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November 20, 1852.] THE LEADER. 1107 , ¦...
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GENERAL riKUCK ELECTED PRESIDENT. Ah wo ...
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TIIK K A I'M It. WAIt. Tnrc Propont.is, ...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Letters From Paris. [From Our Own Cobres...
m presence of this Government , the murderer of fhe -people , the assassin of the Republic , and the violator f the laws , of this Government created by force , and hicb . must perish by force—of this Government raised hv crime , and which must be overthrown by right—the frenchman worthy of the name of citizen knows not , will ot know if there be somewhere the semblance of a ballot , fh 0 comedy . of universal suffrage , and the parody of an eal to the nation ; he does not ask himself if there be who vote wh to vote—if there be
-men , or men o cause a ? erd called the Senate , which deliberates , and another herd called the people , which obeys ; he does not ask himself if the Pope be about to consecrate at the high altar of Notre Dame the man who—do not doubt it , for it is the inevitable f uture—will be chained to the pillory by the executioner . In presence of M . Bonaparte and his Government , the citizen worthy of the name only does one thing , and has only one thing to do—load his musket and await the hour . Vive la Kepublique !"
This last proclamation is signed ( and probably written ) by Victor Hugo . The publication of such formidable appeals to the people has had an electrical effect . The entire population of Paris was instantly astir . All Paris was a-foot , —working-men , tradesmen , lower cIpss , middle class , intent upon reading in the face of each the impression of all . A sort of agitation seized the great city . Yet it was nothing compared with the excitement that prevailed in official regions . Many consider themselves utterly ruined- Bonaparte was immediately sent for by electric telegraph . He was hunting at Fontainebleau , but on receipt of the despatch hastened back from Paris , leaving stag and hounds to finish fheir day .
As to the protest of Henri V ., although very moderate in tone , it has not the less an immense significance under existing circumstances . First , —it throws many Iblind and vacillating spirits , ever ready to embrace the first comer , into doubt , whether in the shape of Monarchy it were not better to return to the true Monarchy , the legitimate Monarchy which alone can be the guarantee of all rights , rather than to a Monarchy of chance , destitute alike of principle and consistency . Second , —this protest is followed by instructions emanating from the Comte de Chambord himself , in which he invites all Legitimists , the noblesse , and the clergy , to abstain from voting , and to use all their influence to induce others to abstain
likewise . This , you see , becomes a serious matter . If the Legitimists , the Republicans , and the Orleanists universally and rigorously should abstain from voting , and if the ballot were regularly and fairly taken , Bonaparte could not get more than two million votes . Unfortunately , the absence of all control , and the facility of falsifying the result , will give the matter quite another turn . Au rente , Bonaparte has just been taking measures to make the handling of the balloturns and the shaking of the votes more pat than ever ,
and to prevent the chance of a diminished majority . The electoral law which he decreed last February appointed th e scrutators of the ballot to bo chosen from the two eldest and two youngest of the electors present . JJut now , violating- his own law , he has just sent orders to the Prefects to select and appoint the scrutators themselves . Assuredly , this is a very convenient system , and if he don't get a handsome majority with such tools , why ! all we can say is , that ho plnys with fortune !
