Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-04-07
THE EUROPEAN SITUATION.
The Republic weakening in France
Net0 York Sun.

The Republsc weakening In France
Eet0 York Sun.
For ten years past, ever since the
establishment of the republic, it has been
my fortune to visit Paris at intervals, and
to remain there sufficient length of time
to form some estimate of the political
changes in public sentiment which have
taken place during the periods of my
absence; but on no occasion since the
death of Monsieur Theirs have l observ-
ed so marked phase as that through
which popular feeling is now passing.
1t has stolen gradually upon the country,
so gradually, perhaps, that it must be
far less noticeable to a resident than to
visitor; and yet it has become a subject
of general remark.
When first the republic was established
it was a conviction with those CONVEX
SAINT with the French temperament that
popular government would prove itself
| impracticable in France, and that sooner
or later it must inevitably be superseded
by a more autocratic system. At first
the Orleanlsts were in the ascendant, and
the idea of a constitutional monarchy
under the Count de Paris sprang from
the unstable foundations upon which
the Republican fabric of M. Theirs had
been erected Then these hopes were
slowly dissipated, as the rank and file of
the Orleanist party proved themselves
incompetent politicians. and their leaders
too hesitating and timid to dare the first
act which should carry them to power.
During the reign of the Duke de Brog-
lie and the Conservative Republic. the
| famous Legitimist intrigue was formed
with the connivance of the Cabinet; and,
had the Count de ChambOrd been will
| ing then to waive his crochets and Adopt
the tricolor flag instead of the white
banner with the fleurs-de-lys and make
other trifling concessions, there cannot
be the slightest doubt that he might at
| that crisis have assembled the throne of
| his ancestors without firing a shot. The
| National Guard had been disarmed, and
the army was in the hands of a govern
ment sympathetic to such change; but
the golden moment was allowed to slip
| by, the Conservative regime became soon
afterward discredited through the inner
ent defects of the men who composed it,
| and the republic started with a new
lease of life, only, however, TO be threat
ened with a still greater peril.
Sufficient time had now elapsed for
the popular Indignation against the dy-
nasty which had involved France in the
disasters of the Franco Prussian war to
be partially exhausted. The Imperial
lists, daring, skillful and versed in politi-
cal intrigue, had not been idle, and, under
the able MANAGEMENT of the party wire
pullers, now were acquiring a fOrmida-
| BILE consolidation. The young Prince
fVnlFN oil 1,n aV,1 HI
character became known, increased in
popularity, and the hopes of the Bona
partists ran high, when they were most
Unexpectedly dashed to the ground by
the tragical death of the youth upon
whose life everything depended, in Zu-
luland.
Once more the Republicans heaved a
sigh of relief. One by one the rival po-
litical systems had disappeared, not so
much owing to the strength and conf
| dence which republican institutions i'm
parted to the popular mind, as to the
weakness and misfortunes of those by
whom they were opposed. Good for
tune so far had given the republic in
| creased vitality. Trade and commerce
had revived, and the absence of OppOsi-
| tiOn seemed to insure a certain stability
to the form Of government which it did
not inherently possess. but which men
were glad to credit it with.
The short experience it has already had
of the Government of Freycinet only
confirms the impression that a wellin
tended, weak, and facilitating Cabinet
fails TO satisfy the national craving for
force in the administration somewhere
and there is a growing sensation of NAL
disc and discomfort. People feel as if
they were in ship with no one at the
rudder. 1t is all very well so long as it
remains calm, but it is not the sort of
thing they desire fora permanency. They
wish to keep the name of Republic, but
they are more convinced than ever that
France cannot govern herself; and, now
that Gambetta is for the time effaced,
they are looking for the man to govern
her, and they are already beginning to
think that after all it will be better to
give him his programme, and let him reign
| as Dictator, provided he denies that he
is one, which he will be careful to do,
rather than go in the happy-go lucky way
which is implied by constantly recur-
ring succession of weak Cabinets of the
| Freycinet stamp.
Will Gambetta come back to power or
nOt2 is then the question of the hour
| That he carrot come back withouta dis
solution of the Chamber is certain, and
till that event occurs France will be rest
| less and uncomfortable. 1t is true there
are other alternatives. There is the pos
sibility of European war and a success
| ful General, in which case the prestige of
| Gambetta would pale before the glamour
of military glory, and the soldier of
fortune might make himself the founder
of a dynasty. Or there is a possibility
of the conservative politicians taking ad.
vantage of mOmentary discredit which,
in consequence of its present weakness,
now attaches to the name of Republic,
and preparing the way for the Count de
Paris, provided the Count de Chambord
would retire IN his favor. A number of
eventualities and combinations are pos
sible, but one fact is distinctly pred0mi-
nant, and that is that the hold of the
Republic is weakening upon the nation,
and must continue to weaken unless its
name can be identified with some one
man who is by nature despot.
Time and experience have rot proved
that those were wrong who predicted
that the French could not govern them
selves. 1t has happened that owing to
a remarkable run of luck, and the alb
sence of formidable opposition, the Re-
| public has existed, thanks to the pres
tige impaired to it by single man. but
its tenure as name even is very preca--
rious; while as a practical system based
upon decentralization, local self-govern-
ment, and true representative institu-
tons, it is, so far as the French nation
| is concerned a n1r1 ohimpra