No. 103.
Mr. Washburne to Mr. Fish.
Paris, February 21, 1873. (Received March 8.)
Sir: The abdication of King Amédée and the proclamation of the republic of Spain have created less excitement in Paris and France than might have been supposed. The news of the abdication only had the effect of reducing largely, at the Bourse, the value of Spanish securities, already very low down, and slightly affecting French securities. Since the proclamation of the republic, followed by the peaceful situation in Spain, Spanish securities have advanced a little, and French securities have got back to the point at which they were when the news came that King Amédée had determined to take a ticket-of-leave.
The political question which has been most talked about for the last week or ten days has been the action and report of the commission [Page 247] of thirty, as it is called. The commission closed up its sittings by rejecting a proposition presented by the minister of justice, M. Dufaure, and which M. Thiers had insisted upon. This was considered a sort of defiance to M. Thiers, particularly when coupled with the fact that the Duke de Broglie, whose hostility to M. Thiers has been quite pronounced, was made the “reporter.” If the rejection of the article of M. Dufaure were to be insisted on, without the adoption of something equivalent, it was known that M. Thiers would appeal to the assembly and to the country against the commission, and then the question arose, would the commission yield? Public opinion was divided as to the result; but those who knew the character of the commission best, as well as the character of the opposition to M. Thiers, in and out of the assembly, predicted that the commission would find an escape from the position in which it had placed itself. They were right, for the commission was called together again yesterday, and adopted a proposition as a substitute for the Dufaure article, which the Debats of this morning says places the government and commission in accord.
Should this prove to be so, this “incident,” as the French call it, which has been pestering the country for more than two months, may be considered as “terminated.” Should such be the fact, there is every prospect of a season of as much quiet as the country is capable of under exististing circumstances.
The payment of the last installment of the indemnity is likely to be anticipated, and the month of September will probably see the last sou paid and the Prussians out of the territory. This is really a great feat, and demonstrates the enormous wealth of France. And what is remarkable, after all of these payments, and all the drain there has been upon the country, the paper of the Bank of France is to-day equal to gold, less about one-eighth of one per cent.
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I have, &c.,
P. S.—February 21, 1873. There is no longer any doubt of the complete accord between M. Thiers and the “commission of thirty.” Indeed, the friends of M. T. claim that he has got more than was demanded in what is known as the Dufaure proposition. It seems that the fraction of the commission known as the “center right,” consisting of the Duke de Broglie, the Duke d’Audriffet-Pasquiers, and others, united with the “left” and “center left” fraction and carried the proposition against the “right,” which was finally adopted. This action has had a good effect, and there was quite a “hausse” at the Bourse yesterday.