THE NEW FRENCH MINISTRY. T HE new French Ministry will have
serious work to do, and. its composition, therefore, is of unusual signifi- cance. The controversy with Germany, which has by no means ended, must be conducted. to a peaceful, and yet honourable, end. The struggle with the Church must be fought through so as to secure the separation between Church and State voted. by the Chambers by such heavy majorities, without, if possible, evoking angry demonstra- tions in districts such as Brittany and Auvergne, where the " devoted " peasants are numerous as well as determined. And lastly, the General Election, which occurs in about two months' time, must be so super- vised that the electors, however passionately moved, shall create no dangerous disturbances. It is; therefore, most significant that the new President—who, though inexperienced in his present function, knows France as thoroughly as his predecessor--;-has favoured the formation Of the most Radical Blinistry which has held power under this Republic. M. Sarrien, tho new Premier, is a convinced. Radical of a very strong type, who, though hitherto declining' office, has for years been described as "the power behind. the throne." So completely is he trusted by his party that, to the amazement of many, M. Clemenceau, the editor of L'Aurore, perhaps the most determined, and certainly the most influential, Radical in France, in spite of his lifelong reluctance to take office, has accepted the Ministry of the Interior ; M. Etienne, who, though anti. militarist, is considered by the Army a success, retains the Ministry of War ; M. Poincar6, who, if we mistake not, wishes for an Income-tax, the one project which even the Radical majority in France have hitherto been unable to carry out, is the new Minister of Finance ; while M. Briand, who drew the Bill for the separation of Church and. State, becomes Minister of Justice and Public Worship. A Cabinet in which such men as these occupy the leading positions is sure to be strong, and is, indeed, already nicknamed. by the Moderates, who may prove its most dangerous opponents, the "Ministry of All the Talents," —a descriptive phrase which, however, conveys in France less of the undertone of ridicule than it once conveyed, and would again convey, in this country, France holding that pure intelligence is useful in the men who rule her. It is, therefore, the direction in which this strength will be used which interests observers, and even as to that the names supply us with a definite clue. It will certainly not be a Ministry seeking external quarrels. It appeals as a whole to the body of the French people, who sincerely desire a continuance of peace; while M. Clemenceau, whose resignation would, of course, be fatal to its prospects, 'has always proved himself a severe critic of colonial expansion, and, it may be, doubts whether this is the most opportune time for enforcing the undoubted claim of France to ascendency in Morocco. The Cabinet has, in fact, already instructed its representative at Algeciras to maintain peace, if peace is in any way compatible with the honour of France, and with the independence which a large section of her people believe to be menaced from beyond her north-eastern frontier. The new Cabinet, we feel satisfied, will at least avoid provocations, will continue the Alliance with Russia as a matter of political necessity, and will not only maintain but will strengthen those " friendships " (ententes cordiales) which bind. her to Great Britain, Italy, and possibly Austria, where already it is admitted that the Moroccan question concerns Berlin much more directly than Vienna.
It is by its conduct in respect to the question of separa- tion that the new Cabinet will be judged. by Frenchmen, and. there are already indications as to what that conduct will be. The Ministry will pursue what is known as the Radical policy unswervingly, but with more patience than M. Bouvier, because he knew himself to be slightly mis- trusted by his majority, was able to display. There is no reason, from the point of view of the new Government, for precipitation, nor is M. Clemenceau, on whom, as Minister of the Interior, the burden of the work will fall, the man to be precipitate. Much of his life has been passed under American influences—he speaks English like an Englishman—and he is probably without the bitterness which in so many French enemies of the Church springs really not so much from hatred as from fear. If we may judge from his utterances of this week as editor of the Aurore, he would rather wait a little until the priesthood become more fully aware that the taking of the inventories was ordered in their interest, as an essential preliminary to the transfer of Church property to the elected. Committees which will hereafter exercise the rights of possession. Until they are elected those rights will appertain to the State, which, it must not be forgotten, may within two months be much more strongly anti- Clerical, for—and. this is one of the many reasons which make the appointment of M. Clemenceau so supremely important—the whole matter is about to be settle). by a virtual plebiscite. The pivot of the coming General Election will be the separation question, which the Clerical Order, most imprudently as we think, have suddenly by their recent demonstrations flung in the face of the electors. Everybody can now see that either the Church or the State must win ; and unless we utterly misread the instincts of French electors, a heavy majority will decide against the Church. In places, no doubt, the anti-Clericals will be defeated, in one or two provinces possibly defeated with ignominy; but the French majority under all the three Republics which have reigned in France has always been bitterly anti-Clerical. Their motive is most difficult to discover, for they always deny the preference for paganism which is attributed, to them abroad, but of the fact there can be no question whatever. They always send up Deputies and Senators who refuse to vote down anti-Clerical proposals, even when, as in the case of the liability of candidates for the priesthood to the conscription, the proposals involve perfectly needless insult to the Clerical Order. France may, of course, be under the influence of a reaction ; but we see no reason to think that she will depart from what has been for thirty-five years her continuous predisposition, more especially when the resistance has taken the form of defiance to the permanent idol of French opinion,—the collective State. In any case, the moral effect of the plebiscite must be tremendous, and, if we may judge from the history of France, will certainly daunt those against whom the vote is thrown, and. more especially that caste which, calling itself Nationalist, is really Monarchical, and. is governed much more by political than by religious motives. The " devoted " may stick to their guns on religious grounds ; but the Nationalists are not "devoted," and, deprived of their aid, resistance will, outside Brittany and. Auvergne, be confined to scattered parishes where individual priests really sway the action of the electors by their personal popularity.
Whether the Government can do very much actually to control the elections we scarcely know. Foreigners often make the assumption ; but we, who remember the way Marshal Ma,cMahon was compelled to resign, can- not but regard it as more than doubtful. The Prefets and. sous-Prgfets of France have much of the influence which always accretes to a permanent bureaucracy, but with universal suffrage and a secret ballot even they cannot drive a majority to vote against their private opinions. The ultimate decision will rest in May with the male peasantry of France, and we cannot but question whether M. Fallieres, who knows his countrymen, and the group of extremely able men whom he has helped to select as Ministers will have misread their countrymen so completely as a failure upon the Separation Law would prove them to have done. Democracy keeps its secrets, but it is not so liable to violent rev ulsions of long-manifested. opinion as its enemies comfort themselves with occasion- ally believing. There is, no doubt, a swing of the pendulum in France as in Great Britain, but the swing has ohly once within the last century been decidedly in the direction of the steeple.
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