which has called all men of action to the battle-field, their armies, disbanded by peace, should rush into Mexico? Let our troops return then; let them return then immediately. It is the desire of all France, and we ask of you to fulfil it. [Approbation from several benches.] President SCHNEIDER. M. Corta has the floor. [Movement of attention.]

Mr. CORTA. The Chamber will, I hope, permit me to say a few words about Mexico. Having been honored with a mission to that country, I come to bear witness of what I have seen. I must premise that the impressions which I bring thence do not agree with what the last speaker has just said.

The Hon. M. Jules Favre declared that he would not go back to the origin of the expedi tion, but would confine himself to existing facts. On this point I will follow his example.

He has examined the situation of Mexico in regard to its present sovereign; in regard to its pacification; in regard to our army: in a word, in regard to the contingencies of war with the United States. Before following him into these different questions, I ask the permission of the Chamber to lay before it a few preliminary observations. It seems to me that the first question to examine is, what faith can be placed in the future of Mexico? A Frenchman who had lived a long time in that country once said to me, "I have seen so many successive revolutions in Mexico; I have so often seen the country ready to fall, and yet recover itself, that even before the intervention I said to myself, Mexico cannot perish. And indeed this country, even in the midst of its disturbances, had always a principle of vitality which gave sure promise for its future destiny'.'

What are the causes of this vitality? In the first place, its extent is, not as M. Jules Favre said, ten times, but three times and a half as large as France; situated in the centre of America, touching the north on one side, and the south on the other, and washed by two oceans, this country unites all the advantages of geographical position to a soil of universal fertility.

The subsoil is so rich that, at the time when the treasures of Mexico were being spread through the entire world, Humboldt said these riches had scarcely begun to be developed, and this opinion has been confirmed by the testimony of the celebrated, engineer M. Lam, who was sent from France to Mexico.

Mexico is, therefore, a highly favored country, in an agricultural and commercial point of view. Having thus shown its natural advantages, let us now see what man has done for it. When Fernanda Cortez conquered Mexico, he overthrew not only the throne of Montezuma, but a civilization, the importance of which is attested by history, by tradition, and by monuments still extant in the country. What has been substituted for this civilization? The Spaniards gave Mexico Catholicism, without themselves following its precepts. The natives were excluded from all public offices; certain branches of industry and knowledge were closed to them, in the interest of commerce and the church. Spain, in short, did not restrict herself to drawing from Mexico the silver that she scattered over the whole earth; she levied from its products in order to aliment her colonial budgets, and to raise immense sums of money, which she poured into her treasury at Madrid. During all this time nothing was undertaken in Mexico for its own interest, but solely for that of Spain; then came its independence proclaimed in 1810, and realized in 1820.

What was this independence and for whose profit was it declared? The Spaniards left behind them in Mexico the old natiɣes, the Indians, whom they had long enslaved, but who were submissive and resigned; a race somewhat weak, but industrious and intelligent, impenetrated with the sentiment of religion and the love of home.

The Indians formed four-fifths of the population. The Spaniards thus left behind them a new people, born of their admixture with the natives, the Mexicans properly so called.

For whose profit was the independence proclaimed? For the profit of the great majority of the population? No, but for a Mexican oligarchy, divided into two pretty nearly equal parties, the liberals and the conservatives, who were constantly fighting with each other, sword in hand, for the supremacy, oppressing the Indians and pillaging the people they were appointed to govern; thus with the Spaniards came tyranny, with independence, anarchy; nature had done everything for the prosperity of the country, but man seemed bent on its ruin. It has not perished, it has not even feebly prospered. The reason is, that outside the Mexican oligarchy the Indians, a patient and tenacious race, have never ceased to labor, and that foreigners have continued their traffic, which consists in the exchange of the mineral productions of Mexico against the fabricated productions of Europe.

Is a nation which has resisted oppression and anarchy, and which possesses a most fertile soil, capable of prosperity? The reply cannot be dubious. To rise again it needs but two things a regular government and time. [Very good, very good.] It unquestionably has a regular government. From Vera Cruz to Mexico the progress of the emperor Maximilian has been a triumph. To the Indian he is the man coming from the east, with blue eyes and golden hair, who is to regenerate the country.

The Indians have, therefore, with a sort of innocence, but with genuine enthusiasm, hailed the emperor Maximilian as a deliverer.

The clerical conservatives, who form a half of the Mexican element, have rallied around him, as have also those moderate men among the liberals, who have become tired of civil war and are persuaded that the republican form of government is not suited to the interest of the country. This majority of the Mexican element has hailed the empire as the only hope of the nation, its only anchor of salvation. A solitary group of men has held itself aloof; for these

men civil war is a necessity, a habit, an existence, and like Porfirio Dias, at Oajaca, they will not throw down their arms until they are forced to surrender at discretion.

