The morning call., 1891-01-14
A RELIC OF THE EMPIRE.

Baron Haussman has not filled much
space in the public eye of late years. His
career eliminated even before that of his
master. But under the empire he was a
conspicuous persona &c, one of the most con-
spicuous men Of the day. And though he is
dead now, the boulevard which bears his
name will keep it in memory for generations
to come.
1t has often been said that he was the
original of Zola's Eugene Rougon in the
Rougon- Macquard series But there were
as many differences as there were analogies
between the two men. Rougon was a Pro-
vencal Haussman was a Partisan born,
aud was bred a musician. At an early age
he dropped the fiddle for the wand Of Office.
He was veteran in political life when, in
middle age, he was appointed Project of the
Seine. 1t is not at all unlikely but that on
his entrance upon the duties Of that lofty
post he INDUCED the dreams which lola
depicts the hero of La Curee as cherishing,
when he looked from his garnet window
over the vast area of the metropolitan city,
ana figured that with proper address he
could make every roof pay him toll in golden
pieces.
The coup d'etat of 1851 taught Louis
Napoleon that his throne would never be
secure as long as Paris was intersected
by winding curved streets, which could
easily be barricaded. and in which the play
of cannon was limited. This Project in
augurated a general system of demolition
and reconstruction. 1t was a tremendous
enterprise, and there were millions in ii.
In quarters where the streets were narrow
and twisted he cut straight broad avenues,
and he established artillery and cavalry bar
racks at the end of each. The old ro0keries
in which revolutions had been planned, and
which were capable of being turned into
fortresses, he tore down. Culs de sacs and
passages were swept away and the path
cleared for the passage Of cavalry through
every part of Paris.
simultaneously, and in order to cloak his
real purpose, he undertook the construction
of the splendid edifices which have made
Paris the most beautiful city in the world.
He built the Grand Opera, the Hotel de
Vile, the Tribunal of Commerce; he COM
pleted the Louvre and the Palais de Jus
tice; he established new and eommodious
markets and spacious railroad depots. He
more than doubled the size of the city by
taking in the suburbs.
: OF course these works Of demolition and
reconstruction offered unparalleled oppor-
his intmates alone knew where the new
avenues were to run and what houses the
city would have 10 buy in order to cut
them. 1t generally turned that such houses
were owned by them or their friends, and
that the jury which appraised them were also
their friends. When the line of a new
street was agreed upon tall buildings were
rapidly rushed up in such situations that
the city would have to buy them, and to buy
them at price fixed by jury consisting of
friends OF the owners. In this way Hauss-
man and his confederates made vast for
tunes. They all became millionaires.
The city had to pay. Under Louis Phi
lippe the debt and the revenue of Paris were
quite small. Under the Presidency of Theirs
the debt was about $500, 600, 600. and it is now
not far from 1000, 100000 In 1889 the ordi-
nary public expenditure of the city was
$50, 100000, and the annual charge for inter-
est on the debt was S26, 300, 000-most of it
being in the shape of annuities. This in
wolves rate of taxation which is even
higher than American cities are used to. 1t
mas made Paris, instead of being the cheap
city TO live in which it was under Louis
fhllippe, one of the dearest cities in the
world. The Parsians have got the toy their
souls hankered for; but they have to nav
for It, Splendor and luxury are excellent
things to have; but in these days they come
pretty high, as those advocates of a general
extravaganza for San Francisco would find
if they had their way.
Baron Haussman was one Of the few sur
viving types of the corrupt imperial regime.
he was man of genius; an engineer of
ability, and man of exquisite taste in art.
He did for Paris what Augustus is said to
have done for Rome, and lie had the shrewd-
ness to keep his money when SO many
others were restoring it to the channels
from which it originally flowed.