Mar. 23, 18711 - -

T h e N a t i o n . 193 I

which protection from violence at the hands of their neighbors, cxcept on the demand of the local authorities, is not one. This may be a cruel arrangement, or an ill-judged one, or an unfortunate one, but it is what i t is, and it is found in most cases to ~ r o r k well. So donot let us imi- tate Gambetta and Rochefort and deny its existence, and endeavor to substitute for it a deduction from our own ideas of abstract fitness.

I f we once get into the habit of treating the Constitution as a mere expression of opinion, to be set aside whenever its observance seems in- convenient, we shall have substituted a Gallic Republic for an Amer- ican one-thc republic of Gambetta; and Louis Blanc, and Rochefort, and Phillips for the republic of Washington, and I-Iamilton, and Madi- son, and Marshall ; or, in other words, a dream for a good working ma- chine. As soon as we allow ideals to take the place of written agree- ments, we have sown the seeds of anarchy, because one mans ideal is as good as anothers, and we shall pass our lives as the French do-wit- nessing the struggles of one party to substitute its ideal for that of the other party ; one year we shall live under Phillipss, and cut off hcads in the name of ( humanity, and the next under Tweeds, and steal in the interest of ( liberty, and the year after, under Archbisllop BIcClos- keys, and vote taxes for the promotion of the true religion, and all go down on our knaes when the Host passes. Surely what is passing in France ought to 11-arn men of the danger of tampering with peoples pglitical habits and overthrowing their respect for thc forms of law.

Ia. there, then, no remedy for local disorder at the South ? If the State govermlent does not protect a man, can he look nowllcrc else for redress? We answer, t h l t if there be any value whatever in the theory on which American polity is based, the remedy of Southern dis- orders must come from the Southern people, through their experience of the folly and sufiering of disorder. If this be not true, the whole Ameri- can system is a mistake, and is destined ere long to perish. Our business is nonT to leave every Southern State to its own people, first, because this is the only practicable course, and, secondly, 1,ecanse it is the only wise one. If they are so demoralized that they go on robbing, and murdering, and l Kukluxing each other, we cannot interfere effectively, and had better not interfere a t all. T1:e American punishments for a State lvhich permits tllcsc things are two-impoverishment and emi- gration. If a man cannot have freedom, security, and light taxation in New York, let, him go to New Jersey ; if he cannot have them in South Carolina, let him go to Virginia ; if he cannot have them in either, let him go to Missouri. Those who stay behind, on seeing cap- ital and population steadily leaving their State, and their property declining in value, will .gradually mend their nyays. This may be a slow remedy, but it is a sure one. It goes to the root of the disorder, while under coercion from the outside no state of things can grow up, or ever has grown up, in which coercion ceases be necessary. Of course there is nothing in this theory to prevent the United States en- forcing the Federal Constitution and laws. This ought to be done, at

c o s t t h a t is, by officers, and not by bill and resolution. If i t be true that black men are kept from tllc polls by intimidation, we ought to see that going to the polls is made as safe as going to church ; but to pass bills providing for this, m-ithout voting the men or the money to execute them, is a wrctched mockery, of which the country and the blacks have had enough.

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THE RED RISING I N PARIS. TE folly-if that be not too mild a term-of the Government of

National Defence in not summoning a National Assembly as soon as possible after the disaster of Sedan and the overthrow of the Empire, is now fully apparent. Had they done so, the Assembly would either have made peace before the disorganization of French society and of the administrat,ive system had gone very far, or it would have become secure in its authority and used to its work by the time Paris surren- dered. Elected as it was when the struggle was just closing, and for the avowed pnrpose of making terms of peace, it not only excited the hostility of the Republicans, as a mere exponent of the cowardice of the Conservatives, but it entered on its duties just at the moment when the enemy was withdrawing his hand ; and the salutary restraint exerci%d by his presence on the dangerous classes thus lost before

the new Government had time to get a fair hold of the machinery of administration, and organize a force sufficient for its OTW protcction and the execution of its acts. This unhappy interval the Reds in Paris have promptly taken advantage of. They harc expelled the consti- tuted authorities from the city, seized the public offices, murdered some of the leading generals and llold the others in custody, ancl have armed the rabble, and, in short, begun a Reign of Terror which, be it long or short, will give a terrible blow to French industry, and greatly incrcasc the difficulty of recovering from the disasters of the war, ancl, what is worse than all, greatly diminish the chance of a firm and stable govern- ment. Readers of the .Nation will bear witness that me distinctly pointed out the probability of what is now occurring as long ago as last Scptember, when a great many good people here 11-crc going into ecstasies ovcr the establishment of the Frenc!~ republic; and the course of the Govcrnment during the succeccling six months only in- creased the chances of the explosion..

