Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

“ But in revolution, the leaders propose and the people dispose. On 16 April, as on 17 March, the friends of Blanqui, who were everywhere, at the police prefecture as at the Luxembourg, set the tone of the movement, and that which had been premeditated to be done against the two extreme fractions of the democratic party turned in favor of the conservative reaction. When will democracy be free of all these intrigues which cause it to get lost and dishonor it? ”

“ A demonstration was organized for Sunday, 16 April, by the workers of the corporations: the pretext was the nomination of fourteen staff officers, after which they had to go to the Hotel de Ville to present a petition with a patriotic offering. “It is for us, men of action and dedication,” said the petitioners, “to whom it appertains to declare to the Provisional Government that the people want the Democratic Republic; that the people want the abolition of the exploitation of man by man; that the people want the organization of labor by association.” ”

“ What makes the parties hate each other is less the divergence of their ideas than their tendency to dominate each other: there is little concern for opinions; there was only anxiety about which side had power. If there was no government, there would be no parties; if there were no parties, there would be no government. When do we get out of this circle?
Footnotes ↑ When I point out the presence of Blanqui in the demonstration of 16 April, it is mainly the party I want to talk about, much more than the man. ”

“ It seems that power renders intelligent people stupid. The Provisional Government is not the only one, since February, which went through this experience.
If the circulars of Ledru-Rollin, the 45 cents of Garnier-Pagès were mistakes in politics and finance, which any force could yet contest, these mistakes then at least had a sense, an intention, a scope; what their authors wanted or did not want was known; they were neither flat nor absurd. But what of those proclamations as idle as they are puerile, where the Provisional Government announced the arraignment of Mr. ”

“ Pacific Democracy, also taking the initiative, demanded that the blouse be adopted uniformly by all the national guards of the republic; that the information and placement bureaus for the workers be organized by the State; that professors be sent to the departments to demonstrate to peasants the superiority of the democratic form over the monarchical, etc. ”