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THE SUBMISSION AGREEMENT
in

CONTRACT ARBITRATION

MORRISON AND MARJORIE HANDSAKER

Published for the

LABOR RELATIONS COUNCIL

o f the

WHARTON SCHOOL OF FINANCE AND COMMERCE

by the

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PRESS

Philadelphia
1 952
 Copyright 1952
UNIVERSITY O F PENNSYLVANIA PRESS
Manufactured in the United States of America

Morrison Handsaker is Chairman of the Department

of Economics and Business Administration at La-
fayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania. He has served
the United States Government in several capacities,
notably with the National Recovery Administration
and the War Labor Board. He has functioned as a
labor arbitrator in numerous cases and is the author of
various publications in the field of labor.
Marjorie Linfield Handsaker was formerly research
assistant in statistics at the Harvard Business School,
and a Fellow of the Department of Economics, Uni-
versity of Chicago. She subsequently served as editor
of the Labor Bulletin published by the Illinois Depart-
ment of Labor. She cooperated with Senator Paul H.
Douglas, then a professor at the University of Chi-
cago, on a study of the "production function" pub-
lished in 1938.
 CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

Preface v
1. The Submission Agreement in the Voluntary
Arbitration of the Terms of Labor Contracts 1
2. Cases in Which Limited Submissions
Were Used 13
3. Analysis of Contract Arbitration and
Particularly the Limited Submission 38
4. Summary and Conclusions 78
Reference Notes 86
Appendix I 96
Appendix II 99

[iii]
 PREFACE

A better understanding of labor arbitration requires, it

seems to me, an intensive analysis of specific problems rather
than the broad general appraisals which are more commonly
made. Perhaps progress in the effective use of arbitration
will be accelerated when the compound is broken down
into its various elements. This study of the submission agree-
ment by Morrison and Marjorie Handsaker illustrates very
clearly the values that derive from intensive research into a
selected element of the broad subject of arbitration. These
authors have carefully examined the problems involved in
the formulation and in the use of various kinds of "submis-
sions to arbitrate" the terms of new agreements. In doing so,
they have opened up a new field for more intensive cultiva-
tion. They have also shown, in a striking way, some of the
advantages of careful research into a particular aspect of
labor arbitration in giving the depth of treatment which
makes for a significant contribution.
At the same time, the subject matter of the Handsakers'
monograph is exceedingly important. Work stoppages over
grievances arising under labor agreements have been greatly
minimized by the use of voluntary arbitration. In marked
contrast, voluntary arbitration is not extensively used to
settle issues over the terms of new labor agreements. Negoti-
ators generally prefer the risks of work stoppages to the
risks of arbitration to settle differences over contract terms.
Is that because the risks of arbitration of contract terms are
inherently excessive? Should, therefore, the limited useful-
ness of arbitration in this area be accepted as a basic prin-
ciple of industrial relations under collective bargaining? Or,
does this limited usefulness primarily reflect a lack of under-
standing about the theory and practice of labor arbitration?
These are the questions which prompted Morrison and
Marjorie Handsaker to find out as much as possible about the
[v]
various ways in which the risks of arbitration might be
limited by the terms of the arbitration submission. That is
the instrument through which the negotiating parties can
instruct the arbitrator about how they wish him to go about
settling their differences. The authors thus examine in detail
an industrial-relations instrument, the arbitration submis-
sion, which, at least until quite recently, could logically be
called the forgotten document of industrial relations.
The essence of collective bargaining is the specification
of employment terms by agreement between employee and
management representatives. A meeting of minds is the
fundamental criterion of collective bargaining. It is still
the criterion when the ultimate pressures of a work stoppage
are invoked. Under these circumstances, it is not difficult to
appreciate the reluctance of the unions and the manage-
ments to pass along to an "outsider" the power to impose
the terms of employment upon them.
T h e reluctance to invoke a process entirely out of the
control of the parties has resulted, when arbitration is used
to avoid work stoppages, in the common use of the tripartite
arbitration board. There has also been a less extensive but
significant use of the limited submission to minimize the
risks of arbitration. Proper use of the limited submission
involves an obligation of the parties to agree upon as many
details of the arbitration proceeding as possible even though
they may be unable directly to agree upon a settlement of
a substantive issue submitted to arbitration. Such an obliga-
tion would appear to be in the collective-bargaining tradi-
tion. It may be that unions and managements can work out
ways and means for more effectively using arbitration to
settle the differences over contract terms which result in the
greatest number of work stoppages nowadays.
It follows, it seems to me, that the entire subject of the
arbitration submission calls for extended and objective ex-
amination. An excellent start on such a project has been
made in the monograph which Morrison and Marjorie Hand-
saker have prepared. That study should provoke discussion
and further research. As a consequence, perhaps it may be
[vi]
found that the restricted use of arbitration to settle issues
over new contract terms is not due to an inherent shortcom-
ing of arbitration but to a defective use of the mechanism.
Nor should there be any sudden leap to a conclusion adverse
to arbitration. The almost universal use of grievance arbitra-
tion is a quite recent phenomenon. Twenty years ago, the
idea that an "outsider" might decide the problems that arise
in day-by-dav operations was scoffed at—and for many of
the same reasons now advanced to show that the work stop-
page is superior to arbitration in settling issues over contract
terms.
GEORGE W . TAYLOR
Philadelphia
July 1952

