New-York tribune., 1902-04-06
PARIS.
HOST OF CANDIDATES FOR THE GEN
FRAL ELECTION.
SOCIALISM LACKS STRONG LEADER
TROUBLE OVER AUTOMOBILE RACE
NEW TREASURES OF LOUVRE.

NEW TREASURES OF LOUVRE.
Copyright; 1902: BY The Tribune Association.)
Especial 10 The Tribune by French Cablel
Paris ApriI 5-The ninth general election
since the downfall Of the empire in 1870 will
take place on Sunday April 27. Never before
have political parties been so numerous; never
before have there been so many candidates. The
French law requires that before candidates can
address their constituents either by word of
mouth or by the aid Of the printer they must
make declarations of their political faith at the
Town Hall. The catalogue is already beWilder-
ing In Paris alone the candidates represent
twenty-five distinct parties, the leading ones
being the Nationalist Conservative. Plehisci-
tary Royalist. Fonapartist Republic. Liberal
collectivfst. Progressive Radical. Radical So
cialst and five different stripes of socialists
Then there are specialized parties, such as Anti
Semtes and anarchists Of varied hues. In
Vulnerable variations are rung by joining to-
eether two styles with hyphen. such as Pleb-
iscitary- -Revolutionists or Freethinking-A -Anar-
chsss. Paris counts already 149 candidates.
The number Of declarations Of political faith in
the departments exceeds one thousand
The streets and buildings OF Paris yesterday
1.ere covered with electioneering posters and
guttersnipes of every Imaginable color and
combination Of color Blue, green, red, yellow,
violet ana orange placaTQS larry OazZle lIe
eyes The NationaIists opened the ball with tri-
colored posters OF red white and blue, which is
an infringement of the law prohibiting the use
of the French flag or the French national col
ors for electioneering or advertising purposes,
and makes the offender liable to fines Of 90
francs or S10 for every poster. The salient
feature Of the great campaign so far is that
the Socialists, who made such gains at the last
general elections four years ago that they man.
aged on several occasions to hold the balance
of power in Parliament. and who are represent
ed by a minister in the Cabinet, have split into
three parties: first, the Socialists whom NJ.
-Jaures presided over at the recent congress al
Tours who demand an elective judiciary. the
suppression Of the Senate and the revival Of the
single house like the revolutionary convention:
second. the yellow Socialists, who disclaim all
political issues not directly bearing on the work
ingman's state insurance scheme and eight
hours labor; third. the extreme Socialists. or
Social Anarchists whose platform: is to destroy
the existing state Of things.
Henri Rochefort is carrying meretricious
Irritation with this third category Of socialists,
very numerous especially in the large cities
Paris, Lyons and Marseilles-but at present
harmless because very fortunately France just
now has no strong anarchist personality. such.
for instance cropped up in the United States
III
Illinois. who, according to the opinion expressed
by NJ waldeck- Rousseau. ''incarnated nearly all
the forces that initiate against civilization
The split among the socialists reduces the
issue to a struggle between the two great rival
Republican parties. The Progressive Republi-
cans are under the adroit leadership OF NJ. Me-
line, whose most influential organ is the Jour
nal des Debats." whose battle cry is neither
revolution nor reaction. who denounce collectiv-
ism and whose success would be a victory for a
highly protective tariff The Meline Republi-
cans are attacking tooth and nail in Paris and
throughout the country the defensive Republi-
cans now in power. and who. under the power
ful Lead Of NJ. waldeck- Rousseau and their
organ. the Temps" constitute vast but
somewhat heterogeneous party, combining with
dash OF Gambette-like opportunism freedom
in religious faith with FLIP OF collectivism in
social economy and a liberal tariff based on
reciprocity.
The library Of the late Philippe Gille. Par
isian journalist and a member Of the Institute
which will be sold al auction at the end Of April
includes eighty-fve caricature drawings by the
late Puvis de Chavannes These are the only
caricatures the French master OF decorative
painting ever made.
There was a fashionable attendance yesterday
at the opening Of the picture show in aid of the
Beers. Among the well known painters who
contributed work TO the show are Bouguereau
Carolus Duran. Henner Carriere. Roll. ST. Paul
Laurens, Jules Lefebvre. Gerome and Jules
Breton; the sculptors Paul Dubois Berrias and
Bartholdi, and two American painters, Alex
ander Harrison and Humphreys Johnston
The masked ball 20 be given on April II un-
der the auspices OF Gerome TO provide funds for