MAY DAY IN PARIS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13171, 8 May 1906, Page 4

MAY DAY IN PARIS.

The anticipated May Day disturbances in Paris appear to have materialised in no more serious a form than an industrial agitation for an Eight' Hour Day. The precautions taken by the French Government) may or may not have contributed to the quiescence observed by the parties which aim at the overthrow of the Republic, but in any case it is worthy of note that as the years go by France has less and less trouble in maintaining her political equilibrium. Had it been prophesied at the time of the downfall of the Second Empire that the Republic established in the teeth t of German invasion would be found at the end of more than a generation stronger and more stable than ever, nobody Would have credited the statement. It would have been regarded as quite impossible. The best friends of France did not place reliability among her virtues. Yet she has proved herself most notably staunch to the Republic of 1870, and has given her friends cause to think that she has at last attained to a form of Government suited to her temperament and adapted to the position she holds among the nations- The constitutional monarchy, which has become the Only possible form among British peoples, is in no way antagonistic to the constitutional republicanism which is demonstrated to be an altogether possible form among the French, and the most loyal of British subjects can heartily join in wishing continued permanence to the Republic of France.