[vii]
 THE SUBMISSION AGREEMENT
IN CONTRACT ARBITRATION
Chapter 1

THE SUBMISSION AGREEMENT IN THE VOLUNTARY

ARBITRATION OF THE TERMS OF LABOR CONTRACTS

"The men have hit the bricks," was the news with which
the industrial relations director of a machine-manufacturing
plant greeted the senior author. To the question, "Have you
considered arbitration?" the director replied: "You misunder-
stand me. This is a strike over the terms of our next contract.
This is not over a grievance." Further conversation showed
that this man, although well informed on many aspects of
industrial relations, did not know that it was possible to
arbitrate a disputed clause when negotiations for a new or
renewed contract broke down. He thought all voluntary
labor arbitration was confined to settling grievances and
interpreting existing contracts.
This director is typical of a substantial group who have
little information about voluntary arbitration of the terms
of new or renewed contracts. There is a much larger group of
management and labor representatives who know that it is
possible to arbitrate contract terms, but appear to give little
serious consideration to using arbitration when a work stop-
page threatens. They say, with a regularity that suggests a
formula: "We have an established system for grievance arbi-
tration, but we do not arbitrate the terms of contracts." They
follow this with extensive criticism of contract arbitration.
After hearing these views expressed by many spokesmen
for unions and management, the casual observer might con-
clude that there would be few, if any, instances in which
voluntary arbitration of contract terms had been used.
Paradoxically, careful study shows that there have been a
[1]
substantial number of cases of voluntary contract arbitration,
in a greater variety of industries than seems to be commonly
known. Grievance cases still make up the bulk of labor arbi-
tration cases, but there is some evidence that contract cases
may represent around 8 per cent of labor arbitration cases. 1 "
T h e Tribunal Vice-President of the American Arbitration
Association wrote recently: "It is not unusual today to have
the terms of new agreements determined by voluntary arbi-
tration and such use should be encouraged.

THE PROBLEM

T h e resident of a community in which there is a prolonged

strike in an important industry need only look at the smoke-
less factory chimneys, watch the restless pickets at the gates,
and later note the meager purchases in the shopping baskets
at the local grocery store to realize the heavy burden of
work stoppage. These are only outward signs of the serious
losses for management, stockholders, labor, and the public,
of prolonged strikes or lockouts.

Can Voluntary Arbitration of Contract Terms Promote

Industrial Peace?
It is the purpose of this study to inquire into methods for
peaceful settlement of disputes, to reduce these losses. Clearly
it would be best if the parties could resolve these differences
themselves either directly or, if necessary, with the aid of
a mediator. W e address our attention to those situations in
which negotiations even with the aid of a mediator have
failed, in order to see if voluntary arbitration can provide
a practical alternative to a trial of strength.
At first thought, it might seem that voluntary arbitration
would be readily substituted for work stoppages, if the
parties were sufficiently informed about contract arbitration.
T h e widespread acceptance of grievance arbitration has vir-
tually ended strikes over grievances. Could not voluntary
arbitration of contract terms in time win the same accept-
ance?
• Reference notes at end. Pa^es 86-96.

[2]
 On further analysis, however, it becomes evident that
something more than general education about contract arbi-
tration is needed. Many who speak for labor and manage-
ment say that they do give arbitration serious consideration,
but that in many instances they do not accept it, and that
they have sound reasons for this decision. The evaluation
of contract arbitration must, therefore, take account of these
established beliefs, and the reasons on which they are based.
The explanation of the existence of a substantial number
of cases of contract arbitration, along with so much oppo-
sition to it, appears to lie in the fact that ( 1 ) even severe
critics make exceptions for "special circumstances," and
( 2 ) there is another group who hold differing views about
contract arbitration.
Our purpose is to examine the thinking of labor, of man-
agement, and of arbitrators about contract arbitration, and
to indicate whv our study leads us to the conclusion that
voluntary arbitration of contract cases can make a greater
contribution than at present to industrial peace.

