Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/384



rigid course. (Hear, hear.) I now enter on the question of the National Guard, which, according to public rumor, is to be re-armed. The truth is, that during the last few weeks we have been frequently told that the orderly portion of that body were most anxious to take up arms against the insurrection; and when the 16th Arrondissement (Passy) was evacuated, officers entirely devoted to the Assembly repaired at once to that district, and, without authorization, proceeded to arm the battalions which remained faithful to us. But, after my orders, that movement has been at once arrested, as arms cannot be left in the hands of any National Guards. (Applause.) As to the Prefecture of the Seine, a misstatement has been made in what concerns M. Ferry; the real facts being these: When I arrived at power the said situation was vacant, and I offered the post to several men, some of them the most respected of our time; but they all declined it. It was then that M. Ferry, although he had resigned, consented still to support the burden until some one was named to succeed him. He is an active, determined man, who from that moment has taken part in the councils of the Government At the present moment, when no authority exists in Paris, Marshal de MacMahon urges us to proceeed at once to the installation of an administrative authority; but I ask you to whom am I to address myself. The mayors and the police are both wanting in the capital, and M. Ferry is not Prefect of the Seine, but simply a locum tenens, who has consented to again collect together in that city the various threads of the administration so long suspended. But the first point of all is to disarm Paris (loud cheers), and a resolution to that effect will be immediately presented to you. (Repeated cheers.) As to the mayors, we are anxious to name them, and shall, in that case, make use of the right which the law confers upon us. Before that is done, however, the insurrection