The secret distribution and placarding of this proteat of the Comte do Chambord haul occasioned a great number of domiciliary visits at Metz , Dijon , Nantes , and in ninny other places . On tho other hand , the Prefects havo begun to issue their proclamations to tho electors . A kind of vertigo KeeniH to lmvo seized upon those pitiablo functionaries . To read tho stylo of their addresses , ono would say that they had lost their sensoH . " After you havo g iven . your votes , " exclaims tho Prefect of Calvados , " you
Ol >» way as your fathers did before you , — ' And wo , too , served in tho ( jrande . amice . '" Another Prefect ( of tho Haute Vienne ) conjures his administrfo to voto properl y , hi order that he may gain promotion . " Como , 11 ( w , this won ' t do , " you will . say , — " this is not to be boliovod . " To banish your doubts , I give you tho very textual extract lrom his proclamation : — " Don't allow . Your department to bo outdone in this solemn acclamation , but ; £ ive to your chief administrator , to the man w Ji <> desires lo obtain many things for you , tho honour ° 1 attesting the value ol' ( defdire va / oir ) your patriotic
< "itlmsiasin . " Tho fawning bishops employ their authorit y after tho same fashion . They lmvo -issued e l » m : opal inundates to be read by their parochial clergy in the churohen . The Hishop of ¦ Honmw has 1 'iiHieulnrl y distinguished himself in this kind of zeal , lli * lwivo you to judgo by the following extract , from h >« mandate : — « We Hay to you , then : 'Vote , and ' niiko those vote whoso confidence you possess , in favour ° ' tho KonutfiH-CoiiHuHo which is about to be submitted * " lie ratification of Franco . Let every man put . a Y > [ in tho electoral urn ! Ho the counsel lorn of your olnxliont flocks , stimulate their natural indifference , aud
direct their votes . Fear nothing . If needs be , invoke our authority to shelter yourselves , and to throw upon us all the responsibility of a measure which our conscience accepts sans peur et sans reprocke . " In the meanwhile , the whole population manifests the greatest apathy about the election—the most utter indifference . At Paris , not a soul cares a jot about the rectification or verification of the electoral lists , nor about the delivery of electoral tickets . The authorities are alarmed , and the Prefect of the Seine has ordered voting tickets to be sent by post , or by special agents , to all the electors . A quasi-general abstention is anticipated at Paris and in all the great towns in France . The army no longer has the right of voting you know that makes a difference of 500 , 000 votes , at least : add
to this Paris and the towns : at least one million votes . Well , in spite of all these and further deductions , Louis Bonaparte is quite capable of asserting a total of 8 , 760 , 000 votes . For my own part , I reckon on this imposing total as if I had manufactured it myself . This week , there has been one of those grand movements on the Bourse , of which I have , in former letters , described the organization on a large scale , to the profit of Bonaparte and of MM . Fould and Rothschild . For some time past , a mass of outsiders , attracted to the
Bourse by the artificial rise , operated by the great adepts in the funds of the State and of the Bank , had taken to speculate furiously . In one second , the fluctuations in railway stock would be ten , twenty , thirty , and even fifty francs . The movement was so violent , that fortunes were made in a single bout on Change , ( en une seule Bourse ) The stock-brokers , interested in encouraging this speculation , obeying , too , the orders they had received from high quarters , were always easy enough about the settling .
An inordinate rage for gambling and speculation of all kinds ensued . Merchants , manufacturers , shopkeepers , artisans , operatives , men of fortune , left their business or their pleasure to dabble in the Bourse . The rise being continuous , everybody played a sure card . Shares had risen 350 francs in four months ; in fact they had almost doubled . Unfortunately , the speculators reckoned without their host : in other words , without MM . Bonaparte and Co . On Thursday , November 11 , down came an order from this now notorious Firm to the stockholders to demand of every speculator 150 francs deposit on each share . A panic
ensued . A fall of 105 francs a share was the work of a few minutes . Tin revanche , fourteen millions ( of francs ) is said to be profit realized by the gentlemen who rule us , in this infamous haul ( coup de filet ) . Now they will let the funds mount up again till the end of the month , to coax the appetites of ( pour rafriander ) the speculators , and so once more to take advantage of the high quotations . As for the inferiors ( doublures ) of the Elysen , not being admitted to these high speculations of their masters , they are allowed to manipulate the secondary jobs . These supernumeraries take it out of the army contracts . They are preparing a great change in the head-dress of the army . The schako is to be entirely
abandoned for the casque . This will be an expense of some ten millions ( of francs ) to the country , anda profit of from four to five millions ( of francs ) to these " saviours " of ours . After that ono may surely cry Vive VEnvpe reurJ All the while condemnations and transportations go on bravely . At Rouen , some working-men who had spoken ill of the President wero lately condemned to two years imprisonment . When they heard their sentence they shouted Vive In Rcpublique Dcmocratique ! The judges recalled them , and sentenced them to two years additional . Seven more citizens in the south were transported on the 10 th instant to Algeria . On tho sumo day eleven others wore shipped for Cayenne . ° *
November 20, 1852.] The Leader. 1107 , ¦...