Can the Limited Submission Agreement Make Contract

Arbitration More Acceptable?
The chief objection to contract arbitration cited by the
parties is the risk of an extreme award that will be either
ruinous to the business or costly to the workers, or one which
is so unrealistic that it cannot be applied.
It has been suggested by Dr. George W . Taylor and others
that the parties could protect themselves against ruinous
awards by giving special attention to the submission agree-
ment. This instrument gives the arbitrator his authority to
act. It sets forth the problem which he is to answer. If the
submission agreement defines the problem precisely, the
parties are sure that the arbitrator can rule only on those
issues which they present to him. Thus, the parties gain pro-
tection from a carefully drawn submission.
The view is put forth that the parties may increase their
protection by using a limited submission. Such a submission
provides that the arbitrator is to consider certain standards
[3]
or criteria in reaching his decision. These guideposts serve
to keep the award within bounds determined by the parties.
The limited submission has been discussed briefly in a
number of articles on arbitration,3 but it is comparatively
little known. A number of experienced arbitrators reported
that they had had no cases in which a limited submission
was used and one stated he had never heard of it previously.
Others, however, have used it with varying degrees of suc-
cess, as is shown in the following chapters.
Cases chosen for study were mostly wage cases, although
a number of them had other issues as well, such as pensions,
vacations, seniority, etc.

Assumptions
To avoid misunderstanding there are several points which
we want to emphasize at the outset.
( 1 ) We are concerned with voluntary arbitration of con-
tract terms, not with compulsory arbitration under any gov-
ernmental statute. In voluntary arbitration, the parties them-
selves agree on an arbitrator, and agree in advance to abide
by his decision. The decision to use arbitration is their own.
( 2 ) Peacetime conditions are assumed, not a time of emer-
gency, or of war.
( 3 ) Agreement of the parties in direct negotiations, or
with the aid of a mediator, will give the most satisfactory
contract. We do not propose that the parties should give up
negotiation at the outset and let an arbitrator write a whole
contract.
( 4 ) For the most part we are considering an unpremedi-
tated, ad hoc arbitration of a few issues, remaining after
genuine collective bargaining has deadlocked. (We do make
an exception to this in the case of arbitration under a reopen-
ing clause where pre-arranged arbitration has in many cases
proven successful for interim wage revisions.)

SOURCES AND M A T E R I A L S

The study is based on (a) a review of the literature on

contract arbitration, ( b ) arbitration cases published by the
[4]
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Prompt action of the British ministry 277
Portuguese court withdraws to Brazil 277
General exclusion of British goods from the Continent 278
Attitude of Napoleon towards the United States 279
Nature of the questions confronting Napoleon 280
Jealousy of Great Britain towards neutral trade 281
Momentous decision of Napoleon as to the scope of
the Berlin Decree 281
Effect of this decision in Great Britain 282
Embargo Act of the United States, 1807 282
Succeeded by Non-Intercourse Act, 1809 283
British Orders in Council of November, 1807 283
Object of these orders 285
Summary of their requirements 286
Their effect upon neutrals 287
The effect upon the continental nations 288
Essential features of the opposing British and French
policies 289
Napoleon's Milan Decree 290
Duration of the two policies 291
Napoleon's usurpation in Spain 291
The Bayonne and Rambouillet Decrees 292
The Spanish revolt and French disasters 292
Battle of Vimiero and French evacuation of Portugal 292
Conventions of Erfurt and war between Russia and
Sweden 293
The British navy in the Baltic 294
Letter of Napoleon and the Czar to the King of Great
Britain 294
Napoleon in the Spanish Peninsula 295
Diversion made by Sir John Moore 296
Opening of the year 1809 296
Austria's preparations for war 297
State of the commercial warfare in 1809 298
Evasion of Napoleon's decrees by the Dutch 299
Consequent measures of Napoleon 300
Passive resistance of the Continent to the decrees 301
British seizure of Heligoland 302
Conditions in the Baltic 303
General conditions of British trade, 1806-1809 304
The License System 307
Origin of "neutralization" 309
Its effect upon the action of British cruisers 310
Workings of the License System 311
British Order in Council of April, 1809 313
War between Austria and France 314
Wellesley's operations in the Peninsula 315
Battles of Essling and Wagram 316
Sweden forced to join in the Continental System 316
Napoleon's urgent attempts to enforce the System 317
Conditions in the Peninsula 318
Northern Germany occupied by French troops 319
Holland united to the Empire 321
Napoleon's demands upon Prussia and Sweden 322
Extensive seizure of ships with British goods 323
Napoleon's Customs Decree of August 5, 1810 324
Universal application of this decree 325
Napoleon's fiscal measures and license system 326
Decree of October 19, 1810, to burn British
manufactured goods 327
Uneasiness of Russia 329
Napoleon's annexation of Oldenburg and the Hanse
towns 330
Commercial distress in Great Britain 331
Embarrassment and suffering in France 333
Napoleon's financial expedients 337
Credit of France and of Great Britain 338
Internal condition of France and of England 340
The conscription in France 342
Exhaustion of the two nations 343
Difficulties between France and Russia 344
Admiral Saumarez in the Baltic 346
Understanding between Sweden, Russia, and Great
Britain 347
Affairs in the Spanish Peninsula 348
Fall of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz 349
Discontent and misery in France 350
Russian treaties with Sweden and Turkey 350
Napoleon invades Russia 351
Revocation of the British Orders in Council 351
The United States declare war against Great Britain 351
Analysis of the British and French measures 351

