French Elections.
The Times, 1824-03-23T00:00:00

- R~e eteptions.Ate terpTinated, and yoiu know the result;- you ltovc tlha withidi few exepins, th dpties whd are about to mieet oti, theilldihst.,. -to, represent. the;Ftdrich. nalltion,:are only .the.sorry-.re,: Initins6of'de Euuigrants and- Chouans. You are likewtise inftrniLdof te ~?incipatl mneasn employe LA to-repare-the vesult 'which- the 1i-~ pj?ter has obtained. -I'isa flomer-letter, I endeavoured to'elpIain to Y0u ho~ the 0116kI tqp ftidhtiOf this couintr iS eiislavtdb'oven sniiaent4 otall lends,fsluiildojittv',nliayo Ice wiho-ut haying any' means of defence in any instituto o everyusndividiral may be linitixtiectedly attacked in his fo rtune, hiis' persddri,is reputation, ot' hfs family - h6w, in short, the MitiiistErs' car., bY the intrusmentnlicy.of their agents, bestow thte qi;ijit;of elector on those who have no sight to it, or-talce it away 'from -thoe .who amee justly invested with it. Those who are acquaint]ed wmith the vicPs Of our 12aw, and die conscience oDf the Mlinisters, have for a long tiimc foreseen what bas* htipehiid ;' buit they scarcely eorcpted that tratid and violehiee would have bee;Wcartied to thec extient vvbith has lately been ivitneased.. Mnistiria effro~iiiey has dlisplayed it. self with a self-abandonmoent which* had -not hithterto aiiy eot- ansl; The irovetniig' faction, still intoxicated withi its success in Spain. papiri tO hiave (licuglii that hypocrisy was, not any 16oger becoming in the conquerors. If the elections whiich htavejust ended were to hiave no other result but tochrinfer filtie do.sorniepre c4L -and 'to deptive other-, of it.~-to assure or to endanger the official existence of this or that MiDister-J Should not give myself the trouble of writing you one more wvordton the sujc;for it is of little consequence to the world whetber Cunlt 1jhabrol (thie Prefae of P?aris) vverns a department or vege- tates on 'his estate in the country-.1wheher N. de ChatetiUbtiand' give,s diplomnatic. dinners, or scribhle4 bad books; but it would eviricer a sfiort-sigbted 'view s o imagine that facts imhportant to one great nation can.-be without any importance to others.-I Political events are now so linked together, that. the rnodiflcn-- tiQO of a lawv is. one country is often sufhititnt to compro., mise the existence of great interestij, in othier naios o.to overturit the fiortunes of indi+iduals who-had no immpediate initerest in she maintenatnce of that law. When, fosr.years ago, Ftance wsas apisated by the Question of changing tli6 electoral: law,.English ca- pitalists, might say wvith some a-upearance of reason " Of what conseu,enc i i to us that the French chiange their law -of leiobs? ouir persons and oulr firoperty are accuse from any attack of the Fzench mainistry." Yxet, follow the'coiirse jof events, and you wil see the connej-ion of British commercial hiterests and those French electoral .discussions. The law is changed:- this changeproduices a bad ehamber--that chamber produces a- bad- ministry-that mi'nistry bring about the Spanish war-the Spanoish war ends in thle establishment of a despouic -government in Spain-- and that goyernment creates-a baih kruptcy, which shakes thr fortunes. Of thle very persons who exelainied "4Of what importance iia Prenchi law to us ?" If it be true, as aphilosopberex-pressts it,that the presesit time iiv big- with the future, let us endeav6ur to ankticipate the pro-' geny. for it will certainly be p'olific. Some rinse before thieelections, thie Ministets; wbo knew the state of publi pno;*n the discontent whichi the Spaniishi-war -had occasiondweeari of finding that they wouild he dleprivea of their majoriy o h interval that pas-sed between their triuniiph overl the indpnnc of Spain) anid that of the electoral colleges, gavethe pol iet recover fromi their astonishment. The fear ofthe MIniSters was increased by the iudocilityr of the Ultras, wyho IoUdIV-proclaimed their projects, and would noit be prevailed upon to observe anrymoderation. To presenttshe consequience,s witliout an election favourable to libeTty',theMfiniisters