Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1906-02-01

tion for the preliminary disturbances
attending the elections of 1886 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 loag tinin
now from that unhappy event. We
can we'll afford to forget about it.
Looking at the case perfectly calmly,
am convinced that We can no longer
permit such draconian legislation to
remain-a law for the general safety
which is bereft of all semblance of
sense"
Moreover, l am profoundly con-
WINGED that the future of ous country
demands that we put an end to those
old monarchial parties, who, so far
as l 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 and to reconcile good Frenchmen
to the Republic l 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 l 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 l hope will be short. it
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, eff those princes
seek to change the republican form Of
French Institutions The government
will 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 tacit admis-
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, / 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 &C
cept these conditions and submit to
this threat of possible eXile?'
why should they not accept our
conditions? The objections they rails
ed in 1886 to the bill naming exile as
a penalty under certain circumstances
are thoroughly unsound today, for the
situation is completely changed. In
1886 the possibility of exile was
step toward outlawing the princes,
today it is a step toward rescuing
them from outlawry. To employ a
phrase that has lately had its five
minutes of celebrity upon the lips of a
minister, We put the screws on in
1886; today we are taking them off.
ct believe, moreover that so far as
Prince Victor Napoleon is concerned,
there is no question at all He long
ago renowned all claim to the imperi.
al throne Last year he dissolved the
imperialist committees of the Seine
and recognized the republican form of
government. In its treatment OF him,
my bill simply sanctifes situation
which already obtains. Probably the
luke of Orleans will be glad to re-
turn.
"The question of recalling the
princes is up. both before the cham
her and before the country, and in
few months our real ruler, universal
suffrage. will be able to throw some
interesting light upon the point"