The record-union., 1897-06-07
PLACES FOR PRETENDERs.
A Plan to Divide the French Colonie:
Between Two Princes.

diversion a novel idea which has been
put forward by an ingenious French
man. Everybody knows that Frosine,
! the femme dintrigue'' in Moliere,
thought taht If she put it into her head
she could marry the Grand Turk to the
/ Republic of Venice. Up to the present
that idea has always been regarded as
| the hight of impossibility. 1t has been
reserved for M. Alfred Bobchon to
show that this is a mistake. This gem
| tleman, who describes himself as a bar
rister and newspaper editor. has
made a discovery by means of which
he says all party quarrels in France
will be brought to an end. He then
proceeds to explain it with an amount
of sincerity and conviction worthy of a
better cause. The combination he pro-
poses is original, if nothing else. 1t
consists in what he calls ''un contrat
d'union'' of the French Republic with
Prince Victor Bonaparte on the one
hand and the Due dOrleans on the 9TH
er In this double contract the Re-
public would continue to be the Gov
eminent of France, but it would di-
vide all its colonial possessions between
the two Princes, who are tired Of being
|
new empires would be founded.
! The first of these new empires, that
of the Emperor Victor Bonaparte,
would be composed of Algeria, Senegal,
Dahomey, the Soudan as far as Lake
| Tchad Cochin China, Cambodia, the
Lower Laos, and finally the colony Of
Obock. 1t would be called North Afri-
can France, and would have Algiers
for it's capital. The Emperor would
| have an army formed of the blacks
! and placed under the command of
French officers. The Arabs would sup
ply him with his cavalry. The second
| empire, that of the Emperor Philippe
dOrleans, would include Madagascar,
the Comore Islands, Reunion, Congo,
AMMAN, Tonkin, the Upper Laos, Tad
joura and Tunis The name given to
it would be Subequatorial African
France. The natives of Tonkin and
AMMAN would, perhaps, be surprised
to find themselves called Africans, but
yellow or black, they would have to
march under the command of the En-
peror Philippe, who for the moment
would be lodged in a palace at Tun1s.
with the Bey for major domo. Later on
a palace would be erected for him at
Antananarivo, where the Capital of his
empire would be fixed.
The question naturally rises, how is
it that M. Robichon, while he was di-
viding Africa, did not find little en-
| pire for the heirs of the NaundorffS,
| who still aspire to the throne of
France? An acre or two of land, with
crown attached TO it, would no doubt
ri1apaa fbpiy r,17at ciOpS for avprpnOre
AS regards Victor L and Philippe L.,
it would be necessary to know if they
would accept the allotments offered to
them. NJ Robichon thinks they would
be only too glad to do so, seeing that
there is not much chance at present of
either the Bonapartists or Monarchists
attaining power again.
| Such being the case, according to M.
Robichon, the essential thing to do, in
order to stifie party divisions in France,
/ is to create places for the pretenders
| who are the cause of them, and who
would thus prevent French colonies
from falling into the hands of the Triple
| Alliance, which is preparing to seize
them after another disastrous war. In
| passing under the scepters of the Or
| leanses and Bonapartes, who are on
good terms with the European courts,
the former at Vienna and the latter at
! Rome, and who are young and energetic,
and capable of organizing large armies
] of yellow, creole and black Soldiers-in
this way the colonies would remain Sc
cure 1t is true they would no longer be
| subject to the laws of the Republic, but
/ they would none the less continue to be
| French.
| M Robichon confesses that the two
young Emperors, in order to maintain
| their power and influence, would no
| doubt have to be as absolute as the ia
nous Emperor Soulouque was. But
that perhaps would not displease either
| themselves or their partisans. Once
settled down, they would each proceed
to bring over from France 10000 fami-
lies attached to their respective dynas-
/ ties. These would form the aristoc-
racy of the new empires. Transplanted
| in North Africa or under the zone of the
| tropics they would receive from their
| sovereigns large grants of land. The
| two empires would be founded on the
ancient feudal system, and long list
! of seignores would be created. Sene-
gal, for example, would become a coun-
| ty and Algeria a duchy. The black
/ Kings and Queens would have to pay
taxes for their titles and European sub
| jects would also be allowed to purchase
them. Both sovereigns would bear sew
eral titles. Thus, Philippe I. would be at
one and the same time Emperor of Sub
| equatorial African France, Duke of
Renion, King of Tonkin, King of Congo
and Ruler of Tunis.
| The enthusiastic NJ. Robichon ex-
claims: THE two Emperors, like the
dem- gods of ancient Greece, would
| build beautiful cities. Their sacred por
traits would occupy the place of honor
/ in the domestic circle and they would be
! the source of all the riches of their re-
| spective empires" Titles would be con-
| ferred on the blacks as we'll as the
| whites, and, to render the two races
stronger and more prosperous. mixed
marriages would be allowed. With these
advantages before them, NJ Robichon
has no doubt that thousands of poor but
honorable families would emigrate to
the new empires and place themselves
under their flags. But far higher OBJ
| ject would be attained-namely, the
conversion of the savages to Catholicism
| by the intervention of the Emperors,
who would receive the blessings of the
Pope and the clergy. Such is the idea of
M. Robichon in all its native simplicity.
| He forgets, however, to mention the pos
| sibility of the two new Emperors falling
out with each other and resorting to
arms to settle their differences; but
| that would be against his theory, as no.
| ticed above. Hence, no doubt, his ST.