The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-08

that the enforcement Of the law provld-
ing for the separation Of Church and
State would cost the Ministerialists a
good many rural constituencies there
proves TO have been so little foundation
that they actually gained q seat in
Brittany.
It Is clear, then, that the somewhat
surprising extent OF the Ministerialist
victory should be ascribed 10 two causes:
first, the thorough approval with which
the great middle class beheld the vigor
ultimately evinced in the maintenance
Of order by Minister Of the Interior
CLEMENoEAU; and, secondly, the indifer-
ence with which most Of the peasants
have listened to the appeals Of the Cler-
icals. Evidently the French agricul-
turists are satisfied with the existing
republican regime and have n mind
to upset 1t for the sake OF restoring the
Concordat. We deem it probable that
If the inference drawn from the first days
voting Is confirmed by the second bal
loting on May 20 Pope Plus x, who
hitherto has withheld a pronouncement
on the subject, will advise French Cath
olics to make the best that they can OF
the Separation law.
1t looks as il NJ. CLEMENcEAU would
possess in the next Chamber Of Deputies
as much influence as GAMBETTA ever
exercised. There Is this point OF re-
semblance between the careers OF the
two men, that both long preferred to
make and unmake Ministries rather than
to head them. When GAMBETTA was at
last prevailed upon to form a Cabinet it
proved short lived, although it was at
first regarded as comprising "all the
talents" 1t was perhaps a lively recol-
lection of the fate of lie Grand Minis
tere" which impelled NJ. C~LEMENcEAU
to make NJ. SARRIEN the figurehead OF
the present Government and reserve
for himself the post Of Minister Of the
Interior, who as designator Of the pre-
fects and sub-prefects and as the con-
troller Of the police Is a factor of super
lative weight in the internal politics Of
France.
From an international point Of view
the continued ascendenoy Of M. CLEMEN-
cEAU means a devoted adherence to the
existing cordial understanding bet een
France and Great Britain. Since GUIZoT
there has never been among French
statesmen a more ardent admirer Of the
English than is the present Minister Of
the Interior. He has been disposed, on
the other hand, to eye askanoe the ALI
ance between the French Republic and
the Russian Autocrat, but he has recog-
nized the incongruous combination as
indispensable to his country's safety.
and naturally he will feel more SYM
pathy for the Car NICHOLAS II. II the
%latter's promise to give his subjects rep
r%esentative institutions is faithfully can
ried out. We scarcely need recall the
fact that Americans have a warm friend
in C~LEMENCEAU, who married one of our
countrywomen and who for some time
lived and practised medicine in the
United States.
As for the bloc, its three elements,
namely, Parliamentary-Socialists, Radi-
cal-Socialists and Radicals, seem to have
been welded together more firmly than
ever, and the plan conceived by NJ.
DoUMER Of detaching the Radicals and
forming of them with the aid Of the
Moderates a new and distinctly indi-
vidualistio majority will have to be
postponed if not renowned.