The contest between M. Thiers and the Right has begun
to rage again. The President, in several interviews held this week has told the Thirty that he will not have Ministerial responsibility, that he will speak when he likes—though he consents to certain forma- lities before he speaks—and that he will have a Second Chamber to carry on Government during the interregnum. This Chainber, he suggests, should be organised by the Assembly about two months before its dissolution, should not be called the Upper Chamber, and should not, as he was careful to remark, be entrusted with the control of the " Administration," but only of the Government. In other words, it is not to master the Ministry of the Interior, and so guide the elec- tions. The Committee, convinced or over-awed, appears disposed to give way, and is loudly accused by the Right of weakness, particularly on Ministerial responsibility. The Right, however, has taken no step this week, and its tone has probably been moderated by the adhesion of M. Casimir Perier and a large section-11 members—of the Left Centre, who have broken away from the Left to join, as they think, the winning side. If their adherence is thorough, the Right have of course a majority, but we suspect the condition of their adhesion is obedience to M. Thiers.
