Birmingham state herald., 1895-10-29
FALL OF RIBOT'S MINISTRY.
It Was Surprise to Every One, Even the Min istry ltseIf-They Will Resign
 Immediately

ment's course in regard to the Southern railway scandals.
 The government was defeated by vote l of BIO to. 211. After the averse vote the
 ministers filed out of the chamber to
 carry their resignations to President Faure at the Elysee. Great excitement | prevails in the city.
 1 Minister Dupuy Rouanets motion, which was adopted and caused the over | throw of the ministry, was as follows
 ''The chamber of deputies, considering l that it is proper to interdict its members | from taking part in the operations or l financial syndicates, is resolved to throw complete light on the affairs of the Soulh, | ern railway, and invites the minister or | justice to fulfill all of his responsibill- l ties"
 The ministry which has just gone out 1 of office was constituted January ~, lS9o, 1 ten days after the election of M. FenX 1 Faure as president of the repuollc. IL was constituted as follows: | President of the council and minister l of finance M Ribot; minister or the lnte- rior, M. Leygues; minister of forelgn al 1 fairs, M HanotauX minister or puolic 1 instruction and worship, M. Poincarre'- minister of justice M. Trarieux; minister | of the colonies, M. Chautemps; minister 1 of commerce, M Andrex Lebon, minister of agriculture, M. Geda; minister of ma | rine, Vice-Admiral Besnard; minister or
 war, General lamont; minister or pup,lc | works, M. Dupuy Du Temps. Like the preceding ministry of Dupuy, the Ribot l cabinet has been overthrown on rall- l way question.
 Some time since a magisterial investi- | gation was begun into the connection or certain French senators and deputies
 with the South of France railway syndl- | cate, due to an accusation made III the | chamber by M. Rouanet.
 M Rouanet declared that M. Edmond 1 Magnier, a senator from Var, and at-that | time chief editor of Evement, had re-
 ceived ST 800 francs as part of the proilts
 of the syndicate, which had been organ l ized by the late Baron M. de Reinach of | Panama canal notoriety. Later report
 was made by M. Flory, the official ac-
 countant, in the inquiry which supplied | overwhelming evidence against the mem | bers of the syndicate.
 l The railway in question is short one, | built with a few branches in two or three
 departments of southeastern France. 1 Corruption of officials and other Illegal | practices were resorted to to obtain the concessions for the road and its branches 1 and a guarantee of interest on the cap l ital, which was watered to an incredt-
 ble extent. The budgets of the depart
 ments were crippled for years to come
 to build and support the railway, which | passes through a region incapable of fur
 nishng a traffic of any character.
 The result of the inquiry was the ar
 rest of a number of politicians and dis
 honest contractors It appears from the | charges made by M. Rouanet in the l chamber of deputies today that there | was a disposition on the part of the gov
 ernment to shield those concerned in the | scandal with the exception of Senator l Magnier. However this may be, the fact
 remains that M. Magnier was indicted,
 but before he could be brought to trial he | disappeared. Subsequently, he returned | to and currpn1are6 himself tO the authorities. He was tried, convicted and | sentenced to one years Imprisonment
 and to pay fine of 100 francs.
 The excitement caused by the over | throw of the government was all the | more intense, as the defeat of the cab | inet was, practically speaking. totally | unexpected. The opinion expressed in the Gaulois that it was possible that the
 ministry would be driven out of office on l M. Rouanet's interpolation in no wise | voiced the general view, and in political | circles scarcely a doubt was entertained | that the government would be unsuccess- ful in securing from the chamber vote | of confidence. The result of the vote | came as a bolt from a blue sky even to
 many of those whose vote was averse to | the cabinet.
 In his speech on his interpolation M. | Rouanet reiterated his statement that the facts of the fraud had long been | known to a majority of the members of
 the chamber, but that they had main | tained an icy attitude when the sugges-
 tion was made that the real culprits be
 prosecuted. He concluded by demanding
 that M. Trarieux, minister of justice.
 should give the names of the real bene-
 fiters of the frauds and that the govern
 ment should resolutey prosecute the off, | lenders M. Rouanet was followed by
 other speakers for and against the inter-
 pellation and then M Trariaux ascended
 the tribune and made a brave defense
 of the government He scoffed at the | suggestion that the government was
 screening culprits and declared that the | late Baron DeReinach, who was badly
 mixed up in the Panama canal scandal,
 was the only person who had been ben
 efited by the frauds M. Trareux gave
 the names of the members of the rail-
 way syndicate and the number of shares
 held by them. He concluded by appeal
 ing to the chamber to cast sensible vote
 on the interpolation.
 The centricts warmly applauded M.
 Trarieux on the conclusion of his speech
 and all seemed as though the debate had
 ended in favor of the cabinet. but M.
 Jourdan, a republican member, inter-
 vened and in satirical speech rebuked
 the ministry for playing cruel comedy. M. Charles Pellettan radical repubi-
 can, then emphasized the judicial para
 dox of acquitting Martin and condemning | Magnier. He insisted that documents
 had been eliminated from the briefs at 1 the trial of the first named and that the | government had connived at the elimina- l ton.
 M Trarieux again stated that it was ! impossible for the government to prose-
 cute men who had not incurred penal re- | sponsibilities.
 M Ribot, the prime minister then of l fered to accept the order of the day. pur8 | and simple, but the offer was rejected. | The vote on the interpolation was then | taken with the result above stated.
 Shortly after the withdrawal of the | ministers for the purpose of rendering | their resignations to President Faure the | chamber adjourned until November A. l The resignation of the cabinet was | formally handed to the president at the | palace of the Elysee this evening. It Is | expected that theanext cabinet will con- | sist of the ourgeois-Peytral combina- | tion.