Such are the sentiments which greeted the emperor Maximilian. It may be said that upon his arrival in Mexico he was crowned by the universal suffrage of the people, who called him to reign over them. (Very good, very good.)

The orator gave a full exposé of the earliest acts of the government of the emperor Maximilian for the reorganization of the finances, the military affairs, public instruction, and the administration of justice in the empire; also for the regulating the delicate question of the goods of the clergy. He entered into circumstantial details upon the financial situation of the country; upon the resources which could be looked for from taxation and the minesresources considerable in themselves, but which would not exempt the government from the necessity of raising loans-upon the foreign debt of Mexico, the operations of which are regularly carried on; upon its internal debt, consisting of bonds, issued by the different governments which have succeeded one another.

The lateness of the hour obliged the honorable member to defer the remainder of his speech until to-morrow. The séance was closed at twenty minutes past six.

M. CORTA. In yesterday's session, gentlemen, I exhibited Mexico, with all its vitalityits financial resources, its popular government, and the prosperity which a regular adminis tration and time guarantee to it; for time is of necessity the auxiliary of all great things. To this picture I would make but one addition. I wish to speak of the popular current which begins to set towards Mexico. Foreign capital, and emigrants who possess a keen scent for political affairs, are now to be found in Mexico. A national bank has been established, and its immunities have been granted to influential and distinguished houses in France and England; grants have also been made for the construction of numerous railroads. The most important of these grants, viz., for the line to run between Vera Cruz and Mexic), has been given to a very large English company having a capital of 135,000,000, and who are able to send on 15,000 laborers to carry on the work. Besides all this, there are grants for the line of steam packets in the Gulf of Mexico, and along the shores of the Pacific, as well as for the working of different kinds of mines. The Chamber will see clearly that foreign capital and foreign settlers, who have had grants of land made to them, will not be kept away from Mexico on account of the threatening contingencies to which the honorable M. Jules Favre alluded in his speech yesterday. I take up the question which he raised- the question of the pacification of Mexico-from the point of view of the return of our army.

The duration of this pacification is explained by the extent of the Mexican territory, and by the half century of war and anarchy which has reigned upon this territory. The end of the pacification has been found subordinate to facts which I ask leave to point out. The principal fact is the occupation of the seaports. A number of these ports, either on the Gulf of Mexico or on the Pacific, were occupied until lately by Juarez or his partisans; they collected the revenues of several custom-houses, and with these resources they maintained their corps d'armie. An insurrectionary body, compelled to take its subsistence from the country in which it lives, renders itself odious by the requisitions it is forced to make, and recruiting itself at the expense of the country, it quickly exhausts itself in exhausting the country. Therefore external revenues were necessary for the support of the insurgents, and I regret to say that, until lately, such resources have been left at their disposal. But at present, thanks to the co-operation of the land and sea forces, all the ports of the Atlantic and Pacific are occupied either by our troops or by those of the emperor Maximilian. The insurgents are deprived of the seaboard-that is, of the means of obtaining supplies, and hence one of the causes, in fact the principal cause, of the duration of the insurrection no longer exists.

The political situation of Mexico furnishes another fact to which the pacification was also subordinate. The Chamber knows that Mexico, after having vainly entreated Europe for kings, formed itself into a republic-now federative, then military, and then again federative. Under the rule of the federative republic several provinces declared themselves independent: they established mints and arsenals in some of the principal localities. These arsenals, containing considerable supplies and munitions of war, were so many torches ready to kindle insurrection. It is also to be observed that in Mexico the pronunciamientos, which have been followed by revolutions, have always come from the provinces to invade the capital! Well, when Oajaca was captured, with all the inhabitants and property it contained, I think the last military arsenal of the insurrection was destroyed. Juarez took refuge in Sonora, abandoning his baggage and part of his treasure. I am ignorant whether or not he has been able to procure fresh military supplies, or raise new recruits. It is possible that an expedition against him may move toward Sonora; if so, I do not think it will meet with serious resistance, and I am convinced it will be the last expedition undertaken.

