The Portland daily press., 1897-05-25
MR. EUSTlS' IDEAS
OF French System Of Government
and Arbitration.
INTERVIEW WITH LATE AMBAS-
SADOR TO FRANCE.

NOT Fefsonai LiDerUy-Has Nothing in
Common With American System-As
Tor Arbitration 1t is Sentimental
Farce.
Paris, May 24-The retiring United
States Ambassador Mr.. James B. Eustis,
drove to the Elysee palace today and pre-
sented his letter Of recall to President
Faure. After the ceremony Mr.. Eustis
granted an interview to representative
of the Associated Press and gave the
latter, in an interesting way, his impress
sions of France, expressed his admiration
of the French people and gave his opinion
of the rejected arbitration treaty. Mr.
Eustis said:
"My four years residence in France has
afforded me very favorable opportunity
of studying French institutions and it has
been most interesting study, as it has en-
abled me to contrast the working of re
| publican government in France and con-
stitutional government in the United
| States. There are strong points Of dis
similarity. They are called sister Repub-
| lies but as to fundamental principles,
they are not very closely related. In
our constitution, personal rights, personal
| liberty and the freedom of the citizen
from the arbitrary interference of the gov
ernment are specifically protected. Here,
these constitutional guarantees are Iln-
known, nor are all the other rights, which
are secured on the citizen accused of
crime under our system, known to the
French constitution, such as the right to
1atI 4I,lArr Of h, Ionc ~
many others. The French constitution
is based upon the idea of political liberty
ours upon the idea of personal liberty
''In advocacy of personal liberty,
France has never produced single great
man, the fact being that no matter how
ardent Republican Frenchman may
be and how great may have been his de-
votion to the political rights of the peo-
pie he does not seem to be able to form
the slightest conception of what are
known in England and the United States
as the fundamental rights of personal
liberty. They made a revolution to de-
stroy one Bastile but they have many to-
day upon the republican soil of France
owing to their system of arbitrary ar
rests, retentions, and perquisitions,
which exist only under the most auto
cratic form of government
. Ihe fact is that every Juge D'instruc-
/ Etion is invested with a power to oppress
innocent citizens, SO that he may become
a petty tyrant, depriving them of their
liberty for an indefinite period, denying
to them access to any member of their
family and the aid and advice of counsel
To an American such a system would
render his life intolerable. 1t could be
wiped out of existence in one day, but
no one seems to consider it sufficiently
important to protect the personal liberty
Of the citizens. 1t is very extraordinary
that when the French adopt their present
constitution ours had been in successful
operation for over IS years and yet they
did not borrow a single idea or copy a
single provision of our constitution which
an English statesman has pronounced
to be the greatest work Of human reason.
This only illustrates what is observable
with regards. to other matters-how in
tensely French everything is in France.
1.-THE French certainly deserve a great
deal of credit for having maintained their
republic in the face of such adverse cir
| cumstances but they present strange
anomoly of self governing people, being
| fond of the constant and unremitting
| interference of the government in their
personal affairs and their personal rela-
tions and being supremely Indifferent to
| the rights of personal liberty.
"The ignorance of public men in
France with regard to the working of our
constitutional government has often
amazed me.
GAS regards the French people, my
residence in Paris has increased my
admiration for them. [ consider them a
most marvellous people as regards their
intelligence, their thrift, their habits OF
sobriety, their wonderful resources and
| their devotion to political liberty, and
| if, as we do, they would allow their free
| institutions to develop instead of
dwaring the individual, their national
power would be much greater than it is
now"
GAS you were for years a member of