2. The President of the Republic pronounces the closure of the session. He may convene the Chambers in extra session. He must convene them if, during the recess, an absolute majority of the members of each Chamber request it. The President may adjourn the Chambers. The adjournment, however, must not exceed one month, nor take place more than twice in the same session. 3. One month at least before the legal expiration of the powers of the President of the Republic, the Chambers must be called together in National Assembly and proceed to the election of a new president. In default of a summons, this meeting shall take piace, as of right the fifteenth day before the expiration of those pow ers. In case of the death or resignation of the President of the Republic, the two Chambers shall reassemble immediately, as of right. In case the Chamber of Deputies, in consequence of Article 5 of the law of February 25, 1875, is dissolved at the time when the presidency of the Republic becomes vacant, the electoral colleges shall be convened at once, and the Senate shall reassemble as of right. 4. Every meeting of either of the two Chambers which shall be held at a time other than the common session of both is illegal and void, except the case provided for in the preceding article, and that when the Senate meets as a court of justice; and in this last case, judicial duties alone shall be performed. 5. The sittings of the Senate and of the Chamber of Deputies are public. Nevertheless each Chamber may meet in secret session, upon the request of a fixed number of its members, determined by the rules. It decides by absolute majority whether the sitting shall be resumed in public upon the same subject. 6. The President of the Republic communicates with the Chambers by messages, which are read from the tribune by a Minister. The Ministers have entrance to both Chambers, and must be heard when they request it. They may be represented, for the discussion of a specific bill, by commissioners designated by decree of the President of the Republic. 7. The President of the Republic promulgates the laws within the month following the transmission to the Government of the law finally passed. He must promulgate, within three days, laws whose promulgation shall have been declared urgent by an express vote in each Chamber. Within the time fixed for promulgation the President of the Republic may, by message with reasons assigned, request of the two Chambers a new discussion, which cannot be refused. 8. The President of the Republic negotiates and ratifies treaties. He communicates them to the Chambers as soon as the interests and safety of the State permit. Treaties of peace, and of commerce, treaties which involve the finances of the State, those relating to the persons and property of French citizens in foreign countries, shall become definitive only after having been voted by the two Chambers. No cession, no exchange, no annexation of territory shall take place except by virtue of a law. 9. The President of the Republic cannot declare war except by the previous assent of the two Chambers. 10. Each Chamber is the judge of the eligibility of its members, and of the legality of their election; it alone can receive their resignation. II. The bureau of each Chamber is elected each year for the entire session, and for every extra session which may be held before the ordinary session of the following year. When the two Chambers meet together as a National Assembly, their bureau consists of the President, Vice-Presidents and Secretaries of the Senate. 12. The President of the Republic may be impeached by the Chamber of Deputies only, and tried by the Senate only. The Ministers may be impeached by the Chamber of Deputies for offences committed in the performance of their duties. In this case they are tried by the Senate. The Senate may be constituted a Court of Justice, by a decree of the President of the Republic, issued in the Council of Ministers, to try all persons accused of attempts upon the safety of the State. If procedure is begun by the ordinary courts, the decree convening the Senate may be issued any time before the granting of a discharge. A law shall determine the method of procedure for the accusation, trial and judgment. 13. No member of either Chamber shall be prosecuted or held responsible on account of any opinions expressed or votes cast by him in the performance of his duties. 14. No member of either Chamber shall, during the session, be prosecuted or arrested for any offence or misdemeanor, except on the authority of the Chamber of which he is a meniber, unless he be caught in the very act. The detention or prosecution of a member of either Chamber is suspended for the session, and for its [the Chamber's] entire term, if it demands it. D. Amendment upon the Seat of Government. June 21, 1879. Duvergier, Lois, LXXIX, 213-227. Article 9 of the constitutional law of February 25, 1875, is repealed. E. The Amendments of 1884. August 14, 1884. Duvergier, Lois, LXXXIV, 240-250. 1. Paragraph 2 of Article 5 of the constitutional law of February 25, 1875, on the Organization of the Public Powers, is amended as follows: "In that case the electoral colleges meet for new elections within two months, and the Chambers within the ten days following the close of the elections." 