Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 11.djvu/134

 1 1 8 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

sistently Conservative Republican, is edited by Francis Charmes, a politician of great ability. La Revue politique et parlementaire, edited by M. Fournier, has a much smaller circulation. It some- times accepts articles written by Radicals, but it clearly prefers the ideas of Republican Conservatism represented in Parliament by M. Meline and M. Ribot. La Revue de Paris contains few studies in French home politics, and those published are usually of a Progressist Republican color.

All the political groups last mentioned tend to merge into a single party, a great Republican Conservative party. The num- ber of their adherents aggregates approximately 4,970,000. They do not call for any thoroughgoing social transformation : neither the separation of church and state, nor an income tax, nor the socialization of industries and means of transportation. Though they accept the principle of protective laws for the working class, they want to frame the laws so that the workman will always remain under the guardianship of the state. Above all they are conservative. In the country they organize lectures and various associations of men and women, such as " L' Action liberale," " La Ligue de la Patrie franchise," " La Ligue anti-semitique," and " Le Grand Occident de France." The two last-named are wast- ing away and retain only nominal existence. It was the Grand Occident of France which was responsible for the famous siege in Paris during the ministry of Waldeck-Rousseau. Its instigator was Jules Guerin, who was convicted by the Supreme Court in 1899, and is now living in Brussels. The women make house-to- house canvasses, especially in the small towns and in the country, among both the poor and the rich, to collect funds for the political, and particularly for the electoral, campaigns. The Republican Conservative party is notably richer, and disposes of much more money, than its opponents. This may be easily understood when it is remembered that the majority of the capitalists manu- facturers, merchants, financiers, landowners belong to this party.

Opposed to the Conservative party stands the great party, also in formation, of political and social reform. This party is com- posed of the Radicals, the Socialist Radicals, the Reformatory