THE GLOBE. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1880. THE FRENCH MINISTRY.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2053, 22 September 1880, Page 2

THE GLOBE. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1880. THE FRENCH MINISTRY.

A cablegram informs ua to-day that M. Freycinot, the French Premier, has resigned, and has been succeeded by M. Ferry. No reasons are given for this change, but M. Freycinet’s position has, for some time, been somewhat an unpleasant one. No one can feel, surprised that ho has eventually found the pressure too strong, and has saved his dignity by retiring from the leadership. And, reviewing the causes of his collapse, it will be seen that, perhaps, nothing has tended towards it so strongly as the action of the Ministry with regaid to the amnesty of the Communists. The almost plenary amnesty which was finally decided upon was not the original platform of the Freycinet Cabinet. On the contrary a partial amnesty alone was decided upon, and it was simply in consequence of the pressure brought to bear on them by M. Gambotta that the more extended measure was carried. When M. Gambetta accepted the position of President of the Chamber of Deputies much admiration was felt at his disinterestedness. It was recognised that he might, had he so wished it, have taken M. Grevy’s place as President, on the resignation of Marshal Macmahou. But it was thought that he wished to devote his talents and attainments to maintaining in the Chamber • that freedom of action, based on constitutional laws, which ho had always strongly advocated, and that, in fact, he would thenceforth watch paternally over the offspring he had reared with such care. But “ homme propose, Dieu dispose,” and events have proved too strong for the great tribune. The tide of radicalism has widened and gained force, the power of the Buonapartists and Legitimists has waned, and M. Gambetta has found that to remain stationary was to lose his grasp over events. Whether ho intends to ■land for the next Presidency, or whether the Premirship will be taken by him on some future occasion, are moot points. Two things alone are sure, firstly, that he has no intention of becoming a nonentity and being left on the shelf, and, secondly, that his weight in the Freycinet Cabinet was all-powerful and that he had no scruple in using it. The position of President of the Chamber of Deputies is not at all analogous to that of Speaker of the House of Commons. The President has a wide power of “ directing the debates,” and, if he so wills it, has an active as well as a judicial power. This active power M. Gambetta knows well how to use, and combined with his power in the Cabinet, he has still remained by far the most powerful man in France. After the Freycinet Cabinet had determined on the partial amnesty, M. Gambetta may fairly bo said to have forced them to reverse their decision, and to have plainly given out to the world that such a transaction had taken place. The reception given to the minor measure may have warned him that some such move as he has made was necessary if he wished to remain at the head of his party, but nevertheless the dilemma into which it threw the Cabinet must have been most galling to a Premier with any sense of self independence. M. Proyeinot’a Government was held up to the general gaze as one that had not the strength of its convictions, but were ruled altogether by a power behind the throne. The Ministry was never a strong one, but, from that moment, its power naturally decreased with alarming rapidity. What effect the late action with regard to the expulsion of the Jesuits may have had on the announced resignation, it is impossible, without further details, to guess at with any degree of certainty, but it may bo confidently asserted that the affair did not tend to improve the position of the Cabinet, and M. Freycinet has at length succumbed to a combination of events which have strained the power of his weak Government beyond that point where it bad any chance of holding together with benefit to the nation.