Year: 1878

THE REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT IN


FRANoE-wHAT IT HAS ACcoMPI1sHED-1T


APPARENT SECURITY.


Especial Correspondence Of THE PHGN1x.l


PARIS, Oct 18th, 1878.


There seems to be no doubt that the Sena-
torial elections in France have resulted in
decided success for the Republican party. It
is not of much importance whether the ma
jority which they viii therefore command in
the Second Chamber be fifteen or fifty. The
precise figures may furnish interesting mat
ter for dsputation in Paris, but here the fact
that the supporters of the present form of
government in France have now fair work
ing ma jority in both Chambers, is enough in
itself 1t means that we have one more proof
that the Republic has been accepted by the
French people, and needs no longer wage
desperate and distractng struggle against its
enemies for bare existence. The factions and
the dynasties that opposed it have been beat
en- all along the line their forces are routed,
and their coalitions shattered. The Repub-
lic then, at last finds herself placed above
and beyond parties, n yeritable national gov
ernment, in full enjoyment of the loyal de-
votion of great free people. When the his
tory of our time comes to be written, not the
least interesting chapter in it will probably
be that which deals with the various attempts
that have been made to found Republican in
stitutions in France. The story is, no doubt
for the most part, one of disaster and wasted
endeavor aud l need not pause to explain
why the leaders of the French people have so
F,tl pF fl,,fr toll
But now in this present year the record sud
denly assumes much more favorable COM
pleXion. No longer do we hear laments that
the republic in France has not had fair
chance of working, or that, ere it has had
time to be erected on n stable base, its enc
mics have sapped and mined its foundations.
1t has at last apparently taken root i'll the
soil, and there are no indications at present
that its foes, even when they strive their
hardest, are able to check its further growth.
That the Republic has entered on promis-
ing career is indicated by the fact that peo-
pie seem now beginning to regard it really as
a defnitive settlement of the problem of gov
ernment. When NJ. Theirs was overthrown,
and replaced by the brave and honest soldier
who now prosides over the commonwealth,
most people in France, nevertheless regard
ed the Republic as a mere make-shift. In
the opinion of many it was good enough to
live under until the dyuastios could arrange
which of them would do the nation the honor
of becoming It's master. Marshal Mach cMahon,
we are told only held the reins of power for
the Prince Imperial, for the Comte de Cham
bord, or for some scion of the House of Or
leans. He was, so it was thought, supported
because at any moment he could be displaced
without great trouble, and even he himself.
by some of his acts ard language, gave color
to the impression that he was not the chief
magistrate of the State, so much as the trus-
tee for one of its monarchial factions.


The contrast between that period and the
present is remarkable. SO convinced was
Marshal Mcmahon and his friends that their
Government had in it no element of perma-
nence, that they would not at first even use
the term Republic" in their official utter
ances. Indeed, it may be that in settling the
constitution which they regarded as only
temporary affair, the ROyalists and Imperial
lists were little careless in scrutinizing the
machinery by which they proposed to work
it. Had they pleased, they might have man
aged matters that the Representative
Chambers could never have contained a COM
pact Republican majority But as in their
view the Republic could not possibly last
more than few years. there was no need to
waste time and temper in trying to weaken
that which had in it no natural strength.
However, as time went on the Republic per
sisted in going on also, and the longer it liv-
ed the stronger did its vitality become. In
France, as history has shown, any govern
ment will sooner or later command the adj
herence of the nation as well as their mere
acquiescence, which is more easily secured if
it can only contrive to exist for few years,
and if, during that time, the people are toll
eraby comfortable and prosperous. This is
what the Republic has done yet it is not all,
since there are really solid grounds for be-
lieving that the present form of government
is not merely popular for the time being as
so many previous regimes have been, but is
based on something like a secure foundation.
For to France the Republic must ever appear
associated with the marvellous movement of
regeneration and recuperaton that set in af-
ter the disasters of the last war. Under its
auspices, France ransomed her territory from
foreign occupation in an incredibly short
space of time, suppressed the commune, held
in check the factions that had betrayed and
plundered her, reorganized her institutions,
attracted the admiration of the world by the
patient industry and untiring perseverance
she displayed in recovering the high place
from which she had fallen in Europe, and,
last but not least, in year when the nations
were "snarling at each others heels" inaugur-
ated festival of peace, where she was able
TO demonstrate that even under kingless re-
gime she was still without rival in the cul-
tivation of the arts that humanize and beau
tify the life of man. No one can henceforth
sneer at the Third Republic as government
of gentlemen of the pavement" 1t has
been trusted to guide the destinies of France
at a crisis when she was supposed to be ''ef-
faced from the map of Europe" The posi-
ton the country occupies now, rich when
many of her imperial neighbors are poor, at
profound peace when they are shaken by an
ticipatons of war, free, orderly, and content
| ed, when they have to crush liberty in sheer
dread Of the starving masses, and sacrifice
their constitutions SO that their institutions
may be saved from the social peril"-that
| proud position won under the Republic
proves that it has at least been faithful thus
far to its trust and worthy of the confidence
reposed in it by the people In full view of
all these facts we need not wonder if French
men ask themselves why they should change
that which works so well; why throw over a
regime under which liberty and property are
| protected, and under which Frenchmen some
how feel that they are their own masters.
! This sentiment has, no doubt, materially in
fuenced the Senatorial elections. Was it ne
cessary TO send back so many Republicans to
make the Republic safe? "Then," said the
majority of Frenchmen, ''let us vote for Re
| nublicon candidntes " Tins fine latest MITCH