The body of persons known as The Reds, in Paris, is made up of two elements. One is the vast body of workmen dran-n from the provinces by the extensive public works set on foot by the Empire and by the extraordinary luxury mllicll the Empire fostered in the capital. These men are grossly ignorant on leaving their villages; and on enter- ing a city swarming with the wcalthy pleasure-seekers of the civilized world, who deny themselves nothing, and parade their profligacy, the ouvriers envy and dislike of the bourgeaisie, which are only too common in the country districts in France, become rapidly developed into abrutai communism, resting in the main on dislike of labor an& a foldness for sensual indulgence. There is nothing in the French peasants educa- tion, after he has got rid of his religious sentiment-as he does very rapidly after he reaches Paris-to prevent his thirsting savagely for a sllare in the good things of Parisian life, and making up his mind to get them by any means, fair or foul, whenever the chance ofTcrs.

The other element is a body of persons whom we have been in the habit of calling Sentimentalists in these columns, made ~ f p of labor re- formers, socialists, republicans, peace advocates, broken-down lmgers, newspaper writers, and military and unsuccessful adventurers of all types. They may be divided about equally into schemers and visionaries; but they all agree in being Sentimentalists-that is, in wishing to base le- gislation on their own ideas of abstract justice and truth, and in con- tempt for considerations of expediency, or for remoter results, or for habit or tradition. The sincere humanitarians among them are satis- ficd that if they can get hold of the government, and keep the trai- tors (political opponents) from meddling with them, they mill be able to put an end to poverty; and prostitution, and war, and to secure to all an equally good education, and an equal share of the products of labor. The adventurers are, of course, also strongly in favor of a gene- ral upturning, as they have nothing to lose, and can hnrclly help better- ing themselves during a period of confusion. Both together do their utmost to keep up the spirit of revolt not only against the government, but against the existing social organization, among the working-classes; and as they possess all the education there is in the Red ranks, when they begin their revolutionary movement they have the places on the comnlittees and other governing bodies by wllich it is directed. Curiously enough, although they are all frantic opponents of capital punishment when inflicted by a regular government, they always make a bloody use OfPpower, and the killing of people in cold blood a l w q s occupies a prominexit place among the means by which they endeavor to regenerate society. They are, too, nearly all peace men, and de- nounce standing armies bitterly ; but they invariably maintain, even at the peace conventions they hold in quiet times, that before the general and everlasting peace is established, there will have to be one grand war, of which they are to have the direction. A curious illustration df the strong mental resemblance which runs through them all in every clime, was afforded by the fact that, a few days ago, when the Paris Reds were perfecting their plans on the heights of Montmartre, the head of the school in this country, an anti-capital-punishment man, was gravely recommending in his newspaper the shooting of Southern mil- lionaires by drumhead court-martial as a remedy for Southern dis- orders.

The body is just now in a more favorable position for carrying out

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$ T h e / 299 is designs in Paris than it has ever been since the ,first Rkvolution. The bulk of the regular army is shut u p in foreign prisons; mhatthere was of it in Paris was disarmed by tlie Prussians; but, more important than all, the Reds are now all armed. The National Guard, under the restoration of the Orleans dynasty, was composed almost entirely of the shopkeepers or bourgeoisie ; under the Empire i t could hardly be said to exist; but during the siege the whole population of the city was embodied in it-thus giving the socialists wdapons and organiza- tion. The consciousness of the frightful danger to property and life within the city which this involved undoubtcdly did much to give . Trochns operations tile air of feebleness and indecision which charac- terized them, and accounted fo the petting of the National Guard in which he indulged. The Gu ak d did no fighting, and it was evident before the siege was ovcr could not be got to fight, but to keep it in good humor it mas highly colaplimcnted in general orders, to the dis- gust of the sailors and regulars, and was paid a franc and a-half a day per man, while its duties went v q y little bcyond guard-mounting on the ramparts. I t was the idleness, the pay, and the uniform which undoubtedly prevented the attempt to seize the Government being made on a greater scale during the siege, and one did not need the gift of prophecy to see that, peace restored, and the prospect of a re- turn to hard labor fairly placed before them, the < Guard would not lay down their arms.

To crown all, when the armistice was arranged, the F rkch , yp re - sentatives llad the weakness and stupidity to stipulate that the regular troops surrendered their arms to the enemy: the Guard should be allowed to retain theirs, and should be charged v i th the preserv- ation of order. This placed the city at their mercy as s o y as the

withdrew. Even daring the German occupation they began their preparations by fortifving themselves oli? >he heights of Ifont- martre, thpugh at the time.this was supposed to patriotic demon- strgtion a p i n s t &, cnsmy ; ?hen the invaders retired, however, the true character of the 1n&eme@ was revertled, the Thiers Govern- ment found itsel ace to face with the m69tserious problem any Gov- ernmcnt of Franc Y has bad to face st Napoleon overthrew the Sections.

