Providence only created during the
Republic, he would have been hailed as a
genius instead of being condemned as n fool.
verdict in the case of Bazaine is only a ques-
ton Of some hours, and it is well to bear in
mind, that on the technical questions he has been
long ago found guilty by the military commission
appointed to inquire into the conduct of the late
That verdict is expected to be now
as well as enlarged, and at the same
time an opinion be expressed, to indict the will