Another fact in the light of the pacification of brigandage arises from the state of perpetual war, and the predominance of armed force in Mexico. The country people, and even the inhabitants of towns, unarmed, without protection from government, and living far apart, have contracted the fatal habit of allowing themselves to be robbed, without making resist ance; from this have resulted encouragement to brigandage and impunity to crime. In order to remedy these evils, the Mexican government formed a country police, (gardes rurales.) commanded by captains named by the emperor, and composed of the best elements of the old

Mexican army. The best results may be hoped from the institution of this police force. Thus, from the point of view of military pacification, of the suppression of a possible though slight resistance at the extreme north of Mexico, and in the light of the pacification of brigandage, there is a prospect of peace and quiet at a more or less distant period.

But, gentlemen, even when a great incendiary is extinguished, it must be watched, lest it break forth again. In presence of the elements of disorder which the civil war has left in Mexico, and taking into consideration the revolutionary principles rife in the Mexican army, a disciplined army, faithful and devoted to its duty and its flag, is still needful in Mexico, not only to sustain the institutions of the nation, but to insure its safety; and this army should be an European one. [Movement.] Should this European army be a French army? Ought the French army be still maintained in Mexico? The authors of the amendment demand the immediate return of the army. This is not admissible. In fact, to recall our army would be to compromise the work just begun; and, in case of the overthrow of that work, to expose our policy to the ridicule of Europe. To recall our army-that is to say, to abandon those who have accepted the intervention, and have rallied around the throne, to expose them to the consequences which might follow such a proceeding, would be to commit an act unworthy of France. In the place of our flag too hastily furled, France would leave her honor sullied. France may be asked to sacrifice her wealth, but her honor never. [Very good, very good.]

But, gentlemen, as the foreign legion and the auxiliary corps of Belgians and Austrians— Austrians who have already given proofs of their bravery and firmness-become developed, and the empire consolidated, the French army can be gradually reduced and finally withdrawn. Our flag should never cease to wave in Mexico until all the advantages that France upholds there are guaranteed and sure. Shall our flag be furled before the chances of a war that may result from peace in the United States? This is the last question examined yesterday by our honorable colleague, Mr. Jules Favre, and upon which I asked permission to express the opinion that I had gathered in Mexico. In that country these chances preoccupy the public mind much less than in Europe. I will quote the opinion of General Smith, when, in 1847, he occupied the city of Mexico. After General Jackson's expedition, he was asked if the United States intended to keep Mexico for themselves; he replied, "Why should they? Mexico is an old country, having its own religion, its own customs; its population, though thin, is scattered over its whole extent. The United States want deserts to people and virgin soil to work, upon which their institutions may readily be implanted. Mexico is not to our taste, and deserts and waste lands abound in America."

Since these words were uttered, Sonora and the unsold property of the clergy have been offered to the United States by President Juarez, for seventy-five million (francs?) but the American government and the present Chief Magistrate have refused to negotiate, though thrice urged by Juarez. But will the proclivities of the United States government be modified hereafter? And first, in what concerns the president of the south, Mr. Davis, it is only necessary to turn to his message of 1863, to see that he completely recognizes what has been established in Mexico, and that he desires to entertain none but friendly relations with its new government. This is what he says: "MEXICO.-The events of the year that has just passed away have produced important changes in the condition of our neighbor at the south. The occupation of the capital of Mexico by the French army, and the establishment of a provisory government, followed by a radical change in the constitution of the nation, have excited the most lively interest. Always preferring our own government and institutions to those of other countries, we have no inclination to deny them the exercise of the same right of self-government that we claim for ourselves; if the Mexican people prefer a monarchy to a republic, it is clearly our duty to acquiesce heartily in their decision, and to manifest a sincere and friendly interest for its prosperity." And there is no reason to believe that the disposition of the government of the United States differs from these sentiments.

But it is objected, when peace is declared what will become of the immense armies that have been raised?

I am aware, gentlemen, that this is a problem more difficult to resolve than the one of which Cæsar speaks, when he says, that it is only necessary to stamp with your foot upon the soil of Italy to make an army spring up. More difficult than that is it to cause an immense army to return to the ranks of society; but in Mexico-for I repeat, I bring here only the opinions I have heard in Mexico-the solution of this problem is deemed much more easy in the United States than in Europe. In fact, the rights of labor open the way to vari ous careers, which are not closed up, as in Europe, by the clergy. Besides, in the south, the army is not composed of mercenaries. It is in some sort a national army, which, after having laid down its arms, will soon return home and resume its ordinary occupations. In the north, the army is composed principally of mercenaries, but of mercenaries whose services have been rewarded by bounties of money and of land. All the soldiers of the northern army are, therefore, landholders, and gentlemen landholders do not generally become adventurers. But is it indeed true that the army of the United States will cease to exist after peace is established? There is reason to believe, supposing the Union to be restored, that in the face of the agitated south and of Canada up in arms, the government at Washington will feel the need of maintaining a standing army; in this case, the remains of the present army will enter the ranks of that one which will then be formed.