conferred on theirinitinmer. able agents the Most unlimitied powers, under promises tb approve of ervery thing whiich they should do for the triumph of their cause. The presidlent's of thei electoral colleges had received orders to dissolve the assemblies.if.the preliminary ope,rations announced a re-sutcn 'trary, to tile system of the Goveminent. AS this Ministers by their own aiuthority can fix the place of the elections they had chosen in seine departments the places miost distant fronti de Centre, even those whiere thte electors could inot finti the accomnmodation of a lodigimig. Ini virtue of orderstransmitted to their fiscal.judiciary,and military agents, Promises and inetiaces were publicly lavished 'in all parts of France on men who had a right to participate in the elections, or vwho could in any way influence them. I have fornierly alluded to the Circuhars of some of the Magistratsi, who threatened to place beyond the protection of the laws all those who sliould vote against die ministerial candidates. The prefects went farther ; they threat- ened ruin to refractory electors. The following are the ternis whichl Count Floirac, prefect of h'Aisnie, esaploys in a circular addressed t' Iiis department:-." The lot of the arrondiss:ement, that of the chlief town, is in your hanils. From the part whiich You take willJ result your safety or your sdestruction. To myake a chioice ofF'ensiv'e to hiis AMaicasty, is to renounce f',r ceve dhe favor of a paternal but just Government, wrhich is nceccessrily setreu'J e it is out raged. Public functionaries of all ranks-7og who watch more Particularly over the interests of Your country-direct your fel- low-citizens, enlighten tlhem in the danigers whiich menace them at this decisive crisis. Their saefty. that of your children, your own, depends upon the reslution- whichtyou are about to-take." In read-I logsaucdiproclamations, there are fewcitizeas who were not con,vinced that such menaces might with inpunity be accomplished. They did not, however, produce the dtesired effi'ect. A great nuniber of electors paid no attention to them ; ancl it is by other meaiis that the Mini's- ters have succeedled in the elections. Wihat took place at Paris, will give you an idea of what was practised in the departments. The electors of Paris, being about 10,000, are dividedl into eighit Sections, and it was the M1inisters whio distributed the electors among those Sections as they thought proper. Then, to obtain the majority, in all the sections except one, a-nd to free at the same tinie from a'll surveillatnce the burcaux appointed to collect the votes, the miuisters assembled in the same section all the electors whion they kcnow to. possess a decidled opinion anti sufficient energy anti talents to defendI it. They calcuilated that in thius p-orifying the other sections, there would orchy remain mnen incapable eit'er ofresistdngthedtextero'us nia-. nagersoaftheburcaux, orofceming to acomiiion understandingon the object of their choice. To obtain thi.- latter result, they took especial care to confound the electors of die different quarters, anid so mix them as, much as possible, that thecy Might not he able to forn at ,n2tu41 acquaintance, or toplace reliAnce on one another. In the section whiere. the Ministers had asseembledI tie like oftlie electors (or in other wordls those'whio Could serve as a rallyinig point for therest), out of 485 votes, M. Lafitse, the opposition candidate, obtained 480. The five re- maining votes belonged to mnen whoni the ministers plaCed there oiily to watchi their constitutional opponents Accordinig to the laws of the country, those only are electors who pay to the amount of 300 franca in direct taxes; the bulletins, which asrs Written in presence of the memibers of the bureau, are held to be secret, and iso armedi force is to be admiittesi inito the place appropri- ated to dhe election. The Ministers have diminished the number of' electors who were adverse to them, by preventing men who pay the sum required by, the law from being inscribed on -ihe list of electors; they have