No. 218.
Mr. Washburne to Mr. Fish.
Paris, February 26, 1875. (Received March 11.)
Sir: There have been so many complications and so much uncertainty as to the result of the grave questions which have been before [Page 461] the National Assembly for several weeks past, that I have not addressed you a political dispatch since the 3d instant.
In my No. 1097,* I explained to you quite fully the proceedings which had been had, and the status which then existed in regard to the constitutional laws in the National Assembly. In that dispatch I laid particular stress upon the question of the organization of the senate, and stated the evident difficulties which would arise in the Assembly when the law providing for it should come to be discussed. I then said that I thought some solution would be reached, unless a complete change should take place in the spirit which then seemed to control a large majority of the Assembly.
I then further expressed the opinion, that, as the majority was made up of such discordant and warring elements, it would be difficult to hold it together for any considerable time. That predication was verified soon after in the discussion and action upon an amendment to the senate law which was proposed by M. Pascal Duprat, a deputy of the left, from the department of the Landes. His amendment was to the effect that the senators should be elected by universal suffrage, in the same manner as the members of the National Assembly. A vote was taken on this amendment without discussion, and the bulletins of the members were in the urn before the full bearing of the question was appreciated. And here was exhibited a piece of parliamentary strategy, on the part of those opposed to the constitutional laws and the senate, which could but excite the admiration of any old member of our House of Representatives. The Bonapartists, always claiming to be the champions of universal suffrage, eagerly voted for the proposition, knowing full well that, if the amendment was carried, the law as a whole would be voted down. A large number of the members of the extreme right, who were opposed to universal suffrage, and yet were desirous of seeing this amendment adopted, abstained from voting. The result was that the amendment was carried by the votes of all the groups of the left and the votes of the Bonapartists; the center-right, which had voted for the other articles in the senate law, as well as for the article in the constitutional laws declaring the republic, voting against it. When, therefore, the vote came to be taken on the proposition as amended by Pascal Duprat, the whole project was voted down by twenty-three majority, showing a complete break in the majority which had voted the Wallon amendment. That action left matters in the utmost uncertainty, and great was the joy of the legitimates and the Bonapartists, and those members of the right who had not voted the Wallon amendment, when they saw from this, that all the efforts to pass constitutional laws were likely to prove abortive. Things were, therefore, left in a very critical and dangerous position so far as the McMahon government was concerned. If the constitutional laws could not be adopted, and a senate constituted, it was evident that the Assembly would have to dissolve at no distant period, and the result of such a dissolution could easily be foreseen. The country would at once have been launched into a stupendous contest, practically between the republicans and the imperialists, and legitimists not having much strength, and the septenualists, per se, still less. Under such circumstances, most people saw imminent danger that the Bonapartists would carry the Assembly and the country. The government had, evidently, the liveliest apprehensions of the Bonapartists success; and hence it became a necessity for them to make a new attempt to obtain the constitutional laws and the law for the senate. [Page 462] The first thing was to try again for a law providing for the establishment of a senate. It was a matter of extreme difficulty to reconcile the conflicting views in regard to its organization. Up to this time nearly all parties, except the left, had insisted that the President should have the appointment of a certain number of life-members. This was a proposition to which the left—such an important factor in all this matter—was unwilling to accede, and it seemed likely to be the rock upon which everything would split. When the matter was under consideration before the commission of thirty, to the surprise of everybody, and to the great indignation of the Bonapartists, the legitimists, and a certain portion of the right, the President sent a communication to the commission, by the minister of the interior, stating that he would renounce all claim to the appointment of any senators. This generous and patriotic action of the President served to smooth the way to all those who were sincerely friendly to the establishment of a permanent government, and a project for a senate was drawn up, which was adopted with entire unanimity by the left center, and almost unanimously by the left, and a sufficient number of the center-right to make its passage an absolute certainty.
This having been accomplished, the consideration of the senate law came up for consideration on Monday last in the Assembly, and this has been the great and only question before that body since that time. All Paris and France have been intensely excited on the question, and there has been scarcely any other topic of conversation in all circles, or any other subject of discussion in the newspapers. Every member of the Assembly who could possibly be in his place has been in attendance at the sessions, and there has not been in all these days a single vacant place in the tribunes. And all this is not surprising; for everything that is transpiring is not only to have a tremendous influence on the parties in France, but on the country. If a form of government shall be established, republican in spirit as well as in name, and firmly upheld by wise and patriotic men, neither the Bonapartists nor legitimists will stand any chance of coming into power. The spirit displayed in the Assembly this week by all parties desiring a permanent and fixed government must give new hope to all the well-wishers of France; for there has been shown a degree of union, discipline, and political sagacity which does them infinite credit. Some eight or ten members of the extreme left had, for special reasons, declined to support the senate project, but at the same time did not offer any opposition. All the others gave it their hearty and unqualified support; and never have I, in my experience in the House of Representatives in times of the highest political excitement, seen a party better drilled than were the friends of these measures in the Assembly. Entrapped once by having a hostile amendment adopted by the votes of the opposition, they were determined that no change should be made in the senate bill which had been agreed upon. As I listened to the debate on Tuesday, and saw the compact, steady voting, I could but admire the discipline which had been improvised for the occasion.
After a struggle of three days, in which the Bonapartists and legitimists resorted to every method to break the solid ranks of their opponents, after innumerable amendments had been voted down, the whole law was adopted by a vote of 448 against 241, being a majority of 207 votes.
When this immense step had been accomplished, the Assembly proceeded to the third reading of the law relating to the organization of the public powers. The first article, which provided that the legislative [Page 463] power should be exercised by two assemblies, a chamber of deputies and a senate, the deputies to be chosen by universal suffrage in a manner to be determined, the nomination and attributes of the senators to be the subject of a special law, was adopted without opposition.
The second article, which provides that the President of the Republic shall be elected by a majority of all the votes of the senate and chamber of deputies, sitting in joint convention, that his term of office shall be seven years, and that he shall be re-eligible, was adopted by a vote of 413 against 248, a majority of 165. On yesterday, all amendments having been defeated, the whole proposition was adopted by a vote of 436 against 262.
The majority of one voice on the Wallon amendment, which fixed the status of the republic, has thus been confirmed by a majority of 174 votes. And this result is had upon full discussion and deliberation by the representatives of the people, and must be accepted as a free and well-considered expression of the national will. From the date of February 25, 1875, ‘therefore, the republic becomes, in law and fact, the government of France, and I am sure the ardent wishes of our Government and people will go out for its perpetuity, and for the happiness, prosperity, and glory of the French nation.
I shall send you very soon the full text of the constitutional laws and the law of the senate.
I have, &c.,
- Ante.↩