Another consideration which I have heard put forth would result from the situation in which the United States government would be placed after the pacification: this government will find that it has heavy damages to repair, and an immense deficit to fill up. Under such circumstances, gentlemen, war cannot be undertaken; therefore, in view of the future government of the United States, the chance of a war does not appear to be strong.

But it is said adventurers, led by another Walker, may attack Mexico. In the first place, gentlemen, it is not conquest from a political motive, but plunder, which is the aim of adventurers. Now if adventurers do spring up in the United States they will have conquests to make far more tempting than that of Mexico: Canada on the one hand, and the opulent Havana on the other. But how should these adventurers attack Mexico? by land? It is well known how precipitately General Jackson concluded a peace with Mexico, and under what conditions the expedition was formed. General Jackson's expedition cost the United States two years in time, and five hundred million francs in money. Would it be possible for adventurers to undertake such an expedition by land, across deserts, where they would have to bring with them all their provisions and munitions of war, and also be obliged to await the rainy season in order to continue their march? By land it is impossible; by water a pretty large expedition-and that is the only kind to be feared-could be kept under the eyes of nations so watchful over the seas, and Europe would not look with indifference upon such enterprises. I therefore believe, gentlemen, that there is nothing to fear from Mexico, from the contingencies which have been mentioned, and I will now conclude with one reflection. Our expediton to Mexico was undertaken in the midst of a revolution, brought about by science before our eyes. At the present day, steam and electricity annihilate distances, bring nations, so to speak, in contact with each other, by land and sea, with their various wants, interests, passions, chances of disagreement, and also happily place them in strict community of ideas and sentiments, which clearly demonstrate it to be much more the interest of nations to aid one another mutually, than to fight together; the prosperity of one nation is increased by the prosperity of the others. A striking example of this is, on the one hand, the beneficial rivalry of France and England in peace, and on the other, the war in the United States, which not only has disturbed all Europe, but has also caused it to experience an immense commercial and manufacturing crisis. Well, in the midst of this novel situation, with the prospect of the nations of the world being drawn more closely together, and with the chances of peace and war, what will be the scope of the Mexican expedition? The future will tell us in estimating its results. As for us, while waiting for history to write the page consecrated to this expedition, what duty does our conscience impose on us? This duty has always appeared and still appears to me very plain; our flag is pledged; where our flag is, there is France, and we owe it our support. It is for this reason, gentlemen, that we are now in Mexico; it is for this reason that I vote for the rejection of the amendment proposed to you.

[Very good! very good! numerous signs of approbation.]

President SCHNEIDER. Mr. Picard has the floor.

Mr. ERNEST PICARD. Whatever legitimate authority, gentlemen, may belong to the words of our honorable colleague, and the mission with which he has been honored, I must declare frankly to the house, that his speech, to which I listened with the most lively attention, did not convince me, [laughter, ] and I will add it cannot convince me. This question, gentlemen, demands from you in its discussion the greatest possible attention; the sentiments which animate us all are drawn together in questions of this nature, and public opinion is more pressing, and more severe than ever upon the topic of our political conduct in Mexico. I will add that, in my opinion, there is, perhaps, no other question in which our concurrence will exercise a more salutary influence upon the interests of our country. It is in our power, at least I have a pride in thinking so, to disentangle the political situation in which our gov ernment is now placed. It depends upon you, if you have the will to do this to have also the power. It depends upon you to do in 1865 that which we entreated you to do in 1862, at the time when this grave and formidable (redoutable) question first arose in this assembly, and I willingly take up the words which my honorable colleague, Mr. Corta, has just ut tered, when, in examining the eventualities which might seem to menace us from the United States, he presented them to you in a still distant horizon. It is not, therefore, too late; for the rest no one would ask of the Chamber or of the government to adopt a policy contrary to the honor of France, and me less than any one, [whisperings.] But we may ask you to adopt a course in conformity with her policy and her duty. [Very good, from around the speaker; murmurs from several benches.]

You have heard what the honorable Mr. Corta has told you. I confess that in listening to his speech two sentiments have been excited in my breast, a sentiment of fascination and a sentiment of fear; yes, his speech fascinated me. Our honorable colleague has brought back from Mexico images the most brilliant; he has sought to gild his words with a beain of that sun he has just left, [laughter and noise ;] he has represented Mexico as a land of promise; the emperor Maximilian, that young man with golden locks and azure eyes [exclamations] I quote his words, gentlemen, [various interruptions]-as the savior come from the east, and promised to the Indians.

