The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1874-05-16
THE PACIFIC
Commercial AOOrrtlstr.
SATURDAY. MAY 10.
OUR PARIS LETTER

Ae. -
The Legitmists are more rOyalizt than the
KING. They are IN the humOr for cutting their
wav 70 the throne they have burned their vessels
and seem bent on selt-destructIon- hat does
Henri Y. think Of his fanatical followers, II ne De
in 4 calm retreat, as IN any other country Dut
this, the leaders Of the forlorn hope Of Ills MaJ-
estv would certainly be handed over 70 q lunacy
comission2 This lamentabIe crusade By the
Jacobins Of Monarchy, has created not alarm out
irritation. If there be one matter clear 10 the
tangled web Of French politics, II Is that the
Comte De Chambord's day Is over and that that
Of his heir - expectant - the Comte de Paris, Is
enrolled among the improbablltIes. Inc future
Of this country Is becoming painfully uncertain,
and all the result Of want Of distinct speech ana
consistent conduct on the part Of the majority IN
the Assembly, which employs empirical remedies,
that hardly conceal the disease, still less suppress
it, and at best, but calm the pain Tor a passing
moment. Refusing to organize the Republic,
incapable T. restore q King, the majority Yotea
the only mcdUS UireHdI pOssibIe-the prolongatlon
Of McSlahOn's powers, but designedly hesltated
to organize them, to regulate above all the sue
cessiOn 70 the Office in case OF vacancy, hence, the
cause Of the present trouble. The coalition was
only powerful to overthrow Theirs, and this IN
gratitude towards that patriot and statesman Is
now being followed by it natural Nemesis.
To organize Septennate becomes then not alone
a matter Of necessity but Of national safety the
door will be thus legally closed against the three
rival saviOurs Of France, and the wishes oil the
country carried out for a Constitutional Septen-
nate, which Is only n designation OF the term
Republic. Besides, when the necessary laws are
voted for the transmission Of power to q new
Assembly, the long-looked for dissolution Of the
present Chamber must come of as n matter OF
course. Among the present dIe-hard deputies
there will be much weeping and gnashlnS OF
teeth. for the place which knows them shall know
them no more. Before the conciliatOry and con-
seryative Republic that will be founded, indie
pendent Of extreme parties, Monarchists may be
gratifed with the luxury of dying game. The
Bonapartists keep moving, stage-fashIon; the
same rank and file after making their bow, troop
behind the scenes to come to the front again.
Distinguished men rally to the Republic like
Theirs, Remusat, Perier, Say, &c, but none to
Imperialism.
Since three years an idea has taken possession
of the people, that of the principle of power
being its property and the more they reflect on
the accumulated receptions of the various sys-
tens Of Monarchies they have tried, the more
they familiarize themselves to the idea of being
their own master. They decide themselves to be
king, and resolve to have henceforth only servants.
There are recalcitrants who are rebel towards the
law which ordains that society tends to pass
from the aristocratic to the democratic state the
evolution may be slow or rapid, but it is certain,
and never occurs a second time IN the same social
existence. Once crossed, there is no return.
France has passed through this evolution, and at
the present there Is no aristOcratIc institution IN
the land, which accounts for the precariousness
of Monarchy. The latter having no roots withers
away. This condition of things on the other
hand, menaces with danger and nullity all plans
tending to stife the representation of public
opinion, either by mutilating universal suffrage,
or overriding it by q packed Senate. The people
do not view their electoral system as perfect, still
less are they opposed TO its improvement. They
object however to royalists improving away their
republic, and insist on showing. that one is never
better served, than when served by himself. 1t
- -, Chine nplu that n hpnSa - hprraA 6nuuo tn
roast a pig, a circumstance French legislation
forgets.
Twenty millions of francs. in new taxes have
yet to be obtained before the budget can be
squared. They will be found of course because
they must. We are becoming as accustomed to
grinding taxes, as to the state of siege, and the
war against the disagreeable journals. Look at
AIpieers attacked the colonial municipality { and and the lie
Governor, General Chanzy, put the chief town of
Algiors at once under Martial Law The French
however have never heen happy in their plans for
making colonies great, glorious, and free. Per-
haps as a means for consoling us, by the present
| alton of a spectacle that we might be worse, NJ.
Boislisle has produced another of his volumes on
the national finances during tho reign of the
Grand Monarch, and Of the Grand Misery, for
extremes meet. From 1853 to 1899 the only
defence against the tax collector, was to enter
into holy orders or secure n patent of nobility.
The more Louis NV. waxed in pride, the more
the country groaned under suffering. No sooner
had His Majesty made peace at one side, than he
undertook war at another. Fighting was as i'm
portant to his rank, as building palaces and tax
ing mistresses, Of which all had this in common,
to be very costly. Colbert and Yauban having
demonstrated with the King on his dreadful ex-
penditure, incurred his disp!easure, and died of
broken hearts. Every person then as now, dis
liked paying taxes, and sought all means to avoid
doing 90 ut last between privileged and purchased
exemptions, the burdens fell altogether on the
yarn ro,r who if in 1rraor NCapa hu61la1
together, men, women and children, in a Black
Hole of Calcutta prison, till they raised the wind,
for there was the devil to play. Another plan
vas to confine deGaulters in dry wells, believing
rs the authorities aid, that On arriving at the
bottom, truth would be discovered. The reVoca-
ton of the Edict of Nantes forced half q million
of the richest and most Industrious of the pOpu-
lation to seek refuge from the dragons, whose
duty was to sabre the Huguenots into going to
mass. In flying, the Protestants brought their
wealth with them, and thus impoverished the
mother country. The Jews were next attended
to, but the diggings did not turn out successful
in this quarter. Towns were permitted to post
pone paying their ordinary liabilities, so as to
raise loans for the royal exchequer public Offices
were auctioned to the highest bidder, and the
same appointment was held by several individuals
who discharged its duties in turn, for the appoint
ment secured exemption from paying taxes. The
civil service thus represented a swarm of locusts,
who purchased the right to deyour ts financial
life of the nation.
The King INDUCED in mis- whims all the same.
He expended nine million pounds to bring the
waters of the Eure to Versailles, and though the
works were abandoned, upwards of ten thousand
men persisted in cutting the channel through a
series of dismal swamps. After investing in q
competitive " purchase " for the civil service, the
buyer could by pickings and stealings, more than
recompense himself the outlay. Another scourge
was the billeting of the soldiers on the inhabit-
ants of n town. Householders could purchase
exemption, so that in Metz in 1895 the exemptions
were so numerous, that there was no Judgment to
be had for the troops the very poor had quilted