No. 216.
Mr. Washburne to Mr. Fish.
Paris, February 3, 1875. (Received February 19.)
Sir: You will comprehend from my political dispatches of last month, and from what you have seen in the newspapers, how interesting the political situation has been. The discussion on the constitutional laws came off sooner than I expected when I wrote you my dispatch No. 1088. The great uncertainty which existed as to what would be the action of the Assembly in regard to those laws, and the fact that the ministry was hanging by the gills, awaiting some definite action on the subject, have given a keen zest to political matters here for the past month.
The discussion on the proposition of the committee on constitutional laws proceeded without exciting any extraordinary interest until the 28th of January, when Mr. Laboulaye moved his amendment to what is called the Ventavon proposition, which had avoided the declaration that the republic was the definitive government of France. Mr. Laboulaye’s amendment changed the whole face of the question, and declared that “the government of the republic should be composed of two chambers and a President.” This was a full, clear, and complete recognition of a permanent republic, and was so accepted and regarded. Mr. Laboulaye supported his amendment in a speech of great moderation and good sense, remarkable alike for eloquence and logic. It had been previously agreed upon by all the factious of the left, with the exception of a few members of the extreme left, who had always taken the ground that the Assembly had no power to frame a constitution, and had often declared that they would never, under any circumstances, give a vote implying that it had. There were only three or four recalcitrants, however. With these exceptions it was a compact and well-organized force. Mr. Laboulaye’s speech was very effective, and it is believed that, had a vote been taken when he concluded, his proposition would have prevailed. But Mr. Louis Blanc, who is one of those who have insisted that the Assembly had no constituent powers, got the floor and made a speech to the disgust of his friends and with the applause of all parties in the Assembly opposed to the republic. The consequence was that, after his speech, an adjournment was carried, thus giving to the opponents of the Laboulaye amendment time to caucus, organize, and arrange for its defeat.
The matter went over therefore to the next day, and it was supposed that the question was then to be finally settled whether a definitive republic should be declared, or the present indefinite state of things should still continue. Intense interest was felt in the vote which was [Page 459] to come off. Every deputy was present whom it was possible to get there. Two men were carried to the palace who were too sick to enter the hall, and whose votes had to be deposited by the president of the Assembly. I went out early and got a good seat in the diplomatic tribune, which was much crowded. The vote was taken amid deep anxiety, and, as the c6ntest was very close, it was taken by what they call “le scrutin a la tribune,” where each member had to go to the tribune and give his bulletin to one of the secretaries, who deposited it in an urn.
After this long and tedious process, the vote was declared 336 ayes and 359 noes, being a majority of 23 against the Laboulaye proposition.
The result was a surprise and a disappointment to the friends of the measure, for they had hoped for a considerable accession of strength from the moderate members of the right center. This failing, the prospect was very discouraging.
The next day, however, Mr. Wallon, a deputy from the department of the North, who has never been particularly attached to any of the various divisions of the Assembly, offered an amendment, as follows:
“The President of the Republic is elected by a plurality of the votes of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, sitting in joint convention. He is elected for seven years. He is re-eligible.”
This proposition was quite as full a recognition of the republic as the amendment of Mr. Laboulaye, besides that it fixed the term for which the President should hold office, and declared him re-eligible. With the same deputies present as on the day before, it was hardly to be expected that there would be any considerable change; but upon taking the vote it was found that the Wallon amendment had been adopted by one majority, and great was the surprise and consternation of those who had so recently felt assured of ultimate triumph. The votes were counted and re-counted, and “pointed,” as they call it, but every time there came out the same one majority. There was no reconsideration, and no way to get out of it. There was general rejoicing in the ranks of all those who desired to see a definitive form of government established under the name of the republic.
This vote placed “the administration,” as we may term it, which is made up of a portion of the center-right in the Assembly, in a position of the utmost embarrassment. It was evident that if the main propositions for organic laws, to which this was added as an amendment, were not adopted, everything would have to go to pieces; and hence, as a dernier resort, the amendment of Wallon was accepted. The whole matter was to have been tested yesterday, and there was a good deal of skirmishing, which brought out another test-vote on a question of precedence as between a proposition of Mr. Depeyre and that of Mr. Wallon. If the precedence of the proposition of Mr. Depeyre had been voted over that of Mr. Wallon, it would have practically nullified the Wallon amendment, and hence an immense effort was made to have such a motion adopted. It was defeated, however, by eight votes, which showed to the center-right that all was gone, and they could have no hope except by rallying to the Wallon proposition; and then was witnessed the extraordinary spectacle of more than half of the center-right, headed by the members of the ministry, and including the Due de Broglie, going over in a body to all the fractions of the left, and adopting a proposition really accepting the republic.
This last vote took place on Tuesday, the 2d, and the Wallon amendment, which on the preceding Saturday had only prevailed by one vote, now obtained a majority of 182.
On Wednesday the Assembly proceeded to the discussion of the other [Page 460] provisions as amended, and the whole passed to a third reading by 340 majority; but some material changes may still be made. One of the articles already adopted provides for a senate, which is to be constituted in accordance with a law hereafter to be enacted. There are great divisions of opinion in regard to the manner in which the senate shall be made up, and it will evidently be a very difficult matter for the Assembly to pass any law; but something will probably be reached, unless there be a complete change in the spirit which now seems to control a large majority of the Assembly. It is a majority made up of such discordant and warring elements, that it will be very difficult for it to hold together for any considerable time. I shall, however, watch the current of events, and keep you advised from time to time, though I am aware that, when my dispatches reach you so long after you have obtained results by telegraph, they can really be of little interest.
I have, &c.,