The charges of blackmailing daily brought against the Press, are
said to include half the newspapers of Paris, and a new scandal has just been opened up, the drift of which is that one railway, and therefore probably more, has been buying complaisances from the Department and from Members of the Chamber. It is said that M. Dam is resolved to probe these scandals to the bottom, and he is a determined man; but we fear he will find the task too dangerous for the safety of the Republic. The outrageous corruption proved in the Panama affair has never been " probed " at all, nor has there been any public inquiry into the allegations made as to the condition of the Naval supply departments. So many prominent persons are impli- cated, that if they were all exposed, the country electors might believe that the Republic was governed by rascals, and act on the belief. As a matter of fact, it is doubtful if the Republic is as corrupt as the Empire, but we fancy the bribes are more distributed, and so cover a wider area. As we have argued elsewhere, it will be necessary before long to institute in all countries a quicker and cheaper method of reaching the corrupt. There is no reason whatever why a man who robs a State or a Municipality should not be treated as an ordinary and particularly contemptible thief.
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