No. 60.
Mr. E. B. Washburne to Mr. Fish.
Sir: In view of the threatened, and, in some cases, the actual, maltreatment of the subjects of the powers now at war with France, I have been concerting measures with Mr. Kern, the Swiss minister, who is charged with the protection of the subjects of Bavaria and Baden, and with Mr. Okouneff, the Russian chargé d’affaires, who is charged with the protection of the subjects of Würtemberg, to secure from the French government that treatment and protection to such of those subjects as find themselves in France at this moment as is due under such circumstances to all subjects of a belligerent power. There are a great many threats, and occasional instances of violence, enough to inspire great terror among the Germans, who are coming in crowds to the legation. In all cases where they are pursued by threats or violence I promise them the protection of the American flag. The recent French defeats have served to embitter still more the feelings of the French against the Germans.
The Figaro of the 9th instant, one of the most widely circulated journals of Paris, contained an article demanding the immediate expulsion of all Germans from Paris. It proposed that all Germans who were able to pay their passage should be embarked at Havre in twenty-four hours, and that all those who had not the means of leaving should be put under lock and key, a proposition at once savage and disgraceful. That article, which was so well calculated to inspire terror, was brought to me at noon on the 9th instant. It was the day of the meeting of the corps legislatif, and I immediately repaired thither, with the expectation [Page 93] of meeting my colleagues, Messrs. Kern and Okouneff, and to consult with, them as to what we should do. I met them both in the diplomatic tribune, but before we left there we saw the ministry displaced and that everything was in confusion. In the state of things that existed my colleagues thought it would be impossible to see any member of the government that night, and that we should have to postpone action till the next morning. I went myself, however, to the foreign office and saw the Count Faverney, the chief of the bureau, and explained to him the situation of things, and asked that the French government should take immediate steps to secure protection to the subjects of those powers who had been placed under my protection with the assent of the government of his Majesty. He said the ministry had gone out and that it was almost impossible to have anything done that night; but, upon my suggestion, he said he would see the prefect of police on the subject.
This whole matter having assumed a still graver aspect, my colleagues and myself called yesterday afternoon upon M. Chevereau, the new minister of the interior, to make our representations and see what the French government proposed to do in the premises. Mr. C. was just going to the chamber, and it was impossible for him to give us an audience; but he fixed ten o’clock this morning as the time at which he would see us at the ministry of the interior. On repairing thither we found he had been called away to a meeting of a council, and that he could not have an interview with us until half-past six o’clock this afternoon, and, of course, too late for me to advise you of the result by the dispatch-bag, which leaves to-night. In the mean time the report is rife that a decree is to be made, at once, expelling all Germans from Paris. I cannot, however, think such a thing can be possible; but if so, I shall communicate with you immediately by telegraph.
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