I am astonished, gentlemen, at the impression these words of his produce upon you; I am

astonished that you do not recall the events which took place at the setting out of the expedition. Do you imagine that the government, before sending its troops to Mexico and seeking there what it has not yet found, had not obtained information on the subject from men of intelligence who have lived in Mexico, and who with an equal good faith, an equal sincerity, made similar statements? And we know now how a people colder than we are, and a government less impassioned than our own, appreciates in the despatches which figure among the official documents the statements which come from Mexico. We believed the statements we received, and off we started; we are now in Mexico, and we must quit it-we must quit it, gentlemen. The honorable Mr. Corta has told you so. However fascinating may be the situation, that part of his speech which caused him the most uneasiness was the conclusion. And he did not dissimulate to the Chamber, that had he found means which in his eyes would have been honorable to leave Mexico, he would have been the first to join with me in advising to leave it. He would be the first to do so, in spite of the marvellous narrations he has presented to the Chamber. He has told you of the fertility of the soil of Mexico, of the future that is in store for its finances. He has told you of this, gentlemen, but all this is only a personal appreciation, emanating, it is true, from a man to whom I willingly offer my homage, but which does not suffice to convince a great assembly upon so momentous a ques tion. [Murmurs.] It is of this assembly, it is of the honorable Mr. Corta himself that I would ask if he concurs with Marshal Forey, who says: "Yes, unfortunately, everything in Mexico requires remodelling; the moral sense of the country is completely perverted. There is no longer any administration, any justice, any army, any national industry, any anything, so to speak. This is not the fault of the nation." [Interruption.]

Mr. CHAGOR. Before our advent.

A MEMBER. The date?

M. ERNEST PICARD. The date of the speech of Marshal Forey? The 19th of March, 1865. If everything in Mexico is to be remodelled, you will readily admit with me that the situation is not encouraging, nor the time propitious for the loan which is announced to us. If all in Mexico is to be remodelled, if the opinion of Marshal Forey does not coincide with that of our honorable colleague, who will give the casting vote? Who will come here in obedience to the first of all duties, and in face of this assembly furnish us with official documents, which may be checked, examined, discussed? The government. The duty is undeniable. The entire nation is awaiting the day when the government shall submit to the free examination of the majority and of the minority these documents which it has not yet produced. And where are these documents? Of all political questions, the one which, perhaps, possesses the greatest interest at this moment for France is the Mexican question. Of all questions-I except Algeria-that one concerning which we do not possess a single document is the Mexican question. Not a single document. Not a single one. other subjects we have had distributed among us, more or less generally, documents, despatches, reports. Upon this subject there has been an absolute silence. We are often told that in France the discussions held in this assembly can replace those liberties which we lack-[Denials from several benches; approbation from others]-and that by carefully examining and checking the affairs of our country we can offer our fellow-citizens those guarantees which they sought in nominating us. But how can a discussion be really serious which lacks a basis? Is it possible, whatever authority may belong to the words of my honorable colleague, is it possible, I repeat, for us to discuss upon words, which, though certainly sincere, are but the expression of the personal opinion of a single man?

On all

This, then, is the situation in which we find ourselves; for upon this subject I have not yet seen the slightest explanation on the part of the government. It must be very grave, indeed, gentlemen, this Mexican question, since it is proposed to discuss it in this manner. What are the reasons why we are left in silence and obscurity in a matter which demands explanations and light? They are twofold. In the first place, the government—and I know not why it should be so in a great country and before a nation like France, where nothing honors more, both those who speak and those who listen, than the truth-the government, I say, wishes to keep us under the empire of illusions the most complete-illusions which the government itself does not entertain. [Reclamations. ]

The MINISTER OF STATE. I ask for the floor.

M. ERNEST PICARD. The government tells us the country is pacified. It is not pacified. It tells us our troops are about to be recalled. And yet the honorable Mr. Corta himself has just told us, in his sincerity, that our troops are on the point of marching to conquer Sonora. Mr. BELMONTET. He did not say so.

M. ERNEST PICARD. He said the conquest of Sonora was about to be accomplished.

M. CORTA. I did not say that. I confined myself to the interrogation, "Is there an expedition preparing to enter Sonora ? If so, I believe two things: one, that the expedition will not meet with any serious obstacle; the other, that such expedition will be the last." That is what I said.

M. ERNEST PICARD. I say that the country is not pacified; that the ovations of which we have heard may without doubt have occurred at certain points; but that the feeling of resistance is still very powerful in Mexico. [Reclamations.] And I will give immediate proof of what I say. What is the position which you occupy toward the Mexicans, upon