News from Paris. Cause of the Uprising

Extra Supplement  
* Cologne, 24 June, 10 o’clock in the evening. The letters from Paris of the 23rd have failed to arrive. A courier who passed through here relates that when he left Paris the struggle between the people and the National Guard had broken out, and that at some distance from Paris he heard heavy cannon fire.  
No. 25, 25 June 1848. Neue Rheinische Zeitung.

The immediate occasion for a new insurrection is provided by the measures taken to abolish the National Workshops – the counting of the workers, the expulsion of those not born in Paris to their native places, or their transportation to the Sologne to be used on the canal works, the introduction of piece-work in the workshops still existing, etc. – the law on the re-introduction of caution-money for newspapers, direct attacks (see our today’s issue, Paris dated 22 June) on the popular press, debates in the National Assembly reminiscent of the Chamber of Peers under Louis Philippe, as indeed Montalembert, that noble knight, repeated the speech he delivered shortly before the February Revolution in the interest of the money-bag, with a few altered phrases, in the sitting of the 22nd, the law against unlawful assembly, etc.

A more favourable turn of the struggle for the people might have been brought about by the decree published on 20 June, which aroused great discontent in the ranks of the Mobile Guard. According to this law, the higher officer posts are no longer filled by general election, as in the sedentary National Guard; rather, the Mobile Guard is commanded by 4 colonels detached from the army, who have exactly the same relation as a colonel of the standing army “towards his regiment”. This was evidently an attempt to corrupt the institution of the Mobile Guard and gradually incorporate it into the ranks of the troops that are, according to the draft constitution of Barrot–Dupin–Marrast, “essentially obedient”.

We now give the report of the *Journal des Débats* on the disturbances that occurred on 22 June.

“This morning a group of about 400 workers presented itself at the Luxembourg and demanded to speak to the Commission of the executive power. When Marie declared that he was willing to receive a commission, five of the workers went to him. When their leader sought to harangue him, Marie refused to listen to him, on the pretext that he could not recognise him as the organ of the workers, since he had taken part in the bands that assaulted the National Assembly on 25 May. Then, turning to the 4 other workers, he is said to have told them: You are not the slaves of that man there; you yourselves can set forth your grievances.

“Marie, after listening attentively to their complaints, sought to persuade them not to be led astray by troublemakers who sought to incite them to rebellion against the government and society. He moreover completely reassured them as to the intentions of the government, which was concerning itself with zeal and interest in their lot. It appears that the delegates did not give the workers, who were on the Place St. Sulpice, an exact account of their meeting with Marie, but rather distorted his words, telling them that he had called them slaves. The workers raised the cry: Down with Marie! Down with the executive commission! Down with the National Assembly! Some of them rushed into the tower of the church of St. Sulpice, probably with the intention of ringing the tocsin, but there was time to close the stairway doors, which they did not succeed in breaking down. From here they made their way towards the quays through the streets Vieux-Colombier, Saint-Dominique and Bac. To the melody of the well-known cry: ‘Illumine, illumine!’ they shouted during their procession: ‘We shall remain here, we shall remain!’

“This column marched through the faubourgs St. Antoine, St. Marceau and several other quarters. It was swelled during the march by a few hundred idlers. In the evening they stationed themselves on the Place de la Bastille and at the Barrière du Trône. Police commissioners received orders to proceed to the places of assembly in order to disperse them.

“Long live Napoleon! Long live the Emperor! Down with Marie! We shall remain here! That was the only cry of the individuals who took part in this demonstration. The government, fearing that the troublemakers might try to throw themselves upon the palace of the National Assembly, summoned a battalion of infantry and two squadrons of dragoons, who took up position in front of the National Assembly. General Nègrier immediately assumed supreme command of all these troops assigned to maintain the safety of the Assembly.”

“– Midnight. The demonstrations which started this morning from a section of the workers of the National Workshops kept up a lively agitation this evening at all points of Paris. The approaches to the Hôtel de Ville were continually besieged; likewise the approaches to the palace of the Luxembourg. The boulevards were sprinkled with troops; the streets St. Martin, St. Denis, du Temple were the scene of assemblies.

“This evening at 8 o’clock the Place du Panthéon was covered with several thousands of workers. At 8.30 a column 4–5,000 strong left the faubourg and with a flag at its head descended to the Quai de l’Hôtel de Ville and headed for the Faubourg du Temple, where it was said to be due to unite with the workers of the Quartiers du Temple and St. Antoine. This procession caused some uneasiness; the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville was closed to traffic after the column had marched past; the Pont d’Arcole was militarily occupied.

“Precautionary measures were taken during the evening. The National Guards received orders, partly in their houses, to turn out. Considerable bodies of troops are assembled in the Luxembourg. At 10 o’clock a squadron of dragoons and several companies of line troops, Mobile Guards and National Guards came to bivouac on the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville. At 11 o’clock a battalion of line troops occupied the courtyard of the Prefecture of Police. The peristyle of the Palace of Justice is guarded by Mobile Guards. The National Assembly is filled with troops; very active surveillance is being conducted at the approaches to the palace. Everywhere the armed forces are numerous and in all the mairies a strong picket is permanently stationed.”

In reading the report of the *Journal des Débats* one must not lose sight of the fact that it is the old court gazette that is writing, and that Marie is the defender of the law on unlawful assemblies and a man of the *National*.