THE THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC.

Otago Witness, Issue 2883, 23 June 1909, Page 86

THE THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC.

"The Third French Republic," by is a very simple, straightforward, and on the whole unprejudiced record of the history of the Third French Republic. Never did an institution come to birth under conditions more inauspicious. France, affceT she had first been made prostrate by the terrific victories of Germany over her, had an even mow trying hour when her own people rose in civil war ; and the Commune had to be drowned in an ocean of blood. I am one of those who looked at these agonies of .trance, and saw them, in a way, from -quite near ; and I recall those days still ■with an ever-fresh feeling of grief and something approaching to despair. I saw the burnt Tuileries as they had been left by the petroleum of the Communists, and other pubiic buildings also half-burnt, with the words Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity chalked still on their sacred walls — one of the most ironical contrasts of human society and history. And I quite understand bow so many people thought that the last hour of a France grsat and commanding in her position had sounded. If you want to realise and recall what Frraioe was like at that epoch — immediately aftei the destruction aud defeat of the Commune — you cannot find it better than in the following passage, j written by Theophile Gautier, one of the literary men of th-e time, of the convoy of the Communards after they had been j taken -prisoners by the troops of the Go- ! vernment. One aches still as -one realises the meaning of the passage : It was terribly hot. The sun's rays were like' molten lead. The poor wretches, brought from Paris on foot by horsemen who involuntarily hastened them on, were unable to continue their way after the fatigue of fighting. Scared, panting, dripping with sweat, they had been obliged to lie down as if they were a herd of cattle, halted by drovers at the entrance of a town. . . . An ardent, inextinguishable tKinst devoured these unfortunates, worn out by the intense heat and the dread of approaching death, for many believed that they were to be shot at the end of the march. They gasped and panted like hounds in the chase, crying with hoar&e voice, "Water ■ water! water!" In such a state even beasts would have inspired pity. The dimensions of the struggle, and of the Nemesis, can be realised by this quotation from oui author himself z . . . the arrests continued. They went on indeed for years, until the numbers of those toied approached, oU,UjO. There were even denunciations of no fewer than 350.000 people. Not before 1875 did the court-martials cease to sit for the purpose of judging persons ■suspected of active participation in the Commune. A decade later, an amnesty interverfed to close this most terrible episode of a teirible war. But it did not entirely efface on either side the bitter memory of mutual wrongs suffered. This was only one of the many difficulties which confronted the new Government. I Temember the horror and surprise with which I found years ago, when travelling through different parts of Southern i*'ranee, that there were so many people who had no -education. Ykm could then find there, in the Pya'enees and in the Basque provinces, thousands of people who spoke only the local patois and did . not Understand a word of French ; and I dare say the same was true of Brittany. This is easily explained if the' statistics of Mr Lawton are correct — namely, that '£6 per cent, of the male population couid not write their names when Louis Napoleon and his Empire came to an end. — Some Great Men. — In the course of the narrative Mr Lawton gives very rapid, but often very graphic, portraits of the great men by whom France lias been brought out of the Land of Bondage in which Sedan left her. There is something very touching in the firsts moment when the French army once more raised its head and began to show that, though humiliated and decimated, it still existed. Here is the scene ; it is worth quoting as the first symptom of that resurrection Irom her a^he,s which even then was, beginning in France : At Longcaai.ips, 120,000 men, 15,000 being- cawtlry, defiled before Thiers and the National Assembly. In spite of threadbare un:fonn*, they looked proud and once more confident. Those present were moved, seeing Monsieur Thiers, as the troops marched past, bite his lips, pull his spectacle* up and down over h:s swimming eyes, pi ess his fingers into ths 2 3 aliiis uf his hands, tap with his fcot, and draw up his short .Nature at inteivals majestically. At la^t MacMahon came to «ilute him. Then the grand, little old man ru>hed down to meet the ma'.&hal, took his hands,, and, overwhelmed with emotion, burst into tears. MacMahon himself stood

ivith cheeks that were suspiciously w-et.

