, 1876-01-01
The FRENCH PRESS LAWS
From the SPECTATOR

English opinion on CC6uCu AlSSS LAWS AZ
rendered ~poWerless In France by q failure 10
understand one Of the conditions of the pro-
blem, viz, the opinion Of ruling Frenchmen as
TO the influence of their Press. All English
statesmen hold, though occasionally with serl-
GUS reserves, that the influence OF a Free
Press is, on the whole, favourable to good
government; that it's ~ill-efect on those VINO
govern, who are, for example, rendered umiu
by ~incessant and irresponsible criticism Is
compensated by its good effect on the govern
ed, who are enabled, by reading an attractiVe
form of political literature and an lntelllglDie
record Of events, to form reasonable opinions
Men are easier to govern on our system, Wheh
thew are not dependent on Members for all know
ledge of facts and all discussions on principles.
All French statesmen, on the other hand, includ-
ing NJ, THEIRS, or even M. Gambetta as much
as NJ, Buffet or NJ. ROuher, hold that a Free
Press is essentially a solvent, and not a con-
s~truotive power, which may act slowly or rapid
" according to circumstances, but Wnlch al
ways in the long-run dissOlves governments
and which in France, owing to local clroum-
stances, acts with unusual rapidity and force.
The Press there has o lever, the Army OF the
Revolution as it is called,-that ls, the CROWD
of enthusiasts, dreamers, proletalres, ana roughS
in the great cities-Which it can use as an army
to overthrow, by actual descents into tae street.
Governments WQlCu udN0 OhIO ~ 1919
in the hands of men who possess in the highest
degree the art of making governments seem to
fail, who WELD the weapons of ridlcule ana
l~nvective as they were never welded since
Attica was conquered, who can make NE
intolerable to great administrators, and render
the intellectual or moral acceptance OF go0d
governments impossible. They can, if left I'M
6ttered, strike Ministers, however good or
great, as Aristophanes struck Socrates ana
with the same result, q loss of esteem "hlcn
makes a sentence to the hemlOck easy TO pro-
cure. Governments, and above all tree gov"
ernments, must consist OF personages' ana no
parsonage in France, if attacked by Edmond
About, Henri Rochefort, and Paul de Cassag-
mao all at once and all set free, can retain
respect enough to be efficient. And it is the
interest of these men to use their weapons
with their utmost force. Owing partly to the
nature of the French people, who are, though
not essentially frivolous, essentially suspicious
and depreciatory, partly to the concentration
of French life in Paris, and partly to the
GREAT Importance of Municipalities, there exists
in France no road to reputation so swift and
sure as the writing Of crushing leaders. "A
penman once recognised as high IN his art IS d
power whom the strongest Sovereign or Minis
ter will court. Moreover, whenever France IS
free the quickest road to o portfolio is not the
Tribune. or the Prefecture, or the Army, but
the journal; and the journalists of to-day, if
they can but overthrow their rivals, are the
Ministers Of tomorrow. The result is that
svery government, no matter what, is the butts
of men who can make it so ridiculous, that on
the first onslaught, which these same men can
also order, there is no one to defend it. 1t IS
pAfalysed by a well.fOunded or untounded
intellectual contempt. It is not this or that
government which is threatened by a free
Press, but g pment itself, which under such
attacks becomes impossible. Even, again, If
this evil should be cured, say, by the American
system of fixed terms of Office-a most difficult
law to maintain in a country with a capital
government tends always to fall more and
more to mediocrities. The best men In
France will not bear this treatment. The
circumstances and prepossessions and ideas
which give English Statesmen fortitude under
Press attacks are wholly wanting in France.
French Statesmen can rely neither on their
birth, nor their wealth, nor their services,
but must looh for distinction to their
Charaoters-using that word in its widest and
best sense, as including popular appreciation
of their special intellectual as we'll as moral
gifts-and will not endure the Capitalization"
of those characters by ~inoessant and. ~irresisti-
bly, clever attack. They would as soon be
bludgeoned as criticised without reserve. They
will rather retire from public life as the best
Americans do, and leave the work of the State
to men who seek Office for pay, or to the men
-sL a~ko 4o1I,ona1, 81