CHAPTER XIX.

Summary.—The Function of Sea Power and the Policy of Great

Britain in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
Great Britain's unpreparedness for war in 1792 358
Spirit and aims of the French leaders 359
Decree of the National Convention, November 19,
1792 361
Significance of this step 362
Annexation of Belgium, and opening of the Scheldt 362
Interest of Great Britain in the Netherlands 363
British preparations for war 363
Consistency of Pitt's course 364
Convention's decree of December 15, 1792 367
Aggressive spirit of the French Revolution 368
Misconception of its strength by European statesmen 370
Conservative temper of the British nation 371
Irrepressible conflict between the two forces 372
Twofold aspect of Sea Power 372
Origin and character of the British Sea Power 373
Annihilation of French, Dutch, and Spanish navigation 375
Consequent opportunities for neutral carriers 376
Restrictions imposed upon these by Great Britain 377
Rise of prices on the continent of Europe 377
Great Britain becomes the depot for supplying the
Continent 378
Direct and indirect effects upon British prosperity 380
Strength of Great Britain dependent upon Sea Power 381
Use of Sea Power made by the ministry 382
"Security" the avowed object of the war 383
The war, therefore, avowedly defensive 384
British treaty obligations to Holland 384
Relation of Great Britain to the general struggle 385
Two resources arising from Sea Power 386
Great land operations inexpedient for Great Britain 386
Characteristics of the Seven Years' War 387
Contrasts between the elder and the younger Pitt 387
Pitt's war policy not simply a military question 391
General direction given by him to the national effort 392
Justification of his colonial enterprises 393
Unprecedented naval development and commercial
prosperity secured by him 394
Importance of these results 394
Exhaustion of France caused by Pitt's measures 395
Bonaparte's opinion as to the influence of Sea Power 396
Ruinous results to France of the measures to destroy
British commerce 396
Napoleon forced to these steps by Pitt's policy 397
Identity of spirit in the Republic and in Napoleon 398
France forced into the battle-field of Great Britain's
choosing 400
Strain of the Continental System upon Europe 401
Revolt from it of Spain and Russia 401
Effect of these movements 402
Napoleon submits to divide his forces 402
General correctness of Pitt's war policy 402
The criticisms on the campaign of 1793 considered 403
Peculiar character of the Revolutionary War 403
Dependence of statesmen upon military advice 404
Peculiar merit of Pitt 404
His death 405
His policy pursued by his successors 405
Exhaustion the only check upon a great national
movement 406
France revived by Bonaparte in 1796 and 1799 407
He unites the nation in a renewed forward movement 407
Bonaparte the incarnation of the Revolution 408
Combination of powers in Napoleon's hands 408
His career dependent upon the staying power of
France 408
Effect of Great Britain upon French endurance 409
Function of Great Britain in the Napoleonic wars 411
Accuracy of Pitt's forecast 411
Result postponed only by Bonaparte's genius 411

INDEX 413

Note.—The references to the "Correspondance de Napoléon" are to the

quarto edition, in thirty-two volumes, published in Paris between 1858 and
1869.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

VOLUME II.

MAP AND BATTLE PLANS.

VOLUME II.

MAPS AND BATTLE PLANS.

