THE RIOTS IN PARIS.

Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 563, 26 August 1869, Page 4

THE RIOTS IN PARIS.

(Correspondent of the Ota<jo Daily Times,.) Time was when news of disturbances in Paris, such as we have been in receipt of jluring the past two weeks, would have set all England in a flame ; but we have become sq accustomed to hear of insurrectionary movements on the Continent that people ask each other if thovo are any fres,h outbreaks in Paris, in quite a calm and unexcitable manner, as if the subject were not at all an out»of-the way, or unpleasant one. Famjljarity breeds con* tempt. Frencli street rows have lost their novelty, and the news that five or six hun- > dreds of revolutionists, a day are arrested in Paris, is received certainly without surprise, almost wjth equanimity ; and yet, to an observer who does not profess to be behind the scenes, or to search for causes, the aspect of affairs in France has been sufficiently seriops to excite alarm. Those who do profess to be bphind the scenes, or to be better acquainted than their neighbors, are divided in their opinion as to whether the disturbances have teen genuine, or " got up" for the purpose of preventing legitimate and more serioug outbreaks. Nobody, of pomrse really knpws, but everybody is right, especially the editors pf the newspapers,, ' who, are abqnt as wisp as fs}£ r P e °pl e : ?n the. meantime, matters gp qii 'as, tigual in Franpe, which means that they gp on p(iffer.enfcly to any other conntry. Disturbances take place, arrests are made, editors and proprietors of newspapers are fined and imprisoned, the mob in the streets sing the " Marseillase ;" the Emperor, while the revolutionists are shouting, says bravely, "I will go out for a ride ;" the Empress says devotedly, " And I will accompany you ;" they ride o\vfc, unattended ; the spies and police in plain clothes who crowd the streets cry "Vive l'Empereus !" and "We want tranquility !" and "We desire peace !" The Emperor and his gallant lady bow and are bowed to ; and then they drive home and the Government journals are filled with accounts of the devotion of the people to the Imperial rule. Altogether, it reads like the plot of a play ; all the circumstances fall in such regular order, that one may reasonably bo excused for believing that the whole affair is aiTanged before hand. No one expected that the elections would pass off without disturbances ; disturbances have occurred, and everybody is thankful they are no worse. Although there were the usual election riots during the course of the election, nothing occurred to excite serious alarm until the Bth of June, when, according to the Gazette des Tribuvmtx, "fifty workmen and boys marched along the Boulevard Montmartre singing the Marseilleise." Their numbers swelled as they marched, until they presented a formidable body of roughs. Their proceedings, however, were of a comparatively mild character ; they smashed the gas lamps on the Boulevard de Belleville and Faubourg dv Temple, ransacked a cafe or two, and set fire to the koisk of a newsvendor. The authorities were on the alert, and by their prompt . action order was restored before midnight, not, however, without several persons being arrested. The Prefect of Police issued proclamations callingupon all peaceful citizens to aid in the preservation of peace, and urging them to keep within doors, and not swell the crowds which might assemble in the streets. On the following day, three of the editors of the Reveil were arrested upon the charge of . conspiring against the State. On the same day there were disturbances at Nice, chiefly directed against the foreign policy of the Empire ; many hundreds of people inarching through the streets, crying, — " Hurrah for Garibaldi !" " Down with France !" On the 10th, more eerious riots occurred in Paris, and attempts were made to erect barricades ; but barricademaking in new Paris is a very difficult thing to what it was in past years. They are erected with more difficulty, and demolished more easily. In the Boulevard Montmartre, where the attempt to build the barricade was made, the gas was extinguished, and cafes were sacked of their furniture to block up the street. Earlier in the evening, the proclamations of the Prefect of Police were torn from the walls, and numerous parties of insurgents sang the Marseillaise, and shouted "Vive la Republique !" Many of the rioters had armed themselves* with great bars of iron, which afterwards were found inthestreets ; with these weapons they did much mischief, smashing everything before them. The shopkeepers had been warned by the police, and had taken the precaution of closing all their shops. Skirmishes between the police and the rioters took place up to one o'clock in the morning, at which time the latter were dispersed, more than 500 of them being arrested. Although the troops were held ready for emergency, they were not called out, and order was restored solely by the police, aided by the Garde de Paris. Amongst the papers against which prosecutions have been instituted for encouraging demonstrations against the Emperor is the liwppel, some of the staff of which have been arrested, while others (among them two sons of Victor Hugo) have fled, aud taken refuge in Brussels. The latest news from Paris is that quiet is almost completely restored, and the Bourse is recovering from the state of agitation into which it was/ thrown. Among the persons arrested were a few Englishmen, who have been identified and set at liberty. Thus ends the little French Revolution of 1869. As an amusing proof of what the French thought of it, a tradesman in the Boulevard Montmartre, where the principal disturbances occurred, placed a. placard on his shop-front, " Windows for seeing the ■emeutes, seats two francs and upwards."