Part 20 (1/2)

'Is not this charming? Really, when one remembers what the ”wounds of the country” were in 1871, and how those ”wounds” were got first through the collapse of the wretched Government of the National Defence, and then through the Commune of Paris, the Governments of May 21 and May 16 may be credited with having done a good piece of work by ”healing those wounds” and by ”reconquering liberty.” Is not this plain?

'But the ”wounds having been healed,” and ”liberty having been reconquered,” the true Republic, still according to Brother Doumer, was set free in 1879, to occupy itself with the question of the organisation of labour. Very good.

'1879! that is ten years ago! And only in 1888 do we find the Republic really occupying itself, in the person of Brother Doumer, with this great question, this beautiful and generous idea! How very odd! And what a strange coincidence that Brother Doumer, elected a deputy by the grace of the freemasons in 1888, and wis.h.i.+ng to be re-elected a deputy by their grace in 1889, should be the man of destiny called upon to solve this great question!

'He makes this perfectly plain!

'Two Ministers of Public Works, M. de Freycinet and M. Sadi Carnot,' he blandly observes, 'studied measures which might be taken in view of facilitating the concession to societies of working-men of certain public works!

'Ah! This is hard upon M. de Freycinet and M. Sadi Carnot, now President of the ideal Republic! They ”studied,” did they, ”measures which might be taken”! But they never took any such measures! Oh, no! not they!'

'So the first year of the ”true Republic” went by, and still co-operation languished under the Imperial law of 1867. Then in 1880 came M. de Lacretelle, who ”presented to the Chambers a proposed law tending” to the same end which M. de Freycinet and M. Sadi Carnot had so unprofitably ”studied”! Of course the Chamber eagerly adopted it? Not at all! It was never discussed!

'Two years thrown away by the true Republic!

'Then in 1881 M. Floquet (now the favourite candidate of Brother Doumer for the Presidency of the Chamber if the Republicans carry the elections of 1889), being made Prefect of the Seine, had a great impulse! ”He wished to revive the decree of 1848 as to that department.” Excellent man! But he did not in fact revive it! He did what he could. He ”appointed a Committee to study the question!” And this studious Committee eventually evolved--what? ”A new schedule of prices for the public works of the City of Paris, which favoured co-operative societies and contractors whose workmen were to partic.i.p.ate in their profits!”

'So the fourth year of the true Republic began, and found the ”beautiful and generous idea” still prostrate under the Imperial law of 1867!

'In 1882, still according to Brother Doumer, two deputies, M. Ballue backed by several colleagues, and M. Laroche-Joubert heroically rushed before the Chamber, each with a proposed law ”tending” (how all these laws ”tend”!) to make it obligatory upon all contractors for public works to give their workmen a share in their profits! But the Chamber paid no heed, and the fourth year of the true Republic ended, leaving the ”beautiful and generous idea” still under the iron heel of the Imperial law of 1867!

'Then came March 20, 1883, and the Minister of the Interior rose at last to the height of his mission. He took it upon himself to issue a decree--inst.i.tuting what? An extra-parliamentary committee to ”study”

the question of working-men's a.s.sociations, and if, and how, they should be admitted to take part in the public works of the State!'

'Bravo!'

'And the committee was appointed. It consisted' (it is still Brother Doumer who speaks) ”of directors and high functionaries of all the ministerial departments.” It went to work. It heard ”a great number of witnesses.” It also showed conclusively ”how complex was the question, _and how urgent the necessity of a solution_.”'

'What then happened?'

'The committee immediately went to sleep!

'”_After an interruption_ of more than a year” (it is still Brother Doumer who speaks), ”_the extra-parliamentary committee resumed its sittings, on January_ 16, 1885!”

'Six years of the true Republic having now been spent in these desperate efforts to deal with the ”beautiful and generous idea,” and the election of a new Chamber being imminent for the autumn of 1885, M.

Waldeck-Rousseau, Minister of the Interior, proceeded to lay before the re-awakened committee--what? A project of a law to relieve the co-operative idea from the crus.h.i.+ng weight of the Imperial law of 1867?

Not a bit of it!

'He proceeded (it is still Brother Doumer who speaks!) to lay before the Committee ”_a summary of the studies upon which it ought to enter_!”

'According to Brother Doumer this ”summary” was truly grand and even ”vast.” But alas! ”the general elections,” says Brother Doumer, sadly, ”and afterwards successive ministerial crises, _suspended the inquiry during more than two years_! It was only in 1888 that the extra-parliamentary committee resumed its labours!”

'The Universal Exposition of 1889 was then organising and organising--let me ask you not for a moment to forget--with a specific eye, not so much to the ”principles of 1789,” about which our worthy ministers care as much as they do about the Edict of Nantes or the philosophy of Pascal, as to the Legislative elections of 1889!

'So what did the extra-parliamentary committee do in this _ninth year_ of the one ”true Republic” for the ”beautiful and generous idea” of co-operation?

'They adopted a decree--”a firm and practical decree”--promulgated June 6, 1888, ”permitting several co-operative societies to contract for public works, especially in connection with the Exposition”! and they also adopted ”two projects of laws”!

'”The first of these projects” (it is still Brother Doumer who speaks), ”aimed at the creation of a general provident fund, industrial, commercial, and agricultural, to be managed by the 'Caisse des Depots et Consignations.'”

'”This very interesting project,” says Brother Doumer, ”_has not yet been submitted to the Chamber_. Sent up to be examined by the Ministry of the Interior to the Ministry of Commerce, it is there undergoing _a prolonged and inexplicable delay_!”