increased the number of those favourable to them, by distributing electoral tickets to persons not legally entitled to vote ; they have rendered secrecv in blalotting impossible, by, introducing pohice agents into the Electoral Colleges ; finally, they have brought the electors blite the presence of an armned force, by sending disguis- ed gen.tar ders to exercise the righ~t of' election, and by placine armed gens d'armes behindi a curtain in the hall. Thus in every sec- tion of the Electoral College., the gundarnzerie. like Agrippina itn the Senate of Romne- --- 11 ~~Invisible et presente, Etait de ce grand corps l'ame toute puissante." Notwithistandinig the efforts of the Mtinistry to prevent the electors froin recognizing each other, by composing each section of citizens, taken from all the dlifferent quarters, many false electors were discovered,, and drive away with disgrace. Among the num-n ber of fictitious electors, there were, however, somne men, whio lay. ig more conicience than the Government ageuts stispected,appeared betbe th burau,and threw down thecir elettoral ticket, dteclring tha thy hd n riht to vote. rin the fourth college, for example a tradsmanusualy mployed by the President, publicily returned tie ticet hic hehadreceiv'ed from him, and signed a declaration of thefac, wichhasgratly scandalized the ministeTialista. In only oneseciontweve en &er exeled after acknoLwledging that they were not electors. Inohr;aets of the police were driven away. InI fine, as a momen whnteSuccess of the M inistry apopeared doubtful, twenty cekbloging to one department received elec- toral tickets, with tenmofhe ministerial Candidate printedI on them, and were sent so the section which was thiought to stand most in need of this einuforcemront. Thiese oseans, violent as they were, would not, perhaps, have been sufficient to secure a ministerial majority. A more effica- ciou-s practice was thierefore resorted to. S3everal tickets were griven to men devoted or sold to the Minisitry, and they were made to vote Over andl over again in different a-ssemblies. At the Hotel de Vile, for examiple, thiere, were three assemblies, and at the entrance to eachi o fcers were placedi to examine she tickets. A ministerial elector appears and shows his ticket,-" Monsieur, it ia forthe other assembly." He pulls out another,-"1 Monsieur, that is for the as- sembly below." He produices a third,-" Ah! ilMonsieur, that is for US." He enters, gives his yote, and then goes to vote it the two. othe asembles,andthaLt almiost publicly, aind without giving him- sel th trubl ofaimng as concealment. * Th serec ofthevoteit, which is requiired ky,law, and whiicls is thelat rfue o idependence, has been rendered nearly impossible wit repec toalost all the electors. Almost every elector, while wriinghi buletn,was overlookedl by the President'and by -a corn- misav o plie,orby -sonmcother Govermnent agent. The fofow - ing onvrsaion theautentcit of hic- Icanguarantee, took plac inone ollge :A sraner st dwn bsid anelector aLnd ad- desdhmth " prsm Ihaetehou of speaking to M.C ,the engier ~ am that person." "Yo arsme times emnployed by it'e Gvernment 'e - es, Sir, whien it suits the' Government.to employ me," " It niust have bean exoected by tihe Government, that you would have voted better."_.~Wh~, Sir, I think' I have voted very well. " "Oh, no, Sir, yoe have given your suif. frasn to the eneniles of the Governmnt.esas2' How do you know' thfat0,"__" I have it from the Preident (NI. Dupatv).`t 1' Then slit president 'his coibmitted a ffaud." " I know no o h Presidenit has leauned it, butt the fact is dc&talih; and if you do not wish to' be a marked man -iniyour arro,dLygenenuet voo..would 'do well to take care how you vote."_-~ I shall votema ~I please,but wno, are You who are Speakilog this way ?"