Page

I. Battle of Copenhagen 44
II. Map of North Atlantic 117
III. The Attack at Trafalgar 190
 THE

INFLUENCE OF SEA POWER

UPON THE

FRENCH REVOLUTION AND EMPIRE.

 CHAPTER XII.
Events on the Continent, 1798-1800.

Disorders of France under the Directory.—Disastrous War of the Second

Coalition.—Establishment of the Consulate.—Bonaparte overthrows
Austria and frames against Great Britain the Armed Neutrality of
1800.—Peace of Lunéville with Austria.

W HILE Bonaparte was crossing the Syrian desert and chafing

over the siege of Acre, the long gathering storm of war known
as the Second Coalition had broken upon France. It had been
preceded by a premature outburst of hostility on the part of the Two
Sicilies, induced by the excitement consequent upon the battle of the
Nile and fostered by Nelson; [1] who, however influenced, was
largely responsible for the action of the court. Despite the advice of
Austria to wait, a summons was sent to the French on the 22d of
November, 1798, to evacuate the Papal States and Malta. A
Neapolitan army of fifty thousand men marched upon Rome; and
five thousand were carried by Nelson's ships to Leghorn with the
idea of harassing the confidently-expected retreat of the enemy. [2]
Leghorn was at once surrendered; but in the south the campaign
ended in utter disaster. The French general Championnet, having but
fifteen thousand men, evacuated Rome, which the Neapolitans
consequently entered without opposition; but their field operations
met with a series of humiliating reverses, due partly to bad
generalship and partly to inexperience and the lack of mutual
confidence often found among untried troops. The French re-entered
Rome seventeen days after the campaign opened; and the king of
Naples, who had made a triumphal entry into the city, hurried back
to his capital, called upon the people to rise in defence of their
homes against the invaders, and then fled with the royal family to
Palermo, Nelson giving them and the Hamiltons passage on board
his flag-ship. The peasantry and the populace flew to arms, in
obedience to the king's proclamation and to their own feelings of
hatred to the republicans. Under the guidance of the priests and
monks, with hardy but undisciplined fury, they in the field harassed
the advance of the French, and in the capital rose against the upper
classes, who were suspected of secret intelligence with the enemy.
Championnet, however, continued to advance; and on the 23d of
January, 1799, Naples was stormed by his troops. After the
occupation, a series of judicious concessions to the prejudices of the
people induced their cheerful submission. The conquest was
followed by the birth to the Batavian, Helvetian, Ligurian, Cisalpine,
and Roman republics, of a little sister, named the Parthenopeian
Republic, destined to a troubled existence as short as its name was
long.
The Neapolitan declaration of war caused the ruin of the
Piedmontese monarchy. The Directory, seeing that war with Austria
was probable, decided to occupy all Piedmont. The king abdicated
on the 9th of December, 1798; retiring to the island of Sardinia,
which was left in his possession. Piedmont was soon after annexed
to the French Republic.
On the 20th of February, 1799, having failed to receive from the
emperor the explanations demanded concerning the entrance of the
Russian troops into his dominions, the Directory ordered its generals
to advance. Jourdan was to command in Germany, Masséna in
Switzerland, and Schérer in Italy. The armies of the republic,
enfeebled by two years of peace and by the economies of a
government always embarrassed for money and deficient in
executive vigor, were everywhere inferior to those of the enemy; and
the plan of campaign, providing for several operations out of reach
of mutual support, has been regarded by military critics as
essentially vicious.
Jourdan crossed the Rhine at Strasburg on the first of March,
advancing through the Black Forest upon the head waters of the
Danube. On the 6th Masséna crossed the river above Lake
Constance, and moved through the Alps toward the Tyrol, driving
the Austrians before him on his right and centre; but on the left he
entirely failed to carry the important position of Feldkirch, upon
which would depend the communication between his left and the
right of Jourdan, if the latter succeeded in pushing on as ordered.
This, however, he was unable to do. After some severe partial
encounters there was fought on March 25th, at Stokach, near the
north-west extremity of Lake Constance, a pitched battle in which
the French were defeated. Jourdan then saw that he had to do with
largely superior forces and retreated upon the Rhine, which he
recrossed above Strasburg on the 6th of April.
On the 26th of March, the day after the defeat of Jourdan at
Stokach, Schérer in Italy attacked the Austrians, who were
occupying the line of the Adige, rendered famous by Bonaparte in
his great campaign of 1796. The events of that day were upon the
whole favorable to the French; but Schérer showed irresolution and
consequent delay in improving such advantages as he had obtained.
After a week of manœuvring the two armies met in battle on the 5th
of April near Magnano, and after a long and bloody struggle the
French were forced to give way. On the 6th, the day that Jourdan
retreated across the Rhine, Schérer also fell back behind the Mincio.
