No. 111.
Mr. Noyes to Mr. Evarts.

No. 44.]

Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a translation of the message of President McMahon, delivered to the Senate and Chamber of Deputies on Friday last, but received at too late an hour to be sent in the last dispatch-bag. It is a document which has been received with general satisfaction as marking by a solemn declaration the sincere acceptance by the Chief of State of real parliamentary government in France, and as a permanent solution of the long and harassing series of ministerial crises which have marked the struggles of parties during the past seven months.

I have, &c.,

EDWARD F. NOYES.
[Page 169]
[Inclosure in No. 44.—Translation.]

MESSAGE OF PRESIDENT McMAHON.

The elections of the 14th of October once more affirmed the confidence of the country in republican institutions. In obedience to parliamentary rules, I have formed a cabinet, selected from the two chambers, composed of men resolved to defend and maintain those institutions by the sincere practice of the constitutional laws. The interest of the country demands the termination of the crisis we are traversing. It demands with not less force that it shall not be renewed. Recourse to the right of dissolution is only, in fact, a supreme mode of consulting a judge without appeal, and cannot be erected into a system of government. I deemed it my duty to make use of that right, and I conform to the reply of the country. The constitution of 1875 founded a parliamentary republic by establishing my irresponsibility, while it instituted the joint and individual responsibility of the ministers. Thus are determined our respective duties and rights. The independence of the ministers is the condition of their responsibility. These principles, derived from the constitution, are those of my government. The end of this crisis will be the starting-point of a new era of prosperity; all the public powers will co-operate in promoting its development. The accord established between the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, henceforth certain of regularly reaching the expiration of its commission, will enable the great legislative works demanded by the public interests to be completed. The Universal Exhibition is about to be opened. Commerce and industry are about to take a new spring; and we shall give the world a fresh testimony of the vitality of our country, which has always revived through labor, through thrift, and through its profound attachment to ideas of conservation, order, and liberty.