The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-05-24
a natss In Frnnce..A Fresfch Ed1tor's
- q ksrfn.r nS tim AftuatkOn.

view or tho sftuation.
,a, FIR the PHILADELPHIA Balletln from 'le
" " Courier dcs Etats-Unis.J
The tenor OF the message shows AZ HE .,s
sight q strange confusion In the ideas o. Inc
President Of the Republic as to his rign.s
and his duties. NJ. MacMahon declares
that he adhered to the Constitution In choos.
;ny the Cabinet OF NJ. Jules Simon from tne
majority OF the Chamber; but does ne re-
main faithful to the Constitution IN as
missing it because he could not 40 Vlo-
lence to that majority? Els conscience
does not permit him to lend himsen
to the triumph Of Radical IDEAS. ou.
where dees he see any triumph ", y,
Radical ideas9 In the condemnation VI
the Ultramontane manGurres Whicn as.s wv.
the country and compromise il IN 1ts ierelgn
relations, In vote which RENTS TO the Jury
the Judgment Of certain offences, ana IN an
other vote making public the Deliberations q, >
of the municipal councils. These are tne
only recent measures that appear 10 nave :,
dictated his determination. finatly, IL nau
been said that he had manifested an inten-
ton OF suppressing the Uitramontane i !.
trigues, and it IS against the press tna' NC
directs his threats.
It is impossible to conceive OF docu-
ment more feeble and incoherent IN circunl.
stances SO grave. Evidently the president
is off his hinges, and has not even a con-
seriousness of the dismal role he IS playing.
He no longer belongs to himself, ana is 5
blindly yielding to the, elements conlurea
up to destroy him in destroying the Repue.
lie. He has virtually abdicated IN favor OF
the al-powerful cd1nGTlHa when nad naae !.
of the Elysee a State within a State. AT
Vcrsailes the Prime Minister was called
Jnles Simon at the Elysee it was de Brogle.
Jules Simon was the playthlng OF MacMa,
hon, and MacMahon was the playthlng or
rio RrorIie. The latter had his hand on the
helm and was watching for the moment
when he would have to tack about.
THE moment has come. Next autumn
there are to be elections for the mu-
nicipal and general councils, which are to
unite in filing the vacancy of one third OF
the Senate. On the third OF the Senate to
be chosen will depend the majority OF that
body which is to unite in revision OF the
Constitution. Should this majority be Re
publican the Constitution will be modified
only in the sense Of affirming the Republic;
should it be monarchical, there will be a
chance Of overturning the Republic. The
present coup de main has no other mean
ING. To take the elections OF the councils
away from the Republican ministry and have
them under the auspices OF monarchlst
ministry-that is what is meant, In this
business the new ministers are old experts.
They know how to work with projects,
with ina,risitoral attorneys, with municipal
committees, with. instlgating agents, and
with hired agitators. They know how to
muZzle the independent press, to inspire
the venal press, to brighten the simple
minded, to encourage the ambitious, to
abuse people of good faith, and how, from
the paralysis of business and the suffering
of private interests, to bring out rejection
in the name of moral order and public
safety. We are about to see all this again,
and the religious questions, skilfully handled
with this object for some years, will play
Il great part in the execution of the plot,
as they have had Il great part in, its pre-
paration. The Catholic movement has
been above all political movement. The
hands that have guided it are the same
that are at the head of the anti-republi-
can movement. Ultramontanism has made
NJ. de Broglie's game, and It's recent in
trigucs opened the way for the Prime Min
lister OF the Elysee. The double conspiracy
has been cleYerly managed. 1t t1iumphs
now, and If the revolution accomplished by
the Government cannot properly be called
Il coup GEtdt, it is because there are in the
Constitution, patched up for good or i'll and
wrcsted vote by vote from the opposing par
ties, certain clauses which permit its over
throw without violating the letter of the law.
The Right has passed a resolution de-
claring that President MacNIahon has not
gone beyond the exercise Of his constitu-
tional rights. This is true. Article I'd OF
the Law on the Relations of the Public
Powers says: 1.-THE President may ad-
iourn the Chambers. In all cases the adj
journment cannot exceed the term OF one
month nor take place in one session."
NJ. MacDIahon has then only used the power
conferred by the Constitution in proroguing
the Chamber for one month. He will still
be in the right in dissolving it, as appears
In Article 5th Of the Law for the Organiza-
ton of the Public Powers. which says
"The President OF the Republic may, with
the consent of the Senate, dissolve the
Chamber Of Deputies before the expiration
Of its term" The same article adds: "ln
this case, the electoral colleges are to be
conroked for new elections ut the end OF
three months" ..-.s.
So u. MacManon Is within the letter OF
the law. and he will still be so when, with
the consent OF the Senate, he Shall declare
the dissolution of the Chamber and the con-
vocation of the electors after new delay of
three months. This month Of propagation
and these three months OF interval Will
bring the new elections to the middle OF the
month of September, so that the municipal
and departmental elections will escape from
all parliamentary control. God knows what
will be done to arrange them in this inter
val by the Ministry resulting from this legal
coup d'Etat SO OPPORTUNITY executed.
The constitutional responsibility OF Mar
shall BIacAIahon is thus screened; as to his
moral responsibility, that is another thing.
He was right in saying to NJ. jules Simon
that he was responsible before France, If
not before the Parliament. "The Presi-
dent of the Republic" says Article 6 OF the
Law on the Public Powers, sis not respon-
sible before the Chambers except in case Of
high treason" But there is nothing said
Of cases where he is responsible before the
country! Now the country will demand an
account Of an abuse of power eXorbitant
and unheard Of in. the annals Of repre-
sentative Government. It will demand
account OF the virtual dismissal of a
abandoned by the majority, but by being
laltnlul U tnat uaJoIuy. IL VIII Holu nun
to account for. having, in the midst of an
alarming disturbance in Europe, given
cause for the distrust Of friendly nation
and a pretext for the determinations of a
hostile nation. It will, in fine, hold him to
account for having deserted the flag of the
Republic, trusted to his honor, and gone
over, with arms and munitions, to the ranks
of a sworn enemy, to the destruction of the
institutions he was sworn to defend.
The NEWS FROM FRANCE IN DIPLOMATIC