Not feeling secure there, although the Austrians did not pursue, he
threw garrisons into the posts on that line, and on the 12th retired
behind the Adda; sending word to Macdonald, Championnet's
successor at Naples, to prepare to evacuate that kingdom and bring
to northern Italy the thirty thousand men now so sorely needed.
Jourdan having offered his resignation after the battle of Stokach,
the armies in Germany and in Switzerland were united under the
command of Masséna; whose long front, extending from the
Engadine, around the sources of the Inn, along the Rhine as low as
Dusseldorf, was held by but one hundred thousand men, of whom
two-thirds were in Switzerland. In the position which Switzerland
occupies, thrust out to the eastward from the frontiers of France,
having on the one flank the fields of Germany, on the other those of
Italy, and approachable from both sides by many passes, the
difficulties of defence are great; [3] and Masséna found himself
menaced from both quarters, as well as in front, by enemies whose
aggregate force was far superior to his own. Pressed along the line
of the Rhine both above and below Lake Constance, he was
compelled to retire upon works constructed by him around Zurich;
being unable to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces, which
approached from both directions. On the 4th of June the Austrians
assaulted his lines; and, though the attack was repulsed, Masséna
thought necessary to evacuate the place forty-eight hours later,
falling back upon a position on the Albis mountains a few miles in his
rear.
During the two months over which these contests between Masséna
and his enemies were spread, the affairs of the French in Italy were
growing daily more desperate. After the victory of Magnano the
Austrians were joined, on the 24th of April, by twenty thousand
Russians under Marshal Suwarrow, who became general-in-chief of
the allied armies. On the 26th Schérer turned over his command to
Moreau; but, although the latter was an officer of very great
capacity, the change was too late to avoid all the impending
disasters. On the 27th the passage of the Adda was forced by the
allies, and on the 29th they entered Milan; the French retiring upon
the Ticino, breaking down the bridges over the Po, and taking steps
to secure their communications with Genoa. Pausing but a moment,
they again retreated in two columns upon Turin and Alessandria;
Moreau drawing together near the latter place the bulk of his force,
about twenty thousand men, and sending pressing invitations to
Macdonald to hasten the northward march of the army of Naples.
The new positions were taken the 7th of May, and it was not till the
5th that the Austro-Russians, delayed by the destruction of the
bridges, could cross the Po. But the insurrection of the country in all
directions was showing how little the submission of the people and
the establishment of new republics were accompanied by any hearty
fidelity to the French cause; and on the 18th, leaving a garrison in
Alessandria, Moreau retreated upon the Apennines. On the 6th of
June his troops were distributed among the more important points
on the crest of the range, from Pontremoli, above Spezia, to Loano,
and all his convoys had safely crossed the mountains to the latter
point. It was at this moment that he had an interview with Admiral
Bruix, whose fleet had anchored in Vado Bay two days before. [4]
While events were thus passing in Upper Italy, Macdonald, in
obedience to his orders, evacuated Naples on the 7th of May, at the
moment when Moreau was taking his position on the Apennines and
Bonaparte making his last fruitless assault upon Acre. Leaving
garrisons at the principal strong places of the kingdom, he hurried
north, and on the 25th entered Florence, where, though his junction
with Moreau was far from being effected, he was for the first time in
sure communication with him by courier. There were two routes that
Macdonald might take,—either by the sea-shore, which was
impracticable for artillery, or else, crossing the Apennines, he would
find a better road in the plain south of the Po, through Modena and
Parma, and by it might join the army of Italy under the walls of
Tortona. The latter course was chosen, and after a delay too much
prolonged the army of Naples set out on the 9th of June. All went
well with it until the 17th, when, having passed Modena and Parma,
routing the allied detachments which he encountered, Macdonald
reached the Trebia. Here, however, he was met by Suwarrow, and
after three days' desperate fighting was forced to retreat by the road
he came, to his old positions on the other side of the mountains. On
the same day the citadel of Turin capitulated to the allies. After
pursuing Macdonald some distance, Suwarrow turned back to meet
Moreau, and compelled him also to retire to his former posts. This
disastrous attempt at a junction within the enemies' lines cost the
French fifteen thousand men. It now became necessary for the army
of Naples to get to Genoa at all costs by the Corniche road, and this
it was able to do through the inactivity of the enemy,—due, so
Jomini says, not to Suwarrow, but to the orders from Vienna. By the
middle of July both armies were united under Moreau. As a result of
the necessary abandonment of Naples by the French troops, the