November 20 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 1107 , ¦— ¦¦ i in ¦ - ¦—¦ — ii « .-. ^ i — ~ ' ¦ ""' — - ' ¦ - ' i i ¦ i i ...... . i " ~^* " ~^~! ^^^ m' .. "Tt ^ T . '_ ^^ ^_^^ i ^^—i ^ i ^ WM—^^—
General Rikuck Elected President. Ah Wo ...
GENERAL riKUCK ELECTED PRESIDENT . Ah wo have all along foretold that Franklin 1 Merer would ho elected president of the Transatlantic republic , it is some satisfaction to find that tho intelligence brought by the Europa , on Tuesday , confirms our predictions . The J'Juropa left New York on the 3 rd . It may ho regarded as beyond doubt , that the Democrats have carried the day , and that ( Jeneral Pierce is elected president , and Williuni If .. King , vicepresident of tho United States . True , we have not the returns of any ono State yet officially complete , but enough in known to decide the fate of tho election .
OOHM I'Olt TIIK I ) KM OCR ATM . State of Maine , 8 olo . Otorul voLoh ; New Hampshire , & \ I ' oniiNylvania , 27 ; Virginia , lfi ; South Carolina , 7 ; ( Georgia , 10 ; Florida , 3 ; Indiana , 13 ; IHiiioiH , 11 ; Iowa , 4 ; Winoonsin , 5 ; Michigan , ( I ; Missouri , 1 ); Alabama , i >; Minm ' sHippi , 7 ; Arkansas , 4 ; Toxas , 4 . Total , 147 votes . 1 Hhould here remark that wo havo no telegraphies from Toxais ; but thait State has evor been so overwhelmingly democratic that there need ho no hesitation in putting down her four voto » uh certain for Pierce and King .
Gone fob the Whigs . —Vermont , 5 votes ; Ehode Island , 4 ; Connecticut , 6 ; Delaware , 3 ; Maryland , 8 ; North Carolina , 10 ; Kentucky , 12 ; Tennessee , 12 ; total , 60 . Doubtful ( or rather States not yet sufficiently heard from in all parts to enable us to regard their votes as certainties ) . —Massachusetts , 13 votes ; New York , 35 ; New Jersey , 7 ; Ohio , 23 ; Louisiana , 6 ; California , 4 ; total , 88 . There is no doubt , in fact , that Franklin Pierce has been elected by an unparalleled majority . It is not generally known that the people do not vote directly for the president . They vote for certain individuals in each State , called " presidential electors" — and these electors are of the same number in each State as said State sends to Congress—that is , her representatives in the House and Senate of the United
States . These electors are named in State conventions by each party , and every citizen therefore votes the ticket or list of his party . The " electors " of all the States amount to 295 in number , and form what is called an " electoral college . " They do not , however , all meet together , but the < c presidential electors" of each State assemble at the capitol of said State , in obedience to their Governor ' s proclamation , and there formally cast the vote of the State for Scott or Pierce , as the case may be . They then send sealed duplicates to Washington , by members of their own body , and these are deposited in the United States department , and are officially opened and formally promulgated before the assembled members of both houses of Congress .