-,.' I tim the~ lbice Con~missary of the Section." The frauds Committed by the Presidefifit in some sections have beemi so notorious and so sc-andalous, that they have dlisgusted the mnost moderate meh. In the fifth vrrotidisse-ment college, the inlem- -berti of' the bsireau, wrhose boisineiss it is'to Wdlect the'votes'econ- i6inkly with the presidn 'officer, liave felt it to be their duty to makse.a public protest agains t temn. In the docum-ent which th=ey have published theysay,-"We have -considered it ourduty to prove, and to make known by the present mimntc, offences- committed bv the Vice-Pi'esidnnt-1. Agaibst the freedom of electi6ti; ', agaiust the purity of voting, and the formal tax of the constitutiofuafclar- ter, 3, against the rights of the bureaus."- .FRoom the preceding facts and a multitude of others of the same kind,.which 1 refran From Jetailing, it m;h't be suipposed that thc mimisterial candidates obtained great majorities. This, however, .vas, not the case: M. Saulot Baguenault had only six votes imoe than Af. Laffite, and-was-only elected by a majority-of one. It even in Paris, in the centre of a nameroousarid enligh eenc popu- -latibn, and in the midst of .li the means of publicity, the Aliiilstry lave not hesitated to resort to fraud afi'.iomlnce,'you' may.iknagine that they have not. observed greater delicacy with respect'to the tdepnrtmental elections. Without enteringiinto particular details on this subject, I sliall endeavour to make. vou acquainted .with the means they have emploved.-1,; Runberiof persoRs e'ntitled to vote were, under various pretexts, struck offtie e'ection hists.-22,Great Pumbers of unqualifed persons vwere placed-on the.lists.a-. Orders were given to deliver no passportsuntil-the lose of the elections, and the gendarnmes iteve dir'eetedt to arrest al4 persotns tramveDing. without- Uspors.F -The consequence was,-thatiu several departmet6ts, noh but ministerial elceorag were able to reach the assemblies.-.-4. The ehectoimricoje~ts wvere corivoked its dlaiutt villages, is'hese thd elec. sors could not expect to find lodginge during th'c pe-n0d 'of thc elec- in..5. Thte secrecy of vodang wasm~opemay viola ..6Alithis other means of influence ernplojed at Paris were resorted to.- I have informed you that the presidents- *ere dteectedl to dissot e the assemblies, if they fottd tbat they could not mianaBe them. This devarttrinch orhet "a e tc ker e im o d.n: a't little to*` temoie frern thec6thtre,abMd which containedrio inn. Thi* -did not ptivent t,h,entf 5rqaitiftgro tto e at p IitOi- plwc- The , puc~ec,, thoiught.that bydelayingRthebusiness lkewoud bligsesheop; position electors to return home. IIeaccordinglytrekihed..It was then 'fecesa,j' to wait iutil the piefect shottl&send 4nother. pr idetla t.o superintend the- ollege, which k.%s atlast. done. Theopposi'tion .c3ndidate, MX. de Cas.agnoles0^res f leted. but iu orderto gain this vktorI , it wa.a necessafy I.the elect s.to hee) th4et .nights. "snd&r tents in*te opeii fields. .Neierd.d pitbl ziopino ex- hibSt itself rnore energetica11ys but-neverdid power,' at; thesatie time play its part WIthtooreauda'ty:'- ,I 'Ve'not spokert ,t ou of The cia te *vich tihe phti4isters:of relgion' wre rnade to tal;e upion herse ?in,ts.businessi-"t thc mnandates of the bishsvsr-of thetblic prayersof the conduct of the priests, who waite on 'the co.v ' ektofrs and accorwpanied them from their homes to t heele rM co igne, tD the same aitaroer as they attend upori criminals at an execution; neither have Thnen- 'tined'the 'cases. of tlipse men. whom the gendaripes arreetee and de. tained in cuktody. from morming. till evening. bic&use their. sngiiece in the e!ections was stuspected. and who were ,set-at liberty when the buslines of xheday wai ended, only Eo be arrested next moming. .I should.niever be done were I to mtal,e you Itaifited with all the artifices, seductions. friuds, and acts of violence,, whicli were emn- plove on this ocasion. SOthitg reiO'r'ed'aiiis for *i' to tell vio, except that the King goeseveryday towaass*.that 0Mde 'ilV0Ie f as4,'OnTFridts add is preparing himself for- his Easter devotions; arfinalIj, t j;. Viscount d: Chateaubritaid is confessed this i`week ad. -that every Sstutday 1,e sins.the'itabines of thbrSslts twith the Abbe Payet - and MAttame Recamier. .- if .V~ ~1UT~i~1A ~ , A~d~Ij F, - , ;- . PI4r S, MAARc 17;: : .. .. .. -