The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-10-01
Tie BOnaDartist Tran.

read Of the meeting of Imperialists at Aren.
burg the other day. A milder and far less
voluble Frenchman than he might we'll re.
lieve his feelings by fusillade of disjointed
sentences and exclamations. The harpies
But It does not seem like good political
management to set trap for the French reo
Pile so openly, as much as 10 say, ''Here
geese! here is the snare we have set for you
be so good as to walk into it at oncep'
In brief the plan by which the Bonapartes
announce that they hope to reestablish the
Empire is this; Mamma Bonaparte, widow
of the late Louis Napoleon. is to retire from
the leadership of the party, leaving her son,
whom his fathers friends delight to call Ma
poleon ~, to be guided by NJ. Rouher, who
represents the conservative and ultra-imperi.
alist faction. And the specific policy by means
OF which M. RouLer is to secure to his young
pupil the possession Of the throne is. the per-
sistent intriguing Of Bonapartist deputies in
the French Assembly for plebiscite. For
the late Emperor the plebiscite was very
handy thing. After the coup Getat, a pie
biscite conducted in part by this same M.
Rouher, ratified Louis Napoleon's perjury,
treason, murder and usurpation by a vote Of
seven and half millions to tWo and hall
millions. Afterwards, when the more liberal
NJ. Olivier was Minister. the Emperor took
occasion, under p-etext of submitting GER
tain important constitutional reforms to a
popular vote, to require a new ratification ol
his usurpation and a new pledge of fealty To
him and to his dynasty. And this plebiscite,
too, was overwhelmingly successful, Though
shortly afterwards the millions who had vo-
ted right under the supervision of the pre-.
fects and the subordinate government off.
cials accompanied the flight of their fallen
master with insults and curses.
So Napoleon " and the experienced but
stupid Rouher and the superstitious ex-Em-
press and the whole uncanny crowd imagine
that it the present rulers of France could on.
ly be induced to authorize plebscite, so
that the people could determine for them.
selves what form of government they will
have, the Empire with all its glories, its cor
ruptions, its despotism and its opportunities
for selfish indulgence, would rest once more
on the broad foundation of the popular will.
They think that, outside of Paris and the 9TH
er large cities which are the centers of intell-
gence, universal suffrage, the most democrat
ic of institutions, would authorize the re-es-
tablishment of the Empire, one of the most
vicious forms of modern despotism.
And perhaps they are right in their anticipa
tions. But there is this comfort, at least even
in the extremely improbable event of vote s
being taken-a plebiscite in 1875 would be a
very different thing from that which gave So
much satisfaction in 1851. In 1851 the EN-
peror, before appealing to the people, had OBJ
tanned an important advantage which his
successors cannot boast. He was chief of the
state and possessed and used the power oi
compelling precisely such verdict as he de-
sired. He had just shot several hundred Of
his more active opponents, sent ten thousand
to Cayenne and exiled forty thousand more.
He had corrupted the army with stolen gold
and by means of his soldiers and his wonder
fully organized official corps he established a
terrorism among the ignorant peasantry
which made the specious plebiscite mere
mechanical registering OF his own DEGREES.
Intelligent people did not wonder that there
were only two and half millions of opposi-
tion votes; they wondered that there were
any.
Is nIar nI,n1x To AI,oA L.
French people, who have worked such mira
cles and exhibited such incredible recupera-
tive powers, under the semblance of a free
government which they now enjoy, would
voluntarily bring back the race of plunderers
and corruptionists. Ii they really desire this,
they richly deserve another Waterloo and
another Sedan. And as for the birds of prey, the
Bourbons and the Bonapartes, to say nothing
of the more reputable Orleanists, who hover
over France or on the frontier, watching ev-
cry opportunity to spring upon her and rend
can say that they do not deserve
another '93. 1t would seem almost an act OF
self-defense if the people of France, who for
more than eighty years have been trying to
govern themselves and who are always de-
feated by the selfish and reckless ambition of
their rejected rulers and their adherents,
should make one more effort TO relieve them
selves of the conspirators whose attitude con-
stitutes perpetual menace. The difficulties
and dangers of our own Republic are serious
enough, but suppose there were two or three
ex-Presidents and half a dozen defeated as
pirants for that place each claiming to be our
rightful ruler and each ready to rush in with
a crowd of desperate adherents and seize the
government by force or fraud whenever an
opportunity was presented?