In the event of neither of the candidates receiving a majority of the electoral votes—which may be the case when there are three or more candidates—the matter devolves upon the House of Representatives , the members of which then proceed to elect a President out of the nominees before the people . Here is a list of the " presidential electors , " per number , for each State : — Maine , 8 votes ; New Hampshire , 5 ; Vermont , 5 ;
Massachusetts , 13 ; "Rhode Island , 4 ; Connecticut , 6 ; New York , 35 ; Now Jersey , 7 ; Pennsylvania , 27 : Delaware , 3 ; Maryland , 8 ; Virginia , 15 ; North Carolina , 10 ; South Carolina , 7 ; Georgia , 10 ; Florida , 3 ; Ohio , 23 ; Indiana , 13 ; Illinois , 11 ; Iowa , 4 ; Wisconsin , 5 ; Michigan , 6 ; Kentucky , 12 ; Missouri , 9 ; Alabama , 9 ; Louisiana , 6 ; Tennessee , 12 ; Mississippi , 7 ; Arkansas , 4 ; Texas , 4 ; California , 4 . Whole number of votes , 295 ; necessary to a choice , 118 . Slaves States , including Delaware , 15 ; electoral vote , 119 . Free States , 16 ; electoral vote , 176 .
The correspondent of the Times gives three reasons for rejoicing in the success of Franklin Pierce : — " I rejoice most heartily in the result . 1 . The issue of protection or i ' rec-trado was brought directly before tho American people , and even those States that arc deeply interested in this question havo given tho most overwhelming Democratic majorities . This will bo encouraging news to the friends of free-trade in Great Britain and all over tho world . The course marked out b y tho great Sir Jlobert Pool as the truo policy for enlightened commercial nations our country has now entered upon . She will tako no stop backward , and whatever mollifications nro made in our tarhT of 184 ( 5 will hereafter bo made on tho side of free-trade .
" 2 . I rejoice in tho result , because the nation lias pronounced against military candidates . This is a great civic triumph—it is tho triumph of enlightened opinion , and it may bo regarded as a final one , because the experiment was tried on tho most popular military chieftain this country has had since the revolution , and all the elements of success wcro centred in General Scott , tin far as they ever can centre in a Whig military candidate . " 3 . I rejoico in the result , because a most , emphatic and withering rebuke has been administered to the . spirit of fanaticism . It was by tho political jugglery of the
Freenoil politicians that Webster and Killmoro wero given up for a man who had no claims to the ollice except thosewhich gn ; w out of military achievements . I havo endeavoured in my letters to unfold tho reasons why 1 look with no much apprehension upon the possible ascendancy of tho Freosoil party . It seemed to me that no tna . ii in his Menses cither could conceive or believe that . American slavery was likely to be overthrown by tho exertions of these men , while only two years ago there was the most serious alarm among all Americans who loved their country that , the result of the I'YceNoil agitation would be the dismembermerit of the Itcniihhc .
* ' It is very evident this morning that all the Union Whigs rejoice also in the defeat oi * ( jeneral Scott , and 1 am enabled to wiy , on testimony which 1 deem perfectly reliable , that Mr . Webster , on his dying bed , sent ii meHnago to Mr . Choato , bin personal friend , and ( lie moat distinguished lawyer in New ICnglund , begging him ' not to inar bis future prospecth by taking one single step in Iho Niipporl of Scott ; and tell him , ' said the grwat Ntiir . oHimin , ' as my dying inensnge , that after Mm 'Jnd day of November the Whig party , as a ntt ' tonal party , will exist only in history . ' "
Tiik K A I'M It. Wait. Tnrc Propont.Is, ...
TIIK K A I'M It . WAIt . Tnrc Propont . is , which arrived on Monday from tho Capo , brings news up to tho 9 th of October . Tho most striking piece of intelligence is that ( Joneral Cnthcart , by a Morion of well-planned operationn , ban driven Maeoino from tho Wutcrkloof . When these were completed , ways tho oiueiul account , " tho several columns moved upon tho fastnonsos they wero to clear ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 20, 1852, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20111852/page/7/
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