New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-08-13
THE FRENCH ELECTIONS.
THE ppORARJE EFFECT OF SIAM ON THE
CONTEST-THE REPUBLIC AND LIE
ENEMIES OF THE REPUBLIC.
London, August !

M
H. bos., The Ministerial notion seems 10 DC
,h., ,be elections may be summed up III inc worn
.i,r What an estimate of the chara:'er VI
Ii oou,trvmen The French nation Is 10 Ut
won over by display of all the "ors' l"''i'''
~ bor rulers. their unscrupulousness 'heir Iap'0
i.v their con;cmpt for justice ana lor 'i,c iis"
If other nations and for the opinion OIL .No 0.'il
;zcd world | should he slow to accept 'l''u 'io"
I, is the view of the BouleVardS, not VI
,, -, that can be said is that the rest OF
rrapce is silent partner in this conspiracy against
rublic right and international morality
/. !. only inst 10 France to draw this distlhc-
zion. the distinction between active ana passive
ipouity One might describe 1t as wal, Vi
in.ellccnce rather than of honesty DIAM Is
lonc way of Maps of Asia are not common III
tho hints of the French peasantry, nor po'N' vi
.otoronco nor even the newspapers of the day.
and large proportion Of the oiuer Pcas"n''S
oor,d mo, read them if they were. If they read,
they read such papers as the rc'ic 'ou'm".,
which is pure anglophobc, or the fetl'
,,arsoill.is which is pure Red. Sometimes the
sreccb of a Minister is placarded throughout the
Co,,muncs of France NJ. Develle's on Siam may
have bccp. though he would have been more
nrudent 70 suppress it, For it is in that Speech IL
anvwhere that YOU must look, do not say lor
.hc Justification of French conduct TO siam, Out
for tbe official pretexts. Justification there is
none and even the supply of preteXts Is meaerc'
The Foreign Minister, having resolved on poir9
of sheer brigandage, wisely takes refuge III
generalities
IF There are other means of knowledge they are
40. oono,ol and not accessible TO the majority OF
voters. The voters will be told that Siam ''u
;rsnltod France violated French interests, OUT
,acad French citizens-twO French citizens anu
has been properly chastised ffehch i'''O'
could not he content with less Hohor nus V'''
been a convenient cloak for the DONG OIL us
bono,,blo thing And the blood red cross OF ST.
George has been waved in the lace oil 1he rIen'"
os If they were so many wild cattle who were to
be infurated 1t is not the English VINO wave ~.
Tbcv have kept their banners tight furled amid
all this commotion. But when, in these days.
Frenchman begins to sec red it is English red
which he sees almost as much as if he were an
Irishman or an Irsh-American. And he VIII DE
e<nectcd TO see red during the coming cleo
Iions and 10 vote accordingly. The Ministry
onobt not TO bear the chief blame of this anti
ENGLISH crusade NJ Develle has said little against
ENGLAND The criticism upon him and his col
LEAGUES is that, knowing the falsity OF the COM
pIaints in the press against England, he ana they
have taken no steps to make the truth khowh'
Probably he thought case against EhgIaou an
even better electoneerng cry than case against
Siam For the hatred against England is VIDE
spread
There is no more proHgate form of foreign policy
than that which connects itself with domestic eiec-
tons Those elections must turn ON something there
must be u cry a policy OF some sort nus - "c
prodnced: some reason or some preteXt presented
10 the elector as an inducement to vote 1or a
rather than for b; for the Government rather
L., = I'd 70 w
definite issue is presented to the electors of France
if Siam be not a definite issue. The form oil gov
eminent is not the issue nor even an issue NO
parry. no considerable party in France, goes 10
tho country saving " The Republic is q bad form
of government we invite you to overthrow III anu
20 replace it by a monarchy or by an empire
II may be doubted whether single candidate
expects to win seat in the next Chamber by such
a declaration as that. The Royalists are driven
to all sorts of shifts for q plausible programme
To attack and criticse the men who rule the he
public is easy enough. 1t is when the voter asks
But what and whom do Won propose to put IN
their place." that the monarchist begins to ma
the part he has to play difficult
The latest authoritative manifesto of the Royal
list party, published last winter, was one of the
most dishonest documents that ever saw the light.
It said in substance to the followers of the Comte
de Paris: We all know it is hopeless TO ask the
nation to give us a majority for King. Your
only way is to tell the electors that the Eepub-
licans are corrupt; and to ask them TO elect us
as honest men," And if they could get ma
FORTY on such plea, they would forthwith prove
their honesty by overthrowing the Republic, and
setting up monarchy on its ruins. Such Is the
Royaist conception Of honesty.
The Royalsts have in truth tried all means,
and all means have failed They have tried
spiracy, violence, intrigue, Boulanger, Panama,
and much else. Boulanger is dead and Bouang
ism is dead. If the Comte de Paris is not dead
it is only because he was never al"e. Panama
destroyed certain number Of Republicans, but
left the Republic unscathed, or almost
unscathed. The earir attempt TO bring
the young Due d'Orleans 10 the front
was complete failure Ii was said in Paris at
the time of hts escapade and his Imprisonment
that something might have come of his frolic
if he had been content TO take prison life seri-
ously and live on prison fare When he ordered in
his meals from q restaurant and his pals from
Dampierre and other fine places, his chance was
gone Nor is he, in truth, young man whom
IL ia possible TO take very seriously for the pur-
noses of public life. That very spirit Of adj
venture which so astonishcd people in one OF his
unadventurous family, and therefore attracted
them. famed up for a moment and went out
II he had any constancy Of purpose, it was rather
in love than in war. He has ceased to lie thought
Of IA a Pretender, nor was his father ever formid
able in that part or even plausible Prince Vic.
for Napoleon. now over thirty years old, is
climber Who else is there who can threaten the
Rcnublc in the name of an extinct dynasty?
who is there whose name can be mentioned to
the people of France And since there is no
body. from whom OF from what quarter is there
anv such danger to the Republic that Its exist
ence as a form of government can be said 10 dc
at issue in the elections on the goth OF August!
The begging letter which the Kcactiohafies nave
issvcd this week is of itself an answer to these
questions II tries TO be political manifesto and
Linn ,rhinn for Aims.