No. 111.
Mr. Noyes
to Mr. Evarts.
Legation of
the United States,
Paris, December 21, 1877.
(Received January 2.)
No. 44.]Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a
translation of the message of President McMahon, delivered to the Senate and
Chamber of Deputies on Friday last, but received at too late an hour to be
sent in the last dispatch-bag. It is a document which has been received with
general satisfaction as marking by a solemn declaration the sincere
acceptance by the Chief of State of real parliamentary government in France,
and as a permanent solution of the long and harassing series of ministerial
crises which have marked the struggles of parties during the past seven
months.
I have, &c.,
[Page 169]
[Inclosure in No.
44.—Translation.]
MESSAGE OF PRESIDENT McMAHON.
The elections of the 14th of October once more affirmed the confidence of
the country in republican institutions. In obedience to parliamentary
rules, I have formed a cabinet, selected from the two chambers, composed
of men resolved to defend and maintain those institutions by the sincere
practice of the constitutional laws. The interest of the country demands
the termination of the crisis we are traversing. It demands with not
less force that it shall not be renewed. Recourse to the right of
dissolution is only, in fact, a supreme mode of consulting a judge
without appeal, and cannot be erected into a system of government. I
deemed it my duty to make use of that right, and I conform to the reply
of the country. The constitution of 1875 founded a parliamentary
republic by establishing my irresponsibility, while it instituted the
joint and individual responsibility of the ministers. Thus are
determined our respective duties and rights. The independence of the
ministers is the condition of their responsibility. These principles,
derived from the constitution, are those of my government. The end of
this crisis will be the starting-point of a new era of prosperity; all
the public powers will co-operate in promoting its development. The
accord established between the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies,
henceforth certain of regularly reaching the expiration of its
commission, will enable the great legislative works demanded by the
public interests to be completed. The Universal Exhibition is about to
be opened. Commerce and industry are about to take a new spring; and we
shall give the world a fresh testimony of the vitality of our country,
which has always revived through labor, through thrift, and through its
profound attachment to ideas of conservation, order, and liberty.
