New-York tribune., 1881-09-03
PRICE FOUR CENTS
OPPOSING GAMBETTA.
THE CRISIS IN HIS CAREER-

Ne
oosLf HooTED OFF THE PLATFoRx-FAIse
STEPS BY THE oPPoRTUNIsT PARTY THAT Iyn
fo TIE DISASTROUS REsULT-ITs PROBABLE
EFFECT ON GAMBErTA's POLITICAL FUTURE.
fkon THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF ryrp rptar,xr
Paris Aug. 1s-The check of NJ Galnbetta a.
-s Io ana its probable consequences Gil the
newspapers and are the universal topic of conyersa
.on IN Paris, and doubtless also m tbe nrov;nces
ms check the Opportunst Journals attempt 10
uiihinsh, aud indeed explain away by following i'm
'he pain Gambetta himself entered on last Tuesday
nignt when he returned violence with V;olence
nisses with abuse. and ironicaI cries with prnss
mehaces. great public man-for Gambefta's pass
s'i.ices 10 The Republic and his oratorieal genius
entitle him to this distinction-never shorld de-
scend to so low a level O'ConneIl in bandv,n0 b,y,,
words and lavishing opprobrium on those who dis
agIeeu with hlm, always remained master of him
ser ana took care 10 keep the aughes on his side
MS abuse had spice of humor In il which 70
oeemed his coaIsenesS and made il human A man
whe Is funny, albeit when slanqlng his enemy.
aoeS not present spectacle of bestial rage Wit,
nulhor and fun are essentially human although
they may not be manifested with a hnrna,e in,~--
tion In the respect of these three qualities OCoo-
neil was when most outrageous the superior of
Oambetta the other night at Belleville
10 begin with, the position Of the Gambettists IA.
been since the decree for the elections has hsen
issued that Gambetta is above common law. tsst
ever 1t is, mast be accepted as law This theory
was put forward in a manner to outrage comr,oa
sense and Republican feeling which is very sfroa1
In Paris, by sycophant journalists in the prrsS
which has been speculating upon Gamhottas poijti-
cal fortune. Gambetta was spoken of as standiac
IN the same relation TO French democracy as ne
third person of the Trinity stands to the rest of ia
0odhead. This may appear exaggeration. H z
not clever and impudent young Hebrew II
Renapb WIN bv-fh h,-a
frankfort of Germano-Jewish parents. graveIF-
or with grave air-set forth in the RevubGss.
hr@"ca'se that Gambetta had natural ugat to ae
the spokesman, the leader and the master Of ths
French Nation. BE was the grand receptor
recepte) of the ideas and wishes OF the mu!tituie
and the artculate word of the desires and asr;ra-
uons of Notwithstanding Demos. The Voltaire rot
withstanding its claim TO Volta.ran good seuSe
was not ashamed to take up THIS right divine,
theory OF novel kind, which was finally sdopted
by the Parslan and all the other journals Of Cha
same kidney. Folly pushed to the extent OF as-
gesting that NJ Gambetta by virtue of his grsnd
" receptorship,' was 10 be excused from giving
pledges for the future TO his electors or explaining
TO them why il that he had not fulfilled certain
ones which had been entered into with peculiar
soemnity. 1t is unpleasant ordeal cerfaialy.
for public man TO bc questioned and nterToga1ed
at meetings 0y electors who may doubt his honesty
or capacity, or who may think he stands in need OF
little sharp criticism. But the ordeal is a nees-
sary and wholesome one, and no great poliaeAl
man is better able to sustain it than NJ. Gambs,ta
whose oratoEical readiness is marvellous.
TIE PRIMARY BLUNDER.
Instead of submitting to be cross-questionec sud
hacked little by universal suffrage at Belle,iile,
another idea suggested by bis pur5lnd friends wss
adopted by him. II was to go through the cosleSY
of accepting blank mandate offered TO him br ons
Metvier in the name of Belcvilie. OF course fssrs
a..1... IL
versal suffrage did not assurcdly authorize Il tn
submit the white document" TO Gambetta for his
acceptance Up to this point the electoral prospects,
of the great orator excellent at BellcvTYs
Clemenceau, who was far from wishing to ruiz er
even diminish Gambetta's influence but who aiz.ed
at obhging him TO place il at the service of Rsdi.
ealism, told me himself that Gambetta was sBre to
walk over The at Belleville. The psssoss
there had still great kindness for him. which
would warm up into something much sironger n
some frank explanations were vouchsafed and dis
tinctly Radical pledges accepted. In short Csm-
BETA was 10 return TO his starting point and u r
new the covenant. in ITS general clauses whIcA bs
entered into with French democracy at BelleyiIIe
in 1869. This covenant his young friena Reinach
ill-advised TO omit in his collection lun6er
the sanction of Che great orator. OF Gambe0sals
public speeches and manifestoes. Through Raas
and Spuler overtures had been made TO the Radical
or Clemencist party by Gambetta, which they ~sre
willing 10 accept. But the Tours speech which
had conservative bias. awakened a suspicion
that he only coquetting with them for electoral
purposes, and meant soon TO give them the slip.
The blank mandate brought things at once TO hesd
Tony Revillon and Sigismond Lacrox were started
candidates. Gamhetta was invited to attend q
public meeting and explain himself nc it, not in a
monologue but in reply to hostile speeches and qes
tions put 10 him. 1t had been announced by nis
friends that he was TO have addressed arass nses-
ing at Bcllevile in temporary edihce built to hold
ten thousand persons. When he found that Re-
villon and LacroiX intended so confront them. be-
tho giant orator. was persuaded by the pigra.cs
around him that il would be Undgniied t. acoops
being placed in defensive attitude. A statement
was then made Ia the Opportunist papers that CAM
betta's committee recoiled from the expense Of
baiiding temporary edfce large enough 10 hold q
multitude. This interpreted as a flight by
some aud by others an expedient for avoid
ing TO give the distinctly formulated pledges that
Clemenceau wanted The private meeting rrn-
dered Gambettas situation at Belleyille more deli
cate Very few electors OF the crcumscrip6on
were admitted TO il. The speech made at it was
vague. involved and anything but frank. Now
there is quality more highly valued in tins c0ln-
try than franl<ness, provided it is allied with pOts
civility. Discomfort visibly increased. Tony Ro-
villon, whose portrait gave you last week became
a favorite at Beleyille.
Another blunder of the Opp0rtunists was 70 pat
ronize young aud pushing Hebrew. Dr. Rahagny,
who has genius for finance Of the Chatham-st kind,
writes in financial journals financial articles des-
tined to rig the Bourse, and is hated at Beieville
hacauSa ba exacfa his f.pa v-hen he af Ia had