The theory on which the revolt 1 to the country is, of course, that the National Assembly is a reactionary body, which sold the country to Bismarck, and is going to betray the Republic ; and, though it will meet with no response from the peasantry, who hate the Republic, the peasants are notq-ganized, and are timid and unenter- prising; and even if they sent their Mobiles freely to the aid of the Government, it would take a. long while to bring them in rcspcctablc condition to the gates of Paris; in a conflict between city irrqgn!ars and country irregulars in the streets there would be little chance for the latter. What force of regulars the Thiers Government has at its, disposal it is hard to say ; and the dknger is that, whatcier it be, it is by this time demoralized and disor@nized by the of leaders, the spectacle of tbe growing ascendancy of the re$bluti;nists. A government which has to fly from Paris is, in French eyes, a lost government, and if the Assembly can do this and yet retain its control of the popular dlegiance and the allegiance of t& troops, it will have opepzd up new chapter in French history.

The latest news is that General Faidherbe, who showed himself, in the operatibns of the North, a cautious but. able commander, has been appointed generalissimo and dictat.or. He will probably a t once go

to organize an army, calling in the assistance of the fleet, and probably drawing on Bourbakis force from Switzerland, and perhaps . on the prisoners in Germany. But look at his task in any way we please, it is a very formidal>le one, and any unsteadiness the part of his troops, or a severe repulse, would probably lead.to pocialist revolts in the other great cities, and prolonged anarchy or civilWar. The Ger- mans will hardly be induced to interfere, even if theiGovgrnrnent dared to ask them. Of course, the disorders imperil-the punctual payment of their indemnity, and, of course, nothing would .please Prince Fre- derick Charles and the military party better than to, give the Paris mob an awful castigation ; but interference would involve the loss of many German lives, and might entail on Prossia the responsibility of go- verning thewhole country for some time afterwards ; besidcs which, the

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present situation is giving the Republic a death-blow, and marranting the contempt for French morals and manners and character by which the German public juetifies to itself the hardness of the terms imposed on the vanquished.

About the immediate future it is difficult to predict anything with confidence; but it is quite certain that no real republic can survive the suppression of the present revolt by a generalissimo and dictator. When the smoke and dust of the conqnest clear away, the man on horseback will be there in the field, sword in hand, and the owners of property, the lovers of peace and quiet and industry will be found crouching around him, and begging him, if he can give them nothing else, to give them security in their homes. I t i s impossible not to.be- lieve, however, that the lessons of the crisis are sinking deep into French hearts. Foremost amongst them, as NC have more than once said in these columns, is the danger of cutting society loose from its political traditions and its political habits, and resolving it into de- bating club for the examination of the bases of social order, and treat- ing hat Sentimentalists call principle as the only guide of political and social action. As long as the source from which principle is to be derived is not defined, of course the rule that you must act on prin- ciple in politics is about as great help to legislation as the theo- logians maxim- in essentials, unity ; in non-essentials, liberty ; and in all things, charity -is to religious union. This maxim8- might be adopted by all sects, and yet, as long as essentials werelnot de- fined, there would be as little chance of agreement as ever. In politics, if me throw every man back on principle as the only guide, and tell him not to trouble himself about consequences, and let him draw his principle from his own breast, of course we are not unlikely to find eve@ hrundred men working might and main for a different social ideal,. and, in the absence of all means of deciding their comparative superiority, finally cutting each others throats. If A. tells B. that he has looked into hi awn heart and finds that eternal justice requires that AS proparQ.should be divided between them, and B. replies that he has looked int,o his heart too, and finds that eternal justice re- qui?& him to keep i t all for himself, and both of them disclaim all regard-for the deachings of history, and for their experience of human nature, of course thereis not11ing for it but to go at each other wit11 the knife awl pistol ; and to this pass, or something very like it, unhappy France qas come. To this too, let us add, every nat,ion is iu danger

ag in which people learn to despise the forms of law, to treat of no polit.ica1 value, to centraltze government for the purpose experimentation, and to make social experimentation and not

the faithful, punctual discharge of daily duties the great business of life, and, above all, the great business of reformers.

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ERIE IN trying to give a brief. s p m a r y for the information of the general

rda8er of General Barlows f&t long letter in the entitled Facts for Mr. Field, a fortnight w e fell into two or three errors, all of them triday. We said the coGplaints in certain suits were not sworn to ; they were sworn to. We said Judge Barnard reached the city on the night of the 6th of August at IO-20, and Kigned the famous order ten minutes after- wards, whereas we should have said, ten minutes after it was sent to him for signature by Mr. Shearman. We made one statement which wears the appearance of an error, but which we intended to be simply explana- tory-that is, to the phrase in one of the Ramsey injunctions issued by Barnard, forbidding Ranlsey to make any application about his receiver- ship except to this court in this action, we added the words, that is, to Barnard himself, meaning simply, that this is what the prohibition would amount to in practice, and that this was what was intended by those who got it. Fields reply to the nine charges thus enume- rated we gave a similar summary last week.

It Beems scarcely credible, but is nevertheless true, that T. Shearman has written a letter to the Albany Law affecting to treat this summary of statements as the Nations own, declaring that the nine charges made by us contain twelve unqualiEed faleehoode,and mak- ing no mention of Gieneral Barlows letter, and no attempt to answer it,, or meet it in any thus following D. D. Fields bad example in re- plying to the Trihune. The point on which he lays most strees is Onr aesertion, or repetition of General Barlows assertion, that Fuller, hav-