It was, as everybody knows, Thiers who first succeeded in routing France from her stupor, and there are many sketches of moments in the life of thik very remarkable man which I would wish to reproduce if space permitted. I must content myself with one. It is known that one of the foibles of Thiers was his extraordinary self-confidence. This little man, scarcely more than fire feet high, was said to be ready to ■undertake at very short notice any duty whatsoever. This is what lends spice to the following anecdote;

On one occasion, speaking of a pereon who was soliciting the post of director at the Sevres, porcelain manufactory, he remarked:

"He Is no more ior the place

•Chan lam for -= •""

'JDhere was a pause, during which, the gentleman with -wiom he was in conversation exclaimed : "Aha ! Monsieur Thiers, confess that you are at a loss to say what you cannot dor' "That's true; that's true," acknowledged Thiers, smiling. — rPresident MacMahon. — It was a strange change from this brilliant little journalist and man of letters to MacMahon, liis successor — the simplej honest, but very dull soldier of whom the Royalists made use. Thiers occasionally toc<k- bis revenge by telling stories about JtJLacMa-hon which xllustHsated the intellectula gulf that stretched between them. Here is one of these stories : "Aha,"' he said on one occasion, standing with his back to the fire in Ms drawnig rcom as he was wont, "have you heard MacMahon's last? He went to the hospital to see some sick soldiers.

'And what has been the matter with

you?' he asked a patient. 'Scarlet fever, toon general." "Ah ! bad thing that. It either lulls a man or makes

an idiot of him. I have had it; I

ought to know." It was MacMahon's keen sense of "honour that saved the Republic at a very critical moment. I learn from these pages for the first time t-hat the -Comte de Chambord — tone legitimist Pretender — did actually come to France wliile the fate of the country, es between monarchy and the maintenance of the Republic, lay trembling in the balance. MacMahon was always a Legitimist, and it was calculated that he would have helped the Pretender to jump on tc the throne. From Versailles, whene the French. Parliament then sat, Chambord sent a -message to Macaiaihon asking him to come to him, and he was Teady tc propose that MacMahon should introduce kirn into the Assembly or at a great military review, and in. that enable him, by a sort of peaceful coup d"ctat, to jump on to the throne. MacMahon, fortunately, considered himself bound in honour\to take no step to destroy the Republic, and refused. "I should be happy t-o sacrifice my life for him," was nis answer to the Gouite de Ghambord, '"but could not sacrifice my honour." And so the exile had to return to exile, where ultimately he died ; and the Republic was saved by one of its worst enemies.

The maintenance of the Republic is largely due to the very good run of luck France has had and the steady growth of her resources and her wealth. This rebirth of prosperity came just at the moment when the Comte de Chambord and the otner Royalists >vere hoping to destroy the 'Republic and bring back the old regime. ' Not only did iiacMahon fight against reaction, but also the times and seasons ; for here is what occurred at this most fateful moment in the struggle between the Republic and its enemies : The fact was that, 'notwithstanding the financial burden, the groping after a new order of things, and the fr-equent alarms caused by t Bismarck's standing on the other side of the frontier with his big stick, which b.e raised threateningly at intervals, ths nation was becoming prosperous under the new regime. Even Nature was clement in the years immediately following the . war. Between 1872 and 1877 the mean temperature rose steadily ; harvests were plentiful, the soil yielded everything in abundance, and industry had its share in tne flush of material prosperity. The land was proving, as old Rabelais said, Eiisha's barrel of oil that wasted not. .Moreover, with the light heart so characteristic of their race, the French peoj>le were forgetting their troubles, and were setting themselves with zest to' the task of repairing their disasters, lhe country, from one end to the other, became a humming hive, happy to be able to produce and save in accordance with its temperament. And, best of all, the appeal to all classes for the payment -of the war debt had created a permanent interest in public affairs,, M'ider and deeper than had previously been shown, since a larger portion of the population were instructed, and were In a position to understand the issuf-s that were being debated. Gambstta's electoral speeches had fallen on fertile ground, and were bringing forth fruit thirty-fold, with promise of the hundred-fold. Concurently with this individual renascence the various administrations laboured perhaps -as they had never laboured before. Public workr were undertaken in rail and water-ways, destined to provide more rapid communication between the length and breadth of the territory. Mac--Mahon threw himself into the work of perfecting the army reforms inaugurated by Tliierfe. and of providing additional defences for the frontiers ai:d the capital. East and west and north and . c outh fortresses and fortified camps sprang jp as if by magic, 'ac.uaiion ultimately had to resign when the country, aftar stirring appeals by .jjnueUa, had defeated the reactionary .Ministry which he had brought iiito po-.ver; and then MacMalion behaved with all his fp.'eat native dignity and honesty. But it is curie Ua to read that Cambetta — i he giK-.to9t man y*t produced by the Third Republic, and one who^e jnemoiy , aud p-cmtijn grow with the -advancing yeare — should never hare baen invited by jJac.Maiiaii to put his foot inside the fclysee Palace, even when the President v.-as giving entertainments to which all ' parties were invited. - — Improvements. — I have not time to say anything about the Dreyfus affaire — the most serious of all tbe perils through which the French Republic has had to pass ; it will be found &et forth in this book, fully, clearly, and impartially. I pass on to the many signs of improvement, in boih the intellectual and social condition, which have tik«u