country fell at once into the power of the armed peasantry, except
the garrisons left in a few strong places; and these, by the help of
the British navy, were also reduced by the 1st of August.
This striking practical illustration of the justness of Bonaparte's
views, concerning the danger incurred by the French in Upper Italy
through attempting to occupy Naples, was followed by further
disasters. On the 21st of July the citadel of Alessandria capitulated;
and this loss was followed on the 30th by that of Mantua, which had
caused Bonaparte so much delay and trouble in 1796. The latter
success was somewhat dearly bought, inasmuch as the emperor of
Germany had positively forbidden Suwarrow to make any further
advance before Mantua fell. [5] Opportunity was thus given for the
junction of Moreau and Macdonald, and for the reorganization of the
latter's army, which the affairs of the Trebia and the subsequent
precipitate retreat had left in a state of prostration and incoherence,
from which it did not recover for a month. The delay would have
been still more favorable to the French had Mantua resisted to the
last moment; but it capitulated at a time when it could still have held
out for several days, and Suwarrow was thus enabled to bring up
the besieging corps to his support, unknown to the enemy.
Meanwhile Moreau had been relieved by Joubert, one of the most
brilliant of the young generals who had fought under Bonaparte in
Italy. The newcomer, reaching his headquarters on the 2d of August,
at once determined upon the offensive, moved thereto by the wish
to relieve Mantua, and also by the difficulty of feeding his army in
the sterile mountains now that ruin had befallen the coastwise traffic
of Genoa, by which supplies had before been maintained. [6] On the
10th of August the French advanced. On the 14th they were in
position at Novi; and there Joubert saw, but too late, that
Suwarrow's army was far larger than he had expected, and that the
rumor of Mantua's fall, which he had refused to credit, must be true.
He intended to retreat; but the Russian marshal attacked the next
morning, and after a fierce struggle, which the strength of their
position enabled the French to prolong till night, they were driven
from the field with heavy loss, four general officers and thirty-seven
guns being captured. Joubert was killed early in the day; and
Moreau, who had remained to aid him until familiar with all the
details of his command, again took the temporary direction of the
army by the agreement of the other generals. Immediately after the
battle Suwarrow sent into the late Papal States a division which, co-
operating with the Neapolitan royalists and the British navy, forced
the French to evacuate the new Roman republic on the 27th of
September, 1799.
At this moment of success new dispositions were taken by the allied
governments, apparently through the initiative of Austria; which
wished, by removing Suwarrow, to keep entire control of Italy in her
own hands. This change of plan, made at so critical a moment,
stopped the hitherto triumphant progress; and, by allowing time for
Bonaparte to arrive and to act, turned victory into defeat. By it
Suwarrow was to march across the Alps into Switzerland, and there
take charge of the campaign against Masséna, having under him an
army composed mainly of Russians. The Archduke Charles, now
commanding in Switzerland, was to depart with the greater part of
the Austrian contingent to the lower Rhine, where he would by his
operations support the invasion of Holland then about to begin.
On the 13th of August,—the same day that Bruix entered Brest,
carrying with him the Spanish fleet, and two days before the battle
of Novi,—the expedition against Holland, composed of seventeen
thousand Russians and thirty thousand British troops, sailed from
England. Delayed first by light winds and then by heavy weather, the
landing was not made till the 27th of the month. On the 31st the
Archduke, taking with him thirty-six thousand Austrians, started for
the lower Rhine, leaving General Hotze and the Russian Korsakoff to
make head against Masséna until the arrival of Suwarrow. The latter,
on the 11th of September, immediately after the surrender of
Tortona, began his northward march.
At the moment the Archduke assumed his new command, the
French on the lower Rhine, crossing at Mannheim, invested and
bombarded Philipsburg; and their operations seemed so far serious
as to draw him and a large part of his force in the same direction.
This greatly diminished one of the difficulties confronting Masséna in
the offensive movement he then had in contemplation. Hearing at
the same time that Suwarrow had started from Italy, he made his
principal attack from his left upon the Russians before Zurich on the
25th of September, the right wing of his long line advancing in
concert against the Austrian position east of Lake Zurich upon its
inlet, the Linth. Each effort was completely successful, and decisive;
the enemy being in both directions driven back, and forced to
recross the streams above and below the lake. Suwarrow, after a
very painful march and hard fighting, reached his first appointed
rendezvous at Mutten two days after the battle of Zurich had been
lost; and the corps that were to have met him there, fearing their
retreat would be cut off, had not awaited his arrival. The old marshal
