“XIV. Annual elections by all.
“Vive la Republique!
Gardons nos armes!”[[4]]
To carry out these principles, they propose a general centralisation of all undertakings in the hands of government, to be brought under the direct control of a simple majority of universal suffrage electors. In the same journal we find the following proposals:—
“ABSORPTION OF RAILWAYS BY THE STATE.
“Let us reproduce to-day, with the certainty of being heard by the country, the wishes which the Democratie Pacifique has announced every morning since its origin, seventeen years ago.
“I. All railways, roads, canals, and public ways, by which the life of France circulates, to be absorbed by the state.
“II. The state should undertake all stage-coaches, carriers, waggons, and means of conveyance or transport, of every description.
“III. All joint-stock banks should be absorbed by the state—(A l’état les banques confédérées.)
“IV. All insurance companies, mines, and salt-works, to be undertaken by the state.