No. 239.
Mr. Washburne to Mr. Fish.
Legation of
the United States,
Paris
,
July 24, 1874.
(Received August 6.)
No. 1005.]
Sir: Though in my No. 996, of the 13th instant, I
spoke of the constant recurring changes in the ministry, I must confess I
did not expect another crisis quite so soon, but it so falls out that since
that dispatch there have been two important changes. Mr. Magne, the minister
of finance, having been overwhelmingly beaten on a vital question in the
Assembly, was obliged to give in his resignation on the 16th instant, which
was promptly accepted by the President. Though regarded as an able man and a
good minister of finance, he had “lost his grip” on the Assembly more really
by his pronounced Bonapartism than by failure in his position. His
resignation, however, did not cause ‘so much excitement as that of Mr.
Fourtou, the minister of the interior, which took place two days afterward.
This resignation was not expected, and, as it was due wholly to political
reasons, it has occasioned a great deal of talk. It is now known that there
were serious dissensions in the ministry, and that Mr. Fourtou insisted upon
a certain course of policy which was squarely opposed by the Duke Decazes,
and rejected by the other ministers. Thereupon Fourtou resigned, very much
to the regret of the President. It is alleged that Fourtou was a Bonapartist
in disguise, and that he had insisted that the successor of Mr. Magne should
be a Bonapartist, and that the investigations which had been instituted in
regard to Rouher and other Bonapartists should be stopped, and that Leon
Reinault, the prefect of police, who had charge of them, should be removed.
He also took grounds in relation to the septennate which were not
satisfactory to the rest of the ministers.
These two ministers have been replaced; Mathieu Bodet goes into the ministry
of finance, and General Chabaud Latour replaces Mr. Fourtou. I send herewith
very brief biographical sketches of the two gentlemen. The selections, in my
judgment, are very fortunate. Mathieu Bodet is a lawyer of ability, who has
made finance very much of a study. He is not put down as belonging to any of
the various groups in the Assembly, but is regarded as fluctuating between
the right center and the left center, what we would call in the West a
“floater.” General Chabaud Latour appertains to the right center and is
regarded as a very honest and capable man, and has always been a devoted
friend of the Orleans family. He is a Protestant in religion, and has
selected for his under secretary Cornelius DeWitt, the son-in-law of Guizot,
and also a Protestant. Both of the new ministers are members of the
Assembly.
Yesterday the Assembly discussed the proposition of Casimir Perier to
definitively found the republic. This proposition, after a discussion of
several hours, was rejected by a majority of forty-one. It was uncertain at
one time how far the government would go in opposing this proposition, but
at the pinch General de Cissey, the vice-president of the council, came out
flat-footed in opposition to it and called for its rejection. This action of
the government settled the business. After this vote was taken a proposition
was presented for the dissolution of the Assembly, which was rejected by
twenty-nine majority. To-day it is supposed that the discussion will
commence on the report of Mr. Ventavon on the counter-proposition of the
committee of thirty. It is believed that this proposition will also be
rejected, and everything in the Assembly will be at sea.
I have, &c.,
[Page 419]
[Inclosure, (newspaper
extract.)—Translation.]
It will not be uninteresting to examine the political record of the two
new ministers whose appointments were announced yesterday in the
“Journal Officiel.”
General Chabaud Latour was born at Nimes, January 25, 1804. He entered
the polytechnic school in 1820, graduated with high honors, entered the
corps of military engineers, took part in the expedition against
Algiers, afterward worked on the fortifications of Paris, and from 1832
to 1843 was an orderly officer under the Duke of Orleans. In 1837, the
Vigan district chose him as its representative in the Chamber of
Deputies, where he took his seat in the right center, and remained until
the last day, that is, until 1848, (he having been kept in office for
eleven years,) one of the most devoted supporters of the Orleans family.
The February revolution surprised him, still full of confidence in the
political wisdom of M. Guizot, for whom he had obstinately voted under
all circumstances.
M. de Chabaud Latour seems to have kept aloof from politics under the
empire. King Louis Philippe made him a colonel in 1845, the Emperor
Napoleon III appointed him brigadier-general in 1853, and assigned to
him the chief command of the engineer corps in Algeria. The war of 1870
found him inscribed among the reserves, with the title of general of
division, which he had held since 1857.
He asked to be assigned to active service, was appointed as a member of
the board of defense, and, during the siege, was commander-in-chief of
the engineer force of the Paris army. It was in this capacity that he
directed the work on the forts.
When sent to the National Assembly in 1871, by the department of Gard, he
agaiu took his old place in the right center, and afterward voted
constantly with the Orleanists, especially on the 24th of May, 1873,
against the order of the day, pure and simple, and against the motion
not to accept the resignation of M. Thiers; on the 20th November, 1873,
for the extension of the term of Marshal MacMahon; on the 18th of May,
1874, for the priority to be given to the political electoral law; and,
finally, on the 15th of June last, against pressing the motion of
Casimir Perier. When it last chose its officers, the National Assembly
elected General Chabaud Latour as its vice-president.
It is reasonable to suppose that the new minister of the interior, who,
we may remark, considers himself as holding his office ad interim, has preserved for the Orleans family the
sentiments which have been those of his whole life—that is to say,
sentiments of affection and gratitude; but it is equally certain that
the Bonapartists cannot count upon finding in him the complaisance to
which they were habituated by the conduct of M. Fourtou. His attitude in
the Bazaine case gave sufficient evidence of this.
M. Mathieu Bodet was born at la Moulède (Charente) December 16, 1817. He
took his degree as Doctor of Laws in 1842, and was admitted to practice
in the court of appeals in 1845; he was elected to the Assembly in 1848,
and while there always voted with the right, except on the question of
the banishment of the Orleans family, for which he voted with the left.
He was subsequently the secretary of the committee on budgets, in 1850
and 1851, and supported the policy of the prince-president until January
22, 1852. The famous decrees of that date caused him to leave the
Bonaparte party, which he had, however, not abandoned after the 2d of
December. Having returned to private life, he devoted himself entirely
to his business as a practitioner before the council of state and the
court of appeals. A reconciliation seems, meanwhile, to have taken place
between him and the Orleans family, since that family engaged him to
defend it before the council of state when the confiscation decree was
issued.
M. Mathieu Bodet was chosen counselor-general for Charente under the
empire; but, being desirous of re-entering political life, he made an
unsuccessful effort in 1863 to get elected to the Corps Legislatif by
the Charente district. In the month of February, 1871, he was more
fortunate. His votes in the National Assembly do not render it possible
to class him in any well-defined group. On the 24th of May, 1873, he
voted against the order of the day, pure and simple, and consequently
contributed to the departure of M. Thiers; on the 19th of June last,
however, he voted to press the motion of M. Casimir Perier. This latter
vote, and certain words which are attributed to him, gave ground for the
belief that the new minister of finance belongs to the daily increasing
number of deputies who are for a permanent republic.
