Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1906-02-07

for twenty years shown that they
mean to respect the laws of the coun-
try from which they are exilei Num-
borless opportunities for an opposite
line of conduct have been offered
them. There have been times when
the government was very much like a
vacant house, and yet the exiles have
rightly refused to take advantage of
such occasions. What, then, are we
to do. When shall we put an end to
this ostracism, and what, pray, is our
motive for maintaining it? Is their
exile to be perpetual? If not, what
must We do to bring it to an end?"
DO YOU mean to say that the
princes are prescribed merely because
of the names they bear?"
Precisely. And yet those unfortun-
ate gentlemen didn't choose their
names. Moreover, those names are
closely associated with the history OF
France ard are among the most glori-
Gus names the country can boast. Do
we ever think of prescribing men who
bear evil and detested names. names
that recall treason and high crimes
against the fatherland? Is it not true
that man bearing such name
rises to some brilliant post of author
ity?
You see the absurdity of the pres
ent situation. The exiled princes have
never done anything. directly or in
directly, to menace the established
powers. Their exile has lasted twenty
years, and no one has ever suggested
bringing it to a close. During this
period only one attempt has been
made to overthrow the government
not the republic, 1t is true. but the
present constitutional system and
those who maintain It, This was
done by Deroulede, whom l love with
all my heart for the Frenchman and
the patriot he is His exile lasted
five years and everyone, wPc her
friend or foe admits that his punish
ment was excessive. The amnesty
was a profound relief for the public
conscience. repeat it; When will
the exile of these French citizens
come to an end? Must it indeed &c
eternal?
THE law of 1886 was law promul-
gated in anger and by way of retal"l-
ton for the preliminary disturbances
attending the elections of 1885 and for
the vexatious and ill-considered joy
displayed at that time by the monarch
lists; but since then We have all
grown older and we are 4 loag time
now from that unhappy event. We
can well afford TO forget about it.
Looking at the case perfectly calmly,
I am convinced that we can no longer
permit such draconian legislation to
remaln-a law for the general safety
which is bereft of all semblance of
sense"
Moreover. am profoundly con-
WINGED that the future of ou- country
demands that We put an end to those
old monarchial parties, who. so far
as I can see, have no longer any legiti-
mate place in public opinion. BY re-
calling the exiles We shall be able to
recast those parties on rational ba-
sis aud to reconcile good Frenchmen
TO the Republic I have introduced
my bill in order to persuade the gov
eminent to undertake such a move
ment and to show the government
how It can be brought to a successful
issue
But I could not forget that the
heads of the families who once ruled
France are regarded with suspicion
whether rightly or wrongly by the
republican party, and that their re-
turn to France must seem to certain
individuals a menace to public safety
My bill does not at once rehabilitate
these princes as ordinary citizens of
the republic, any more than it restores
them TO their former rank. For a
time. which I hope viii be short, II
put the heads of the once royal fami-
lies in the same position as that now
enjoyed by other members of those
families. But the power to expel them
from the country, which I leave to
the government, is limited to a single
condition, namely, "if those princes
seek to change the republican form of
French Institutions The government
viii therefore remain fully armed
against any possible aggression on
their part
"The doors of France will again be
thrown open to the princes. but their
return to France will be a tacit aimis-
sion of their acceptance of these condi-
ton. And those who remained nobly
attached to these princes because of
their misfortunes and because it is
dishonorable to abandon ones friends
under such circumstances, will have
at least the satisfaction of having
done for them all that is humanity
possible
For my own part, l have no Mes
sianic conception of the part the
princes are destined to play The
French princes are citizens, like every
body else, and it is simply on this
ground that I insist they should no
longer remain outlaws"
But will the interested princes ac
cept these conditions and submit to
this threat of possible exile?"
why should they not accept our
conditions? The objections they rails