THE WAR.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 16, 13 May 1871, Page 1

THE WAR.

The breaking out of the war between France and Prussia was startling enough; the terrible records of that war were looked on as woeful in the extreme; but certainly this last news from Paris is the most extraordinary of all. The other day the Parisians were in the most desperate straits. Between famine and the Prussians they were placed hors de combat. When they accepted the terms of the former, it was naturally supposed that the starved citizens had had enough of bloodshed for a time. The last mail news certainly informed us that insurgents had possessed themselves of one of the forts in the environs, but few were prepared to think that this outbreak would swell to such dimensions, much less be marked by such atrocities. The words of the Emperor Wilhelm, that the present condition of France is the result of her former revolutions, are abundantly borne out by the aspect of affairs. The old spirit of the Mountain burns as fiercely in the sans culottes of to-day as it did in the residents of the Faubourg St. Antoine in the Reign of Terror. It would appear, however, from our second message, that the dreadful work going on between the Communists and the supporters of law and order has been mainly the result of the indecision of Thiers. Accepting this view of the matter, it affords another illustration of the necessity for putting aff such manifestations in critical

times with the strong hand; altnough it is no difficult matter to realise the motives of a patriot like Thiers in being unwilling to spill the blood of his misguided countrymen. A similar feeling allowed the rupture in the United States of America to grow into such strength as to call tor the uttermost efforts of the loyal States to preserve the Union. The desperate men who forced on that war calculated on the horror inspired by spilling fellow citizens blood, and by the nefarious acts of the demagogue finally succeeded in rousing the whole people into a frantic state of enthusiasm. How much the terrible scenes lately enacted at Paris have been due to the machinations of intriguers we are unable to judge ; but as the deposed Emperor and the Orleanists have their friends striving for their reinstatement, it is reasonable to suppose they would naturally seek the most ignorant and discontented of the population to practice upon, and stick at nothing to accomplish their end. There can be no doubt that the Reds will be put down. The Parisian mob have Gone more to check the spread of democracy in Europe than all the laches of despotisms during the last century. The very latest news from Paris is, however,. of a more re-assuring nature, and, for the credit of humanity, we hope the insurrection is really crushed.