Sunday, the Communists' anniversary in Paris, passed off in perfect
tranquillity. The Government contrived to con- Sunday, the Communists' anniversary in Paris, passed off in perfect tranquillity. The Government contrived to con- vince the Anarchist leaders that, if necessary, they would act with energy, and that the troops had no sympathy with disorder. Any project of rioting which might have- been entertained was, therefore, abandoned, the public places were deserted, and the meetings held were confined to- private houses. It is said, however, that great numbers of respectable citizens quitted Paris ; and the Government, while- denying any general distress, admits its existence among car- penters and some branches of the building trade. They are to receive large orders from the State,—rather a weak policy, though. pursued by every Government in turn. Its effect is to draw a crowd of picked workmen to Paris, where they find wages high and life amusing, and thus to stop the natural flux and reflux in the supply of labour. Nothing is more notable in the economic life of London than the rapidity with which the workmen in any decaying trade quit the capital for other cities. We were told, when the London shipbuilding trade- suffered its last severe depression, that thirty thousand workmen glided away unnoticed in three months. In Paris, they would have demanded of M. de Meld ships to build.
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