Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1893-01-30

\
county assembly, composed of the depu.
ties for the county, with several coupty
officers, like commissioners and iudyss
and of delegates specially elected for ths
purpose in the several communes or town.
ships. This process, IL Is needless to ssy.
produces a class of men somewhat superI.
or, on the average, to those forming the
| lower house. Ia fact both the process and
Its results are similar to what they are IN.
der our own system. The senate, how.
ever, lie In no sense privileged body, nor
does 1t represent the classes sgsinst the
masses. 1t Is really the creation of the
people, for If these do not vote for Ii di
rectly, they do have q vote in constituting
the county assemblies out of which IN
| springs, and thus the entire system, Just
like our own, is judiciously balanced and
at the same time thoroughly representa-
tive.
Against the three hundred senator's the
chamber of deputies opposes q member
ship of Ave hundred and eIghty-four.
But the senators have the advantage in
length of term, for they hold their seats
for nine years, while the deputies are elect.
ed for only four. In 1875. when the new
constitution went into effect, seventy of
the senators were elected for life. The
chamber of deputies had the selection of
understanding was that as vacancies oc-
curred they would be filled by the senate
Itself. But this arrangement the nation
has since sbrogsted. France has no use
for life senators, and we are glad of 1t.
She still has a few of these left, but they
are dying off steadily, and the species will
soon be extinct. A third of the senate Is
subject to renewal at the end of every
three years. Consequently the senate is
never an entirely new body, and in view
of the fact that the other house is subject
to complete renewal, with the chance of
sweeping changes, at the end of every
qusdrenniuu, this Is emphatically wise
arrangement.
The powers enjoyed by the two cham
bers are equal in ordiuary matters, but in
the raising of supplies or the changing of
taxation In any way, the initiative rests
very properly with the direct representa-
tives of the people. By custom, too, II
hss come 10 pass that the chamber of dep
uties Is the body to which the cabinet de-
fers. An adverse vote in the senate is not
noticed, but such action on the par. of abe
other house Is sure TO be followed by min
istsrial designations. In tie annual sti-
pend allowed them. senators and depaties
are on the came footing. Each man re-
crives from the state eighteen hundred
dollars year, a sum which bears no com
parison with the salary paid to members
ot Congress in the United States, but
which is at least an Improvement on the
English system. for there nothing is paid.
Those who like to dwell upon the good
side OF things tell us that this payment of
nine thousand francs year brings a seat
in the national council within reach, pc
cGnIsTily speaking, of the poorest citizen,
but those who see the bad side as well ss
the good think the psy wretchedly insde-
Quste, and attribute TO this fact the Gus
cep;ibility of French deputies to such Sc
ductions as are held ont to them now and
again by the promoters of questionable
financial schemes.
For the transaction of its business the
French Congress diTidss itself mp at the
beginning of each month into q number
of groups. This division Is msde by lot.
In the senate there a.e nine groups, in the
chamber Of deputies eleven. Whsteyer
may be laid up0n the table is fret consid-
ersd in committees of the whole BIZ these
various groups, esch group then appoint
Ing a certain number, who mest after-
wards with representatives. from the other
groups, to consider the subject as q special
COMMITTEES; the report of this special com
mittee coming finally for acceptance or re-
jection before the chamber itself To be
valid every measure must be carried by q
majority Of all the members-not simply
by a majority of those present and voting.
In taking a vote, the usual method, IL the
subject Is too important to be disposed of
by a show OF hands, Ia to cast ballots.
The papers used are white and blue, the
former meaning for and the latter egainst
Each ballot is indOrsed with the name of
the deputy or senator casting IL, and when
the question to be decided IS of great mo-
ment. the ballots, instead Of bsing gath
cred up by telIe!s, are Deposited with i'm
posing formGlity in front of the Tribune.
One feature of the French legislative
system strikes us as being very peculiar.
We should think, however, that IL wonld
be decidedly @ nvsnient, snd we wonder.
now We come TO think of it, that the same
feature hiss not received formal raccgni-
tion in such countries as England and the
United States. We read an article recent
ly which describes in blood cnrdling Ian.
gusge the awful Nightmares suffered by an
English NJ. i, in consequence OF the prom
ises he had made when asking his constit.
uency to elec. him. Doubtless onr Amer
lean statesmen suffer occasionally from
the came cause But in France they man
age things differently. Members of the
French chambers formally absolye them
selves from such promises. engagements
made while his election ir1pendsd are de.
clsred to be null and old when the depu-
ty or senator takes his seat, the theory be.
ing that he Is no longer accountable TO his
constituency, but is sclely to be guided
by his conscience. This msaus that he
may not only go back on his promise to
individuals, but may abrogats with egusl
impunity the allegiance he may have pro-
feased towards any particular principles;
liberty, by the way, which is some
times abused. and which, unfortunately,
haGf1au fT,rIfwry
coats, prevents the development on French
soil Of what is to-day the greatest need of
the French republic, viz. q strong, well
disciplined party pledged to defend IL
against enemies and traitors.
The only occasions when the senate
and house of deputies meet IN Joint ses-
sion are when, in the magnificent Palace
OF Versailles, they take the constitution
under review, or are convoked for the
equally grave purpose of electing a pres
ident. For its regular work the senate
meets in the Palsce de Luxembourg, and
the chamber in the Pala.s Bourbon.
| Both places are eminently historic, and
/ the events in which they have figured
! suggest in striking manner the check
/ erEd career of the French -stion. The
Palias de Luxembourg was built for Ms-
! ris de Medici, but received additional
I touches both from Napoleon l. and from
Louis Philippe. Before the Revolution Ii
! was occupied by the Count of Provence,
who became in lime Louis XVIII, and
in the days of the convention IL was q
state-prison. The Pnlzis Bourbon was
bails in 1722 for the d wager Duchess of
Bourbon. Afterwards ths Primes of Conde
lavished upon 1t four million dollars, and
in 1890 1t was declared national property,
Z being used at fret for the sittings of the
| Council of Five Hundred.
! Neither of these palaces has the look of
picturesque dignity for which the Houses
of Parliament in London are famous, and
the Capitol st Washington is beyond all
. comparison with them. But they are plen-
tifullE Eaoravi with statLary both On the
olssids and ,=itain, aud like all French
buildings which sntsds;e the revolutionary
era, they srs iG;-nsely interesting. When
one rem-mb-rs, ZOO, that the Palsis Bour-
bon hiss trice o~eu invaded by a mob, IL
serIn- 10: nj al inappropriate that 1t should
be the meeting place of that excitable and
very dlsoiderly body. the French chamber
of deputies. 81. T.
Fashion Writers and Fact.
1 cannot understand why the fashion