2. To Paragraph 3 of Article 8 of the same law of February 25, 1875, is added the following: "The Republican form of the Government cannot be made the subject of a proposed revision. "Members of families that have reigned in France are ineligible to the presidency of the Republic." 3. Articles 1 to 7 of the constitutional law of February 24, 1875, on the Organization of the Senate, shall no longer have a constitutional character. 4. Paragraph 3 of Article 1 of the constitutional law of July 16, 1875, on the Relation of the Public Powers, is 134. Documents upon the 16th of May Crisis. From these documents much may be learned about the real nature of the famous 16th of May crisis. The acceptance of the resignation virtually asked for in document A and offered in doeument B led to the adoption by the Chamber of Deputies of document C. It was presented by Gambetta as that agreed upon by all the groups of the republican majority and was passed 347 to 149. In consequence, MacMahon first adjourned the Chamber of Deputies for a month and then, with the consent of the Senate, dissolved it. The remaining documents, except the last, are in tended to give an idea of the vigorous and acrimonious electoral campaign which followed. In the manifestoes of MacMahon sperial attention should be given to the list of the achievements of his government, his explanation of the issues involved, and what is announced or implied as to the future. Documents D and F are both the work of Gambetta. Their analysis of the situation from the republican standpoint and their list of administrative measures for influencing the elections should be carefully noted. The elections were an overwhelming victory for the republicans. Document H shows how MacMahon accepted the result. REFERENCES. Seignobos, Europe Since 1814, 205-207; Andrews. Modern Europe, 356-357: Coubertin, Evolution of France under the Third Republic, 61-74: Bodley, France, I, 286-291; Lavisse and Rambaud, Histoire Generale, XII, 23-28. A. Letter of MacMahon to Simon. May 16, 1877. Journal Officiel, May 17, 1877 (Vol. 1877, 3689-3690). Mr. President of the Council, I have just read in the Journal Officiel the report of the sitting of yesterday. I have seen with surprise that neither you nor Mr. Keeper of the Seals urged from the tribune all the weighty reasons which possibly might have prevented the abrogation of a law upon the press, voted less than two years ago upon the proposal of M. Dufaure and the application of which you yourself very recently asked of the tribunals; and moreover, in several meetings of the Council, and even in that of yesterday it had been decided that the President of the Council, as well as the Keeper of the Seals, should be charged with combating it. Already there was occasion for astonishment that the Chamber of Deputies, in its late sittings, should have discussed an entire municipal law, and even adopted some provisions, of which in the council of ministers you yourself have thoroughly recognized the danger, such as the publicity of the municipal councils, without the Minister of the Interior having taken part in the discussion. This attitude of the head of the cabinet raises the question whether he has kept in the Chamber the influence necessary to make his views prevail. An explanation in this matter is indispensable, for if I am not responsible as you are to the Parliament, I have a responsibility to France, with which, to-day more than ever, I must be preoccupied. Accept, Mr. President of the Council, assurance of my highest consideration. THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC, B. Letter of Simon to MacMahon, May 16, 1877. Translation, The Times (London), May 17, 1877. In view of the letter you have thought fit to write to me, I feel myself bound to hand you my resignation of the functions you were good enough to confide to me. I am obliged, however, at the same time to tender explanations on two points. You regret, M. le Maréchal, that I was not present on Saturday in the Chamber, when the first reading of the Bill on Municipal Councils was discussed. I regretted it also; I was detained at Paris by indisposition; but the question of the publicity of the sittings was only to have been discussed on the second reading. I had come to an agreement on this point with M. Bardouy. M. Perras's amendment, which passed, took the Assembly unawares, and I had an appointment with the Committee on Friday morning to try and make it reverse its decision before entering on the debate in the Chamber. All this is known to everybody. As to the Bill on the Press, M. le Maréchal, you will be good enough to remember that my objections related solely to the case of foreign Sovereigns. I had always explained myself in this sense, as you yourself must remember at yesterday morning's Council. I repeated my reservations before the Chamber. I abstained from elaborating them for reasons which everybody knew and approved. As to the rest of the Bill, I was in agreement with the Committee. You will understand, M. le Président, the motive which leads me to enter into these details. I have to define my position in a distinct manner at the moment of my quitting the Council. I scarcely ven |