THE RIOTS IN PARIS. T HE history of Paris and the
circumstances of Europe combine to give importance to the riots which ended on Thursday night. No one, however well he may und.er- stand the decline in the power of mobs, swing to the introduction of quick-firing rifles, and the amazing im- provements in artillery, ever quite rids himself of the impression that in Paris a riot may end in a rising, a rising in a revolution, a revolution in one of those bursts across the frontier by which excited France has so often relieved the surcharge of blood in her head. As things stand now, a Revolutionary Government in France would be sure to be a " patriotic " Government, and would go to war both to avoid opposition from the Army, and to consolidate itself or end itself by victory or defeat. The riots, therefore, were eagerly watched in every capital of Europe, and certainly on Wednesday they seemed. to look bad enough. They began in a student row. The art students had given, as they do every year, a ball, which is a great deal too much after classical fashions to be tolerated by moralists ; and the police, having recently been cautioned that license has gone far enough, and threatens the character of the Republic, interfered. The students protested that as their ball was held in a private house, the police had exceeded their functions ; and though the Magistrate decided against them, and fined their managing committee, they arranged a demonstration against M. Lozd, the Prefect, which speedily grew into a riot. During a scrimmage of the ordinary kind, the students yelling and the police charging, a policeman un- fortunately killed a student named Nuger by a blow on the neck with a porcelain match-box, which was shattered, and cat an artery. We say " unfortunately " because there is uo proof of malice, and the policeman may have been defending himself ; but there is no doubt that the police of Paris are too brutal. Face to face with some of the worst ruffians in the world, accustomed to be attacked with lethal weapons, and always dreading dynamite bombs, the Force is irritable and disposed to violence, goes to extremities at once, injures and arrests men who are quite innocent—they actually on Wednesday arrested all the house-surgeons of the Ilotel-Dieu, the great hospital, because a, medical student had hissed them—and summons too soon the Centre Guard, who are old soldiers armed like soldiers, and must, if they act at all, risk inflicting death. The Guard are terribly unpopular, and it is very doubtful whether a force of Marines or Breton soldiers would not be a much better support in serious emergencies. At all events, the students were infuriated, renewed the riots on Monday, and raised the old revolutionary cry, "They asaassinate us!" Fortunately, though the workmen have a great quarrel on hand with the Premier, who is putting down unregistered Trades-Unions, they did not respond in their thousands ; but the unemployed, the more fanatic Communists, and the criminals did, and on Tuesday and Wednesday there were in Paris all the signs of revolt. The body of the slain student was secretly buried, at his father's request ; the students retreated from the conflict, declaring that they wanted a demonstration and not a revolt ; but th,e evilly-disposed had got the bit in their mouths, and the police were attacked on all sides. They grew furious, and inflicted terrible injuries on the mobs they tried to disperse ; every wounded. man borne away was occasion for a fresh outburst, and the crowds proceeded to pull down the kiosks, to overthrow omnibuses for barricades, and, in two instances at least, to sack private houses. The police were in many places defeated, the workmen began to look menacing and collect round the Bourse of Labour, and the Prefect considered affairs serious enough to apply for orders to the Ministry. He was quite justified, for in an hour or two Paris might have been in the hands of the destructives, and could have been recovered only by a pitiless slaughter like that which repressed the Commune. Fortunately M. Dupuy, the nearly unknown gentleman who is just now Premier in France, is a man of decision and. nerve, and he did the only thing which in such cases is at once merciful and sure to succeed. He called out the garrison of Paris in overwhelming force—it includes, it is said, five thousand cavalry—and directed that rioters should be put down with military rigour. All the dangerous. points were occupied by soldiers ; with every separate division a trumpeter was stationed to give the three summonses which in French law must precede military action ; and the mobs, quite aware that the Government had made up its mind, and that they could not resist regulars fighting as in a campaign, sullenly dis- persed. By Friday, Paris was orderly again ; but it is said that many hundreds of wounded men are in hospital. the bitterness of the disorderly and fanatical classes against the police is excessive, and it is doubtful whether the Government, which must defend the police, or next time they will not act, will on Monday escape censure. It is probable that it will, for the Royalists intend to support it in a body ; but the riots have alarmed the re- spectables, the desire to place M. Constans at the head of affairs has grown strong, and no man can calculate with confidence on the action of the French Chamber. Great blame is attributed on all sides to the police, and the in- tention, it is said, is to sacrifice the Prefect, M. Lozd, who seems to have done his duty reasonably well ; but it is quite possible that the scapegoat may be the Administration itself.
It is this sort of occurrence which makes Paris such a danger to France and the world. If the workmen had. happened to catch fire, as they would if a workman or two had been killed, Paris would have been in insurrection, and could have been subdued only by an unsparing exer- tion of military force. That it would have been subdued, supposing M. Carnot not to have shrunk from the neces- sary orders, there is of course no doubt whatever. No mob in the world, even if every man in it has been drilled, can stand up against modern weapons, or even reach the soldiers who are pouring out that spray of lead. The insurgents may have arms, but they have not artil- lery, repeating-rifles, or a supply of cartridges, and if treated as enemies, their combined resistance, which is however impossible, can only end in a massacre. If the troops are stanch—and there has been no instance in this century of French troops failing to be stanch, unless their legal chief gave way, or led them in revolt—order can always be restored ; but then .there comes the terrible political reckoning. The whole country is wild with terror at the danger it has escaped, and seeks for safety in the rule of some strong man. The Army which has saved the State is master of the State. The representative body is always divided, and usually looks incompetent, and the agitation ends in the elevation of some man accounted strong, be he M. Constans or General Saussier makes no difference, who takes up the reins, who must govern by repression, and who, to distract the people and to secure himself, must cuter upon some great military enterprise. The course is as regular as that of the seasons, and no wonder it alarms Europe, and makes every riot in Paris a matter for Am- bassadors' reports. As Prince Bismarck said recently to Mr. Smalley, "with a volcano on the frontier one naturally observes the crater." The danger is not a bit greater because France is a Republic ; but then, also, it is not a bit less. The troops have obeyed four Presidents as loyally- as any King. The Assembly is as willing to hold down Paris as any Cabinet ever was. The respectables are just as eager for order under a Republic as under a Monarchy or an Empire. But then the disorderly classes are just as ready for confusion, and hate the Republic as they have hated every other form of Government. The Republic, in fact, cannot solve their " question " any more than any other Government can ; and as their panacea is Revolution, they are ready to revolt whenever they perceive a chance. They have nothing to lose except their lives ; and the moment a breach in the crushing superstructure of social order gives them a hope they care nothing about their lives, and Paris must be held like a captured city. So far as can be perceived, there is no remedy. One might possibly be found in a Poor-Law, which removes the dangerous incite- ment of hunger ; but until that is passed, Paris, as the most interesting city in the world, is sure to attract too many people; the residuum, as in all pleasure-cities, is sure to hate the prosperous ; and there will therefore, from time to time, be scenes which make the most Liberal of French- men disbelieve that Paris can be safe for a week without a garrison able to hold it down by force.
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