New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-07-25
THE Personal SEPTENN ATE.

The fears of those who disbelieved in the
loyalty and suspected the selfish ambition of
MacMahon have received a full justification in
his performance of Thursday, and the Repub-
licans of France are now confronted by an
obstacle more serious than any which has as
vet presented itself. He has deliberately
chosen to defeat the moderate and conserva-
tive bill of NJ. Casimir-Perier, and has thus
declared his open opposition to any scheme
for the defnitive organization of the Republic
The closeness of the vote by which this was
accomplished shows, what we have all along
contended, that if the Government had
merely remained neutral in Thursdays debate
the bill would have passed the Assembly, and
the Republic would have been estab-
lished. q. Nothing more moderate than the
scheme of NJ. Casmir-P6rer could have been
devised ii the Republic were to be recognized
at all. 1t merely declared the form of gov
eminent to be republican. provided for an
upper house, and confirmed and strengthened
the executive power in Marshal MacMahon for
the seven years during which it has been
voted him by the Assembly. The form of
government to which it looked was not, to
use the slang of the Right, the Gambotta
"Republic" 1T was the orderly, legal, and
formal state of things affected by NJ. Theirs,
and the group of eminent midde-aged states
men about him, most Of whom were constitu-
tiOnal monarchists as long as there appeared
to be possibility of constitutional monarchy
in France. There could have been only two
objections to this measure in the mind of
Marshal MacMahOn. One was that it recog-
nized the Republic. and the other that, by
settling the constitutional future of the coun-
try, it deprived him of the freedom he might
otherwise have of dspOsing of it to his own
advantage.
He claims in short, the establishment of the
personal Septennate, pure and simple. Moth
ing is to be fixed in regard to the future. He
has given striking illustration of that bitter
French proverb, The only thing lasting is
"the temporary" He forbds France for the
next six years to have more than one idea
about its form of government, and that is
that MacMahon shall be during that time
autocrat After him, as many deluges as you
like. For six years and some odd months
the miserable struggle of factions for the as
tendency is to be kept up, in preparation for the
final grapple in the Autumn of 1880. If Mac
Mahon should die in the meanwhile the fight
would come at his death, and the quickest
crowd in the street would win. This seems
like insanity, but it is nothing more than the
dull selfshness of soldier utterly ignorant
of government, who has grown up i'm COM
plete indifference to popular opinion and blind
obedience to visible authority. 1t does not
seem to him matter of the least Importance
that vast majority of France is Republican,
as shown by the hundred and fifty elections of
deputies since the Assembly came together.
He considers the Republic faction, and says
that he cannot consent to its establishment,
because "that would satisfy only one party"
If you should suggest to him that he satisfies
only one party, he would probably say with
perfect sincerity, "But, you see, that is my
party-whch is very different NATTER
The fragments of the debate which have
reached us by cable show the line of argument
adopted by the Government. and it is hard to
say which are more surprising-the measures
adopted. or the considerations by which they
are sustained, The Duke de Broglie. striving