The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-03-08
DEFEAT FOR
 GOVERNMENT Rouvier and His Cabinet
 Resign. COMES AT CRITICAL TIME Peace or War Hangs in the Balance
 at AlgeciraS. Chamber Votes Against the Ministers on Comparatively Minor Matter Regarding Enforcement of
 the Church Law.

l clear sky in Rouvier ministry was de- feated in the Chamber of Deputies to- night and immediately resigned. The cabinet crisis comes at mast dramatic
 moment when the Franco German con- | test has reached q decisive stage and may exert an important adverse in- fiuence on the Algeciras conference l and no European affairs The defeat of the government came oIi a comparatively minor debate over the church disorders. The govern ! ment succeeded in holding only 234 votes while the various elements in opposition, clericals, socialists and ! nationalists, united and boiled PCT votes. thus placing the ministry in the minority of B.
 Premier Rouvier with all of his col leagues proceeded to the foreign 1 officers where q joint letter of resigna- 1 tion was prepared. Later M. Rouvler presented this letter to President Fall l Heres, who accepted the resignation The president announced his inten- | tion of consulting the presidents of the senate and chamber # deputies tomor- 1 row relative to the formation of a | new cabinet.
 The debate in the chamber of deputies was upon the bloody riot yesterday during the taking of an in ventory of a church In the village of
 
 | manifestant.
 Assai the Government. Various orators severely criticized | .he governments course, asserting thar | it threatened to precipitate a religious warfare.
 Premier Rouvler responded 'The l government has the duty to apply the law. It will apply 1t without weakness l but also with all prudence, tact and wisdom consistent with public tram quility,
 T ask the adoption of resolutions approving these decisions of the gov ernment'
 | The resolution was thereupon put to | vote and defeated. The result was due to a combination of opposition influ- | ences. The vote is more expressive of | personal antagonism to the ministry than of opposition to church, invento- | ries
 Having returned from presenting to President Fallieres the resignation of
 the minister. NJ. Rouvier was surround l ed in the Hobbies Of the chamber of | deputies by groups of members who | expressed their regret at his abandon | ment of office MT. Rouvier displayed not the slightest emotion. Replying
 to one of his followers he remarked: | T regard 1t as a point of honor to fulfill the task I had undertaken. The l
 burden. the weight of which had be- gun to make itself felt. | T do not regret it" Better tO End II. Responding to the declaration of an | other deputy that he might have car
 ried opinion with him, Mir Rouvier said: T should have received $50 votes
 had I declared for more vigorous ac- tion; but the sentiment in the chamber
 was against the cabnet's remaining in office until the election and the strug- gle would have been again tomorrow. It was better to finish immediately" The meeting of the members of the cabinet in the foreign office lasted half an hour. After exchanging views with reference to church inventories it was decided to suspend operations in that regard until a new cabinet has been appointed. The decision resulted from a disparity of the opinions expressed in the chamber of deputies relative to the method of carrying out the law providing for the separation of church and state.
 Had the Chamber voted motion of confidence in the Government, the Cabinet would have been compelled to continue to apply the law. but the downfall of the ministry having clearly occurred through disapproval of the methods hitherto adopted, which on
 
 violent. and, on the other side, as too
 indulgent, M. Rouvier and his col leagues thought it better to discontinue the enforcement of the law. The pro- mitigation Of the regulations, however, will occur in the ordinary course as specific dates therefor are laid down in the bill.
 Prior to the Cabinet crisis the Franco German controversy over Mo roccan control seemed to be in the balance with the inclination strongly. toward an agreement All depended upon Berlins last word. If this was a frank concession of Franco Spanish police without impossible conditions, then agreement was assured; but if the concession involved further conditions, France, whose pride was already much aroused, was prepared to reject it. The Foreign Office today stated tho situa- ton as follows:
 Status nt AIGeciras.
 The reported German concession has not been communicated to us and we are. therefore, unable definitely to state what action may be taken there upon. One thing, howver, can be stated with absolute positiveness. namely, if the German concession on the police question is conditioned upon interna- tional supervision, 1t will not be ac- cepted."
 This statement preceded the cabinet crisis. After the event no one was able to indicate the course of the Gov ernment.
 In the Hobbies of tho Chamber of Deputies the question became the subject of lively discussion. Much cu- riosity was expressed concerning the effect M. Rouvier's retirement will produce. Before NJ Rouvier had made known his Intention of Tesigning, how ever, he remarked 10 ono of his parlia- mentary supporters. Regarding Algc- ciras, I nope to leave my successor a better situation than that which I found"
 It is generally believed that NJ. Rou- vler, until his successor Is appointed will continue to carry on the same policy he has hitherto adopted, which has received the approval of the Chem Der of Deputies on several occasions The instructions already given to M Rouvoil remain valid as if Is thought tvt ffonu1 pnItfipz ohpu1d mi 4ha e,ay-