New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-05-21
TIE CRISIS IN FRANCE.


TIE CRISIS IN FRANCE
Never before was the gradual and healthy
growth of a people in the art OF selI-goVerh-
mcnt so wantonly and violently disturbed az
now in France. Although the Republic, in the
first Mace. was the creation of accident, ana
its existence. for n time only rendered posi-
HE tbrough the reciprocal distrust of the OPP
nosinp elements, yet for six years 1t has
steadily gained in respect and power and the
nr,snoct of pcrnanence Extreme or unprac-
! tical views have been unlearned; the wisdom
that lies in concession and compromise has
been partially acquired; order has Deeh mann
! tanned everywhere; elections have at laso
begun TO represent intelligent opinion; ana the
recovery of the nation from its crushing dis
| asters has surprised the world. Certainly
| upder no other form of government could
! France have been more prosperous. III IL
always true policy to let well enough alone (;
but it is criminal to interfere with what Is
better than could be expected.
What then, is the secret Of a shock which
was so absolutely unheIaldcd by anything IN
the political stuation7 Why throw the ma
chine ont of gear when it is working most
smoothly? A Ministry in accord with the ma
| jority of the Chamber is simply condition OF
| the being of the former, in every form OF rep
resentative government which prescrlbes Its
responsibility. To deny this, is to assume that
/ the government is personal, and IT. head ne
! fdctO an absolute ruler. This Is just WHAT
! Marshal MacMah0n has proclaimed to France
! and the world, by an act which, although legai
according TO the letter, is subverslve OF the
! first principles of the system he has sworn to
| uphold. He is not a man of commanding, and
! therefore dangerous intellect. Tie people of
| France do not greatly care whether his
| iuclinations are Oreanist or Bonapartist,
but they expect him to represent the
Republic honestly and cOnscientlously dur
| ing the term of his "septennat." He is
of TOO conventional nature to have planned
! this blow alone. Moreover, now that 1t has
| fallen, we can clearly see that 1t was anucl-
pated by a few who were in the secret We
cannot resist the suspicion that it was less an
! Or. aniSt than an Utramontane device. we
remember how the wise and moderate course
of Minister Washington, in regard to the edu-
catiOnal interests of France, provoked an en-
nifty all the more bitter because the expression
of it was partially suppressed; we recall the
particulars of Count de Nuns rejection and
/
| growing impotence of the rcactionists of every
Sue with the gain of the honest republican
| clement in France,-and, uniting all these in
! hucnces we are directly led to the conclusion
! that MacMahon is the tool of a desperate
conspiracy to undo the work of the last six
| years.
! What will be the result The first impress
! sion is evidently stronger and more widely
] ,,4,. Il
| The soltenrd antagonisns will again become
sharp and fierce; the extremists will lift up
! their voices anew; the scaTce-acquired habit of
! foibeaIance aud concession will be lost and
the spcctcr of civil conflict, which seemed to
! have been so quietly ldId will hover in the
! background of every party movement for
! long while TO come. 1t is much more easy,
! especially in France, to evoke spirits than to
! Danish them The plot will be continued, and
! this mornings dispatches show that no time
! has been lost. 4 wholesale change of the
! projects is announced, many to be removed,
others to be transferred. There are steps to
| be taken beyond this. The Chamber after
! further struggles, will be dissolved, the cleo
tons tempered Within short every agency
employed which may provoke open resistance.
/ Either dat, or retreat from the position
! NacNahon has now assumed. 1t is not easy TO
see any possible middle course. The dreams
Of revenge upon Germany must be post
pouCd; the voice OF France III the councils
Of Europe must become an empty sound, rep
rcScnting no unity OF sentiment among her
people even that idea of ecclesiastical SUI
rrcmacy which chiefly insigated this measure
must be content with the hope of some later
! fulhlment France will have enough to do,
merely to preserve her own internal peace.
! With a rctributiOn rare in hstOry-fOr a
! thoroughly commonplace man like MacMahOn
seldom takes pains to make himself bhmder-
Theirs is already avenged a stubborn con-
tnuation of the policy now adopted can
not fail to bring on n revolution but even if
! it should be sufficiently modified to avoid that
catastrophe, whatever influence is responsible
! for it-Orleanist or UlTamOntane or both
cOmbncd-will lose, and dcservcdly lose, in
| the end far more than it seems to have gained
now. No reasoning can make the movement
seem TO the world other than political crime
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SOUTH CdEOLINTS BONDS.
We wish it were possible to congratulate