jplatfc iri fTramce thrring iihe 40 years of th« Republic regime. I "have already "told how &8 cem), of males could not write their .names iwihsn the Empire fell } I should add that the percentage among women was 44. The number of illiterates has run down now to 4.7 per cent. foS males and 7.2 for females, whicb. practically means that illiteracy has disappeared from France. There are good schools for secondary education. In 1878 the number of these school was 40 ; they 'have steadily increased until to-day there ■ -are nearly 400 _of, them, and they xeoeive, not 1(30,000 francs a yeai: — which was "the niggardly subsidy on which they started in 1878 — bufc 0,UU0,030 francs, from the Government. In t«he elementary school education is free,as with us; but in these higher schools there is a fee of £10 — not too high, a Rim for the comfortable bourgeoisie to pay for the education of -bbeir .children. IT-bis im the plan of . -education in these higher schools : The' teaching here is frankly professional, yet real. It as not an apprenticeship, nor is the school a workshop. Together with a more extended study of the subjects taken up on the lower elementary schools^ modern languages, more advanoed mathematics, geometric drawing, designing, and modelling are on the programme ; and, ior girls, cut-ting-out and putting together ir dressmaidag. Further, an attempt had been made to diversify the teaching and studies according to the region : ji, which the sonool is situated; and, for the

second year, to give subjects connected with either agriculture, manufacturing, 1 or commerce the prominence dictated

by each reion ' where these occupations

are paramount. There are many other educational institutions, some entirely, or almost entirely, free Iroon UovernmiKn't control. Thris book, when dealing' with "that side of French .like under the Third fiepublic, confirms an impression I have always got durjng any lengthened stay in Paris— namely, that t&are is an •extraordinary amount of intellectual activity stirring ths heart and pulses of France tiuxragh and through at -this moment. It is in university education that perhaps "the greatest advance lias Iveeai made by the Republic When tiie Second Empire was in exist-! ence university education languished to a large extent ; even the historic Sorbonne had lost a good deal of jts old powea: and renown. The provincial universities had also languished almost to death. Now the Sorbonne has been T-eoonstifcuted, six provincial universities - revived, and eight more provincial universities created. —Tie Army.— * Another institution which has been .greatly improved undeT the Republic is the army. There was no issue whidh excited more violent' controversy, -the disputants being those who wished ■to make it the instrument of- the Bevancbe, the Restoration, or both; those w.ho wished to abalish it altogether, and "those who wished to transform.it into an organisation aiming only, at defence and education in civic virtues. The last have so far -triumphed. They have triumphedi because they based their reforms upon a satisfaction of the national " sentiment. This sentiment demanded that the army should be 'thoroughly effective, and superior in every respect to what it was before the war. Towards the attainment of isuch efficiency and superiority all parties coniiibutefj. Parliament n-ever hesitated to • vote the annual sums of money required. Every possible improvement in arms and equip- - ment and tactics was eagerly sought, and adopted as soon as found. Between 1870 and 1903 the active forces on a peace footing were .raised from 394^000 to over 600,000 men, and the War Budget was proportionately increased from

