Democratic Sentinel, Volume 1, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 October 1877 — FRANCE. [ARTICLE]

FRANCE.

The Republican Victory Counting the Ballots—Charges of Fraud and Intimidation. The Republicans of France, says the Chicago Tribune, although they have secured a majority of 120 in the new Chamber, are disappointed in the result. They hoped to fulfill the promise of Gambetfa by increasing the memorable number of 363 to 400. Their failure to accomplish this result is said by them to be due not to a want of strength with the people, but to a manipulation of the ballots in many districts by the Government officials. They do not assert that President MacMahon has authorized the frauds, but they demand an investigation in order that responsibility may be fixed where it belor-gs, and that the injustice may be rectified. Several Republican newspapers have pointed out the duty of the new Chamber to undertake such an investigation ; no doubt the Left will fall in readily with the idea when the session begins. The cry of fraud, it should, be understood, is npt of the empty kind so common in America. The French electoral system presents many more opportunities for fictitious returns than our own does. The voting is in charge of Government officials ; the ballots are counted and the results declared by them. They have wide discretion as to the time they may consume in the discharge of their duties. In America, Judges of Election are enjoined to count the votes before adjournment. The practice in France is different. The canvass is made at leisure, and need not be completed within forty-eight hours. The returns are docketed with the Government Bureau, and may be published or not at the discretion of the officials in charge. It is a matter of record that the frauds in election under Napoleon 111. were of the most flagrant description, and, from what is known of the preliminary measures adopted by the present Government, there is no reason to suppose that it is more scrupulous in counting votes than any of its predecessors. In spite of fraud and intimidation, the Republicans in France have won a memorable victory. They retain 297 seats of the 363 that voted the censure of the Government, and have gained seventeen more ; they will probably till at least half of the fourteen vacancies, bringing their total majority to 121. The total Republican vote is believed to be 380,000 in excess of that of 1876. Taking this estimate as a basis of calculation, the popular majority of the Republicans must be more than 1,000,000. A significant result of the elections is the sudden rise of the Bonapartists to influence. At the close of the war they were despised and rejected of all men. They were represented in the Chamber by barely a dozen persons, and these possessed neither credit nor personal worth. When the Comte de Chambord was solicited to become King, the Bonapartist vote dwindled almost to nothing. Since the failure of that enterprise it has grown gradually, until now it is the party of opposition to the republic. The minority is thus divided by the Temps : Bonapartists, 99; MacMahonites, 45; Legitimists, 44 ; Orleanists, 11. For all practical purposes, the MacMahonites and Bonapartists are one, so that their vote may be put at 144. This is more than the nucleus of a party ; it is a formidable organization which, in view of the recent growth of Bonapartism, may well excite the alarm of the Republicans.