New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-01-16
4 GREAT CRISIS IN FRANCE.

| first Cabinet crisis Of his Administration Is also
4 Presidential crisis. Day before yesterday the
Ministry resigned Yesterday. with scarcely IN
| effort to secure another Ministry. the President
resigned He followed, it is true, the example
! of all his predecessors save one. Yet not one
of them went out with so little apparent cause
or after so brief term of service. Inc news
last night was at first received. in Paris as well
as elsewhere with ncredulity. then win con
sernation. Ii is a mild expression 10 say 'h''
the general feeling is to-day one OF profou q diS
appointment. mingled with Keen anxiety VI.
| Casmr- Percrs act is not merely dlSappoih'inS
TO those who expected So much from hlin IL Is
from every point Of view dcplorable II VIII !"
we'll if il do not prove To he disastrous.
Tho brief statement made 10y w. Casimir-
Perier of his reasons for thus suddenly resign
ing his great trust will give more satisfaction
10 his enemies than to his friends He rcgaris
the proceedings of Monday. the vote in The
Chamber Of Deputies and the fall of the Dupuy
Ministry as nothing hut secondary incidents oi
great struggle which has begun against Inc
whole existing order Of government in France
/ That view is probably correct. hut tha' Is inc
very reason why he should have retained and
not resigned the Presidency. He was elected I"
that office because Of the oncomns Of that struc
!
hulwark against those who would overthrow II.
He was looked upon as the "strong man the
man Of bulldog tenacity. the man of unwavcrlng
courapc and jndomitable will And yet the
instant he reaches the serious part "f the
work no WAS chosen To do he shrinks from II
and resigns his place. Why: Because dozen
years ago he was associated with Ministers
whose Integrity or the integrity Of whose adj
, ministration is now questioned. and he VIII
therefore be subjected TO suspicious and at
lacks from which. In the Presidency. he could
not defend himself That Is a pitlfu plea for
q "stronc man" 10 make. II will scarcely vindi-
cote his resignation from the charge Of being
virtually descriion-a moral Abandonment OF
trust.
Amid the doubt and uncertainty which now
enshroud the French Republic, two certain facts
appear: both baleful and menacng. One is cor
ruptjop: the other Socialism aiming ut rcvolu
ton Perhaps the former is the chief cause OF
the latter; certainly it gives II It's most effective
weapons The hidcOus disclosures Of Panama
were only one item: Tonquin was another: the
railroad scandals were third. The whole ca'a
logue is wellnigh endless. Speculation, yenahN
greed have run riot There are still good men
and true In France and in high places. But they
stand side bv side with knavcs whom. for pur
noses of policy" they are constrained to Try to
shield or whom. AT any rate. they have not had
the robust valor 10 prescribe and punish. mat
! fact is what gives the Socialists such an advan-
tage both in the Chamber and before the co'n-
try II makes their propaganda effective and
their attacks upon the Government destructive
And how far their propaganda has successfully
extended men hardly dare TO guess. II has
perrntatcd even the army, hitherto the ultimate
bulwark Of social order. To-day the Socialists
| hold the balance Of power in the Chamber. But
If this crisis should lead to a general election
and they should come into the new Chamber
with three times their present strength!
That is. after all. the pivotal consideration
Chaotic as the present is. order will doubtless
| for n time be restored. But In the near future
| there threatens to come another chaos, which
| will not so readily be resolved. In day or
| two the Chambers will proceed 10 Versailles and
choose a new President according 10 consttu-
tional forms Whom they will choose does not
much matter II may be NJ. Brsson. the Rad
zeal whose election TO the Presidency Of the
| Chamber Of Deputies the other day was the be
ginning Of the end Of VI. Casimir-Pericrs Ad-
| ministration. He has long been candidate: he
IS a man Of virtues equally austerc and Ostenta-
tious: and ne has about as few friends as any
public man Of high rank. He must be elected
President. If at all. by Republican votes; yet
the votes Of the most advanced and anti-repub-
lean Socialists put him in his present place. II
may be NJ Chalcmc Lacour. President Of the
Senate: once almost Communist. now almost
n Conservative; also a man Of ability and char
acter, but past the prime OF life 1t may be VI.
bourgeois. or NJ. Faure. or any one Of half
dozen others. Any one Of them would make
good enough President: but would be powerless
10 redeem the Government and the nation from
the curse OF Intrigue and corruption which now
affiicts II. VI. Carnot strove in vain to do go
NJ Casmir-Perier fees in despair from the task
Who else Is likely to succeed. until the climax
comes and powers greater than mere politicians
assume control?
For the present. as we have said. things will
probably 60 on as they have been going There
Is slight fear Of revolution. The saving feature
OF the situation Is the absence Of any man on
horseback" The hour may have come, but not
the man. Bourbon restoration, with the pres
ent Pretcnder for King. is not TO bc dreamed
Of Where Paris failed Orleans will not Sic
coed. For year of revived Napoleon
ism has deluged France. But there is no Bona
parte 10 ride 10 empire on its crest The Napo-
leonic legend lives: the Napoleonic dynasty is
worse than dead. Nor Is there any new man
TO seize the opportunity. not even the pinchbeck
Boulanger. And since the Socialists are yet a
small minority the Republic seems secure Yet
1t is Il security based Oh the weakness Of its
foes rather than upon the strength Of its friends
Six months ago the Republicans had the fairest
Of prospects. They had large aud for the first