j 376 to 68b millions. I The effect ot these measranes»-was 'to lead not only to a recovery, but to a quick recovei'y in the militairy strength of France ; and that account's for the alliances which the {government has Ix&en aWe ; to make with Russia and with England, and also i<xr tbe more respectful tone which is now adopted towards her by U«Tmany. It looks as if one consequence of the democraticisatkra of the army, wtnea 'has goite on •is the abandoiunent of the old idea that war should be made for the recovery of "the lost provinces. "Fate," says Mr Lawton, ""which is stronger than will, has mad© the reconquest of Alsace-Lorraine an impossibility. Tins, I have reason to believe, represents now the settled conviction of most Frenchmen. It is a fact which I note rathsr than like, for I have suways thought the tearing away frdm the heart . of France of people who were so passionately French was an unforgivable crime against human liberties and human rights. Perhaps the day may oom9 when_, with a democratic government substituted in Germany for the narrow and stupid and arogant military dictatorship by which she is now governed, a solution may ha found of vhis difiiculty at once peaceful and, while respecting the safety of Germany, restoring the right of free choice of nationality to the oppressed people of tie lost -provinces. — Socialism. — The most difficult and perilous of all the internal problems of France is the strong leaning of so many of her people towards Socialism, and the determination of some of them to attain to that ideal by violent and Tevolut&rsary means. There have bean seme high-minded Socialists and philanthropists who have sought a solution of paeiSc methods and by shining example. Here, foj instance, is the case of a very interesting experiment; it is what is known as the Familisters of tauise: The founder of this Familistere was a Monsieur A. J. B. Godin. In his early manhood a journeyman tinker. h»

•was converted; to- the doctrines of Four- r Ties and Saiut-Simoir. Having- managed ta save enough money to start business on 'Ms own account, be established: at Gaise a small manufactory of kitchen, ntensfls and heating; apparatus. Wishing f o try the experiment of associating Ms employees with himself and fanning a sort of phalanstery, lie built a block, of dwelling-flats on a piece of. ground close to tbe worfes, rented these at. a low rate to the workmen, and beigan, at the same time, to- distribute to them ar portion of his profits, and to instruct them in the scheme. In 1880t tbe association proper was created. Monsiear Godin invested in it a capital / of 4.600,000 francs in. the name of the corporate members, send, received in Men. a yearly salary of 15,000- francs^ When, the yearly expenses' of Cher concerns, inchidrng the education of tbe children, "belonging to the- FamilisCere, w-ere paid, the remaining- profits wer« shared amongaH trie members according^ to- the salary of each:. Br round numbers this division meant two-th&da for tbe. workmen andl one-third for. Mmself. However, instead of paying; tie profit* in: cash, be used them to convert the men into share■hoidepsy so that the- original capital might be paid off. At .his death, the redemption not being- completely effected, he bequeathed: over a million and and a-half to the Familistexe for that purpose—French Women. — ' ' Finally, Mr Lawton notes a change in even the position and upbringing of women — one of tbe points in French life on which opinion: is most conservative, There are now in. France wotnen Barris- , ters, women journalists, and women doctors, and many great businesses are in. the 'bands of women. There is even a movement, though as yet a weak one, for admitting women into political life. Even: that familiar, touching, and pure figure,, the jeune fille, kept in a band-box until her marriage of convenience with a hus- | band chosen not by herself but by her ' parents even she seems to be fad- ' ing from the life of France. In another generation or two,. prophesies Mr Lawton, she wil have disappeared. "Ths freer afcnrospher-e- in wbic-it i'r-snch, girls axe now being, brought up is one of tire changed elements in social life which will most affecfc th& nation's history."—T.P.'s Weekly. - I