with great difficulty fought his way through the mountains to Ilanz,
where at length he assembled his exhausted and shattered forces on
the 9th of October, the day on which Bonaparte landed at Fréjus on
his return from Egypt. By that time Switzerland was entirely cleared
of Russians and Austrians. The river Rhine, both above and below
Lake Constance, marked the dividing line between the belligerents.
The Anglo-Russian attack upon Holland had no better fate. Landing
upon the peninsula between the Zuyder Zee and the North Sea, the
allies were for awhile successful; but their movements were cautious
and slow, giving time for the local resistance to grow and for re-
enforcements to come up. The remnants of the Dutch navy were
surrendered and taken back to England; but the Duke of York, who
had chief command of the allied troops, was compelled on the 18th
of October to sign a convention, by which the invading force was
permitted to retire unmolested by the first of December.
During the three remaining months of 1799 some further encounters
took place in Germany and Italy. In the latter the result was a
succession of disasters to the French, ending with the capitulation,
on the 4th of December, of Coni, their last remaining stronghold in
Piedmont, and the retreat of the army into the Riviera of Genoa.
Corfu and the Ionian Islands having been reduced by the combined
Russian and Turkish fleets in the previous March, and Ancona
surrendered on the 10th of November, all Bonaparte's conquests in
Italy and the Adriatic had been lost to France when the Directory
fell. The brave soldiers of the army of Italy, destitute and starving,
without food, without pay, without clothing or shoes, without even
wood for camp-fires in the bitter winter nights on the slopes of the
Apennines, deserted in crowds and made their way to the interior. In
some regiments none but officers and non-commissioned officers
were left. An epidemic born of want and exposure carried off men by
hundreds. Championnet, overwhelmed by his misfortunes and by the
sight of the misery surrounding him, fell ill and died. Bonaparte, now
First Consul, sent Masséna to replace him.
In Germany nothing decisive occurred in the field; but in
consequence of some disagreements of opinion between himself and
the Archduke, Suwarrow declined further co-operation, and, alleging
the absolute need of rest for his soldiers after their frightful
exposure in Switzerland, marched them at the end of October into
winter quarters in Bavaria. This closed the share of the Russians in
the second coalition. The Czar, who had embarked in the war with
the idea of restoring the rights of monarchs and the thrones that
had been overturned, was dissatisfied both with the policy of
Austria, which looked to her own predominance in Italy, and with
Great Britain. A twelvemonth more was to see him at the head of a
league of the northern states against the maritime claims of the
great Sea Power, and completely won over to the friendship of
Bonaparte by the military genius and wily flattery of the renowned
captain.
During this disastrous year, in which France lost all Italy except the
narrow strip of sea-coast about Genoa, and after months of
desperate struggle had barely held her own in Switzerland, Germany,
and Holland, the internal state of the country was deplorable. The
Revolutionary government by the Committee of Public Safety had
contrived, by the use of the extraordinary powers granted to it, to
meet with greater or less success the demands of the passing hour;
although in so doing it was continually accumulating
embarrassments against a future day of reckoning. The Directory,
deprived of the extraordinary powers of its predecessor, had
succeeded to these embarrassments, and the day of reckoning had
arrived. It has been seen how the reactionary spirit, which followed
the rule of blood, had prevailed more and more until, in 1797, the
political composition of the two Councils was so affected by it as to
produce a strong conflict between them and the executive. This
dead-lock had been overcome and harmony restored by the violent
measures of September, 1797, by which two Directors and a number
of members of the legislature had been forcibly expelled from their
office. The parties, of two very different shades of opinion, to which
the ejected members belonged, had not, however, ceased to exist.
In 1798, in the yearly elections to replace one-third of the
legislature, they again returned a body of representatives sufficient
to put the Councils in opposition to the Directory; but this year the
choice of the electors was baffled by a system of double returns.
The sitting Councils, of the same political party as the Directory,
pronounced upon these, taking care in so doing to insure that the
majority in the new bodies should be the same as in the old. In May,
1799, however, the same circumstance again recurred. The fact is
particularly interesting, as showing the opposition which was felt
toward the government throughout the country.
This opposition was due to a cause which rarely fails to make
governments unpopular. The Directory had been unsuccessful. It
was called upon to pay the bills due to the public expectation of
better things when once the war was over. This it was not able to
do. Though peace had been made with the continent, there
remained so many matