SUEZ MATL NEWS.

Press, Volume XXXI, Issue 4290, 30 April 1879, Page 1 (Supplement)

SUEZ MATL NEWS.

Hie mail which arrived yesterday brings dates to March 14th. The following " history of the fortnight" is snpplied by the correspondents of the "Melbourne Argus" :— POLITICS IN FEANCE. The re-adjustment of political parties in France is not to be accomplished without a struggle. The Amnesty BUI, which has now passed the Senate by a large majority, is not a proclamation of peace between extreme factions. Scarcely had the chorus of congratulations which followed tbe advent of M. Waddington to power subsided, when tha new Ministry was weakened by the resignation of M. de Marcere, the Minister of the Interior. He had consented to an inquiry into the conduct of the secret police, who were charged with a. scandalous abuse of power, but had so vacillated in his procedure as to provoke much bitter criticism. His defence was feeble, and he was left unsupported by his colleagues. The consequence was his resignation, the circumstances of which have injured both his own reputation and the Ministry. The vacancy thus created waa filled by M. Lepere, the Minister of Commerce, to whose post in tunhas succeeded M. Tirard, one of the deputies of Paris. A more formidable danger has since arisen in connection with |the proposal to impeach the De Broglie Government. The Commission of Inquiry, by a majority of 22 to 7, had recommended tbe impeachment, notwithstanding . the formal announcement tbat the Cabinet would oppose it. The report of the committee is an elaborate dooument, and recites tbe various acts proved against the reactionary administration which usurped the liberties of France, and nearly plunged the country into civil war. The moat important part is the evidence adduced as to the military measures then planned. Rumors only found their way into circulation at the time, but now we have the facts and documents which show how dangerously near to a coup d'etat the conspirators had brought their plot. It may still be pleaded by the friends of Marshal MacMahon that his object was not to restore the empire or the monarchy, but to suppress ' any popular movement. It is now, however, beyond controversy that everything had been prepared to sustain by arms the violent and illegal polioy of the Government. Fortunately, the Marshal yielded, though at the last moment, to wiser counsels. The criminal action of the Government will be branded in history, but the policy that pleads for clemency to the Communists pleads also for these reactionaries. The project of impeachment has beep almost unanimously condemned in this country aa tending to revive a perilous feud at a period when the fusion'of parties is necessary to stability. And the same view has been forcibly expressed by some of the most thoughtful men in France. The-Im-peachment report was yesterday debated in the Chamber of Deputies, when happily the policy of moderation prevailed. M. Waddington, admitting the guilt of tbe accused, said that a prosecution might be justified on abstract grounds, but could only arouse hatred that had been lulled, and produce an agitation difficult to allay. He added that if the Chamber decided for impeachment, the Government would resign. The recommendation .of the committee was, however, rejected by a majority of 317 to 159. . This majority is sufficient to insure the position of of M. Waddington.