-

Mar. 23, 18711

The Nation.

193

which protection from violence at the hands of their neighbors, cxcept the new Government had time to get a fair hold of the machinery of
on the demand of the local authorities, is not one. This may be a cruel administration, and organize a force sufficient for its OTW protcction
arrangement, or an ill-judged one, or an unfortunate one, but it is what and the execution of its acts. This unhappy interval the Reds in Paris
of. Theyharcexpelledthe
constii t is, and it is found in most cases to ~ r o r kwell. So donot let us imi- havepromptlytakenadvantage
tate Gambetta and Rochefort and deny its existence, and endeavor to tuted authorities from the city,seized the public offices, murdered some
of the leading generals and llold the others in custody,ancl have armed
substitute for it a deduction from our own ideas of abstract fitness.
I f we once get into the habitof treating the Constitution as a mere the rabble, and, in short, begun a Reign of Terror which, be it long or
incrcasc
expression of opinion, tobe set aside whenever its observance seems in- short, will give a terrible blow to French industry, and greatly
convenient, we shall have substituted a Gallic Republic for an Amer- the difficulty of recovering from the disasters of the war, ancl, what is
of a firm and stablegovernican one-thc republic of Gambetta; and Louis Blanc, and Rochefort, worse than all, greatly diminish the chance
and Phillips for the republic of Washington, and I-Iamilton, and Madi- ment. Readers of the .Nation will bear witness that me distinctly
son, and Marshall ; or, in otherwords, a dream for a good working ma- pointed out the probability of what is now occurring as long ago as
chine. As soon as we allow ideals to take the place of written agree- last Scptember, when a great many good people here 11-crc going into
ments, we have sown the seeds of anarchy, because one mans ideal is as ecstasiesovcr the establishment of the Frenc!~ republic; and the
course of the Govcrnment during the succeccling six months only ingood as anothers, and we shall pass our lives as the French do-witnessing the struggles of one party to substitute its idealfor that of the creased the chances of the explosion..
The body of persons known as T h e Reds, in Paris, is made up
other party ; one year we shall live under Phillipss, and cut off hcads
in the name of (humanity, and the next underTweeds, and steal in of two elements. One is the vast body of workmen dran-n from the
the interestof (liberty, and the year after, under Archbisllop BIcClos- provinces by the extensive public works set on foot by the Empire and
keys, and vote taxes
for the promotion of the truereligion, and all go by the extraordinary luxurymllicll the Empire fostered in the capital.
These men are grossly ignorant on leaving their villages; and on enterdown on our knaes when the Host passes. Surely what is passing in
France ought to 11-arn men of the danger of tampering with peoples ing a city swarming with the wcalthy pleasure-seekers of the civilized
world, who deny themselves nothing, and parade their profligacy, the
pglitical habits and overthrowing their respect for thcforms of law.
Ia. there, then, no remedy for local disorder at the South ? If the ouvriers envy and dislikeof the bourgeaisie, which areonly too common
become rapidly developed into abrutai
State govermlent does not protect a man, can he look nowllcrc else in the country districts in France,
communism, resting in the main on dislike of labor an& a foldness for
for redress? We answer, t h l t if there be any value whatever in the
peasants educatheory on which American polity is based, the remedy of Southern dis- sensual indulgence. There is nothing in the French
orders must come from the Southernpeople, through their experience of tion, after he has got rid of his religious sentiment-as he does very
the folly and sufiering of disorder. If this be not true, thewhole Ameri- rapidly after he reaches Paris-to prevent his thirsting savagely for a
can system is a mistake, and is destinedere long toperish. Our business sllare in the good things of Parisian life, and making up his mind to
is nonT to leave every Southern State to its own people, first, because get them by any means, fair or foul, whenever the chance ofTcrs.
The other element is a body of persons whom we have been in the
this is theonly practicable course, and, secondly, 1,ecanse it is theonly
habit of calling Sentimentalists in these columns, made ~ f pof labor rewise one. If they are so demoralized that they go on robbing, and
murdering, andl Kukluxing each other, we cannot interfere effectively, formers, socialists, republicans, peace advocates, broken-down lmgers,
unsuccessful adventurers of all types.
and had better not interfere a t all. T1:e American punishments for a newspaper writers,and military and
State lvhich permits tllcsc things are two-impoverishment
and emi- They may be divided about equally into schemers and visionaries; but
they all agree in being Sentimentalists-that is, i n wishing to base legration. If
a man cannot have freedom, security, and light taxation
in New York, let, him go to New Jersey ; if he cannot have them in gislation on their own ideas of abstract justice and truth, and in contempt for considerations of expediency, or for remoter results, or for
South Carolina, let him go to Virginia ; if h e cannot have them in
sincere humanitarians among them are satiseither, let him go to Missouri. Those who stay behind, on seeing cap- habit or tradition. The
ficd that if they can get hold of t h e government, and keep the traiital and population steadily leaving their State, and their property
declining i n value,will .gradually mend their nyays. This may be a tors (political opponents) from meddling with them, theymill be able
slow remedy, but it is a sure one. It goes to the root of the disorder, to put an end to poverty; and prostitution, and war, and to secure to
while under coercion from the outside no state of things can grow up, all an equally good education, and an equal share of the products of
or ever has grown up, in which
coercion ceases
be necessary. Of labor. The adventurers are, of course, also strongly in favor of a genecourse there is nothing in this theory to prevent the United States en- ral upturning, as they have nothing tolose, and can hnrclly help betterforcing the Federal Constitution and laws. This ought to be done, at ing themselves during a period of confusion. Both together do their
c o s t t h a t is, by officers, and not by bill and resolution. If it utmost to keep up the spiritof revolt not only against the government,
be true that black
men are kept from tllc polls by intimidation, we but against the existingsocial organization, among theworking-classes;
ought to see that going to thepolls is made as safe as going to church; and as they possess all the education there is in the Red ranks, when
they begin their revolutionary movement they have the places on the
but to pass bills providing for this,
m-ithout voting the men or the
comnlittees and other governing bodies by wllich it is directed.
money to execute them, is a wrctched mockery, of which the country
Curiously enough, although they are all frantic opponents
of capital
and the blacks have hadenough.
punishment when inflicted by a regular government, they always make
~
_
_
a bloody use OfPpower, and the killing of people in cold blood a l w q s
THE RED RISING I N PARIS.
occupies a prominexit place among the means by which they endeavor
They are,too, nearlyall peace men, and deTE folly-if that be not too mild a term-of the Government of to regeneratesociety.
National Defence in not summoning a National Assembly as soon as nounce standing armies bitterly ; but they invariably maintain,even a t
possible after the disaster of Sedan and the overthrow of the Empire, the peace conventions they hold in quiet times, thatbefore the general
is now fully apparent. Had they done so, the Assembly would either and everlasting peace is established, there will have to be one grand
have made peace before the disorganization of French society and of war, of which they are to have the direction. A curious illustration df
the administrat,ivesystem had gone very far, or it would have become the strong mental resemblance which runs through them all in every
secure in its authority and used to its work by the time Paris surren- clime, was afforded by the fact that, a few days ago, when the Paris
of Montmartre, the
dered. Elected as it was when the struggle was just closing, and for Reds were perfecting their plans on the heights
the avowed pnrpose of making terms of peace, it not only excited the head of the school in this country,an anti-capital-punishment man, was
hostility of the Republicans, as a mere exponent of the cowardice of gravely recommending in hisnewspaper the shooting of Southern milas a remedy for Southerndisthe Conservatives, but it entered on its duties just at the
moment lionaires bydrumheadcourt-martial
when the enemy was withdrawing his hand; and the salutary restraint orders.
The body is just now in a more favorable position for carrying out
exerci%d by hispresence on the dangerousclasses
thus lost before

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194

$The

299

is designs in Paris than it has ever been since the ,first Rkvolution.
present situation is giving the Republic a death-blow, and marranting
The bulk of the regular army is shutu p in foreign prisons; mhatthere the contempt for French morals and manners and character by which
was of it in Pariswas disarmed by tlie Prussians; but, more important the German public juetifies to itself the hardness of the terms imposed
on the vanquished.
than all, the Reds are now all armed. The National Guard, under
the restoration of the Orleans dynasty, was composed almost entirely
About the immediate future it is difficult to predict anything with
of the shopkeepers or bourgeoisie ; under the Empire i t could hardly confidence; but it is quite certain that
noreal republic can survive
be said to exist; but during thesiege the whole population of the city the suppression of the present revolt by a generalissimo and dictator.
was embodied in it-thus giving the socialists wdapons and organiza- When the smoke and dust of the conqnest clear away, t h e man on
tion. The consciousness of the frightful danger to property and
life horseback will be there in the field, sword in hand, and the owners
within the city which this involved undoubtcdly did
much t o give of property, the lovers of peace and quiet and industry will be found
Trochns operations tile air of feebleness and indecision which charac- crouching around him, and begging him, if he can give them nothing
terized them, and accounted fo the petting of the National Guard in
else, t o give them security in their homes. I t i s impossible not to.bewhich he indulged. The
Gu akd did no fighting, and it was evident lieve,however, that the lessons of the crisis aresinkingdeepinto
before the siege was ovcr could not be got to fight, but to keep it in
French hearts. Foremost amongst them,
as NC have more than once
good humor it mas highly colaplimcnted in general orders, to the dis- said in these columns, is the danger of cutting society loose from its
gust of the sailors and regulars, and was paid a franc and a-half a day political traditions and its political habits, and resolving it into deper man, while its dutieswent v q y little bcyond guard-mounting bating club for the examination of the bases of social order, and treaton the ramparts. I t was the idleness, the pay, and the uniform which ing hat Sentimentalists call principle as the only guide of political
undoubtedlypreventedtheattemptto
seize the Government being and social action. As long as the source from which principle is to
made on a greater scale during the siege, and one did not need the be derived is not defined, of course the rule that you must act on pringift of prophecy to see that, peace restored, and the prospect of a re- ciple in politics is about as great help to legislation as the theoturn to hard labor fairly placed before them, the <
Guard would not logians maxim- in essentials, unity ; i n non-essentials, liberty ; and
lay down their arms.
-is
toreligious union. This maxim8-might
inallthings,charity
To crown all, when the armistice was arranged, the F r k c h , y p r e - be adopted by all sects, and yet, as long as essentials werelnot desentatives llad the weakness and stupidity to stipulate that
the fined, there would be as little chance of agreement as ever. In politics,
regular troops surrendered their arms to the enemy: the Guard should if me throw every man back on principle as the only guide, and tell
be allowed to retain theirs, and should be charged v i t h t h e preserv- him not to trouble himself about consequences, and let him draw his
ation of order. This placed the city at their mercy as s o y as the principle from hisownbreast, of course we arenotunlikelyto
withdrew. Even daring the German
occupation they began find eve@ hrundred men working might and main for a different social
their preparations by fortifving
themselves oli? >he heights of Ifont- ideal,. and, in the absence of all means of deciding their comparative
martre, thpugh at the time.this was supposed to
patriotic demon- superiority, finally cutting each others throats. If A. tells B. that he
strgtion a p i n s t
cnsmy ; ?hen the invaders retired,
however, the has looked into hi awn heart and finds that eternal justice requires
8 .
true character of the 1n&eme@ was revertled,
the Thiers Govern- that AS proparQ.shouldbedivided
between them, and B. replies
ment found itsel ace to face with the m69tserious problem any Gov- that he has looked int,o his heart too, and finds that eternal justice reernmcnt of Franc has badto face
st Napoleon overthrew qui?& him to keep i t all for himself, and both of them disclaim all
the Sections.
regard-for the deachings of history, and for their experience of human
on which
the
revolt
1 to the
country
is,
of nature, of course thereis not11ing for it but to go at each other wit11
The
theory
course, that the NationalAssembly is a reactionary body, which sold the knife awl pistol; and to thispass, or something very like it, unhappy
t h e country t o Bismarck, and is going to betray the Republic
; and, France qas come. To this too, let us add, every nat,ion is iu danger
though it will meet with no response from the peasantry, who hate the
ag in which people learn to despise the forms of law, to treat
Republic, the peasants are notq-ganized, and are timid and unenterof no polit.ica1 value, to centraltze government for the purpose
prising; and even if they sent their Mobiles freely to the aid of the
experimentation, and to make social experimentation and not
Government, it would take a. long while to bring them in rcspcctablc the faithful, punctual discharge of daily duties the great business of
condition to the gates
of Paris;
i n a conflict between city irrqgn!ars life, and, above all, the great business of reformers.
and country irregulars in the streets there would be little chance for ______
the latter. What
force of regulars the Thiers Government has at its,
ERIE
disposal it is hard to say ; and the dknger is that, whatcier itbe, it is
INtrying to give a brief.
s p m a r y for the information of the general
by this time demoralized and disor@nized by the
of leaders,
rda8er of General Barlows f&t long letter in the
entitled Facts
A for Mr. Field, a fortnight
the spectacle of tbegrowing ascendancy of the re$bluti;nists.
fell into two or three errors, all of them
governmentwhich has to fly from Paris is, inFrench eyes, a lost triday. We said the coGplaints in certain suits were not sworn to ; they
government, and ifthe Assembly can do this and yet retain its control were sworn to. We said Judge Barnard reached the city on the night of
of the popular dlegiance and theallegiance of t& troops, it will have the 6th of August at IO-20, and Kigned the famous order ten minutes afteropepzd up new chapter in French history.
wards, whereas we should have said, ten minutes after it was sent to him
The latest news is that General Faidherbe, whoYshowed himself, in for signature by Mr. Shearman. We made one statement which wears
the operatibns of the North, a cautious but. able commander, has been the appearance of an error, but which we intended to be simply explanaappointed generalissimo and dictat.or. H e will probably a t once go tory-that is, to the phrase in one of the Ramsey injunctions issued by
to organize an army, calling in the assistance of the fleet, and Barnard, forbidding Ranlsey to make any application about his receivership except to this court in this action, we added the words, that is,
probably drawing on Bourbakis force from Switzerland, and perhaps
on t h e prisoners in Germany. Butlookathistaskin
anyway we to Barnard himself, meaning simply, that this is what the prohibition
please, it is a very formidal>le one, and any unsteadiness
the part of would amount to in practice, and that this was what was intended by
Fields reply to the nine charges thus enumehis troops, or a severe repulse, would probably lead.to pocialist revolts in those who got it.
rated we gave a similar summary last week.
the other great cities, and prolonged anarchy or civilWar. The GerIt Beems scarcely credible, but is nevertheless true, that
T.
mans will hardly be induced tointerfere, even if theiGovgrnrnent dared
Shearman has written a letter to the Albany Law
affecting to
t o ask them. Of course, the disorders imperil-the punctual payment
treat this summary of statements as theNations own, declaring that the
of their indemnity, and, of course, nothing would .please Prince Fre- nine chargesmade by us contain twelve unqualiEed faleehoode,and makderick Charles and the military party better than to, give the Paris
ing no mention of Gieneral Barlows letter, and no attempt to answer it,,
mob an awful castigation ; but interference would involve the loss of or meet it in any
thus following
D. D. Fields bad example in reon Prossia the responsibility
of go- plying to the Trihune. The point on which he lays most strees is Onr
many Germanlives, and might entail
verning thewhole countryfor some time afterwards; besidcs which, the aesertion, or repetition of General Barlows assertion, that
Fuller, hav-

&,

we