French interests in Mexico., August 22

French interests in Mexico.

It is hardly probable that the plan of the court of Mexico will be accepted by the French government. News from that country plainly shows that the experiment made at our cost is drawing to a close. We must anticipate difficulties, and prepare to meet them. The first is the withdrawal of our troops.

As Maximilian yields to discouragement, so must our military intervention be abridged. Public opinion would be pleased to see our Expenses stopped, and the sufferings of our soldiers shortened. Moreover, in the present state of European politics, it is important to bring our troops back from such a distant country The withdrawal, at present, has dangers we must notice. As soon as Maximilian declares his mission at an end, our regiments will be found scattered over a hostile country, and surrounded by an exasperated population, full of hate for the foreigner. Or shall we remain in presence of a new power, strong enough to maintain order, and wise enough to understand that a French army, supported by France, is to be respected? The French authorities in Mexico must see this alternative. Military movements in a vast country like that are always hazardous. No nation has vessels enough to bring back 30,000 men at once, with all their material. It would be very expensive to make use of merchant vessels. If the withdrawal took place gradually, the last detachments would have a hard time with the enemy and the hot region. They could not all embark at once. But these are obstacles that might be removed by experienced and scientific men. It is justly feared that the withdrawal of our troops would leave our citizens without protection. The number of Frenchmen in Mexico has increased from 4,000 to 40,000, it is said, since the new order of things. Those who are acquainted with the people of that country know the danger to which our countrymen will be exposed when not protected by the French flag. We must acknowledge now that the resistance to Maximilian is not from a few bands of robbers, as we have been too often told, but from a large class of republicans opposed to European intervention. This part of the population has been treated badly during the last two years, and but few of its families remain, whose only recollection of intervention will be of ruin and death. A Mexican is cruel and revengeful, and a severe retaliation is dreaded. One newspaper talks of Mexican vespers. It is horrible to believe in such predictions.

A large number of the immigrants that cams to earn an honest living in Mexico will have to return with the army. Those of our countrymen who have been living a long time in Mexico have not taken part in Maximilian’s cause, and they are wise enough to see the consequences. Many of them have been prudent enough to assume American citizenship for protection, in anticipation of trouble. The city is filled with shops having the names of Johnson or Wilson on their signs. There will certainly be days of trouble when the transition does take place; but foreigners, long resident in Mexico, are accustomed to those political tempests, and know how to escape them. It is to be hoped that the French military authorities will take measures with the new power, whatever it may be, to protect our countrymen after the army is withdrawn.

There is another question, that in regard to the holders of Mexican bonds, which interests more than 300,000 families. We will reserve for to-morrow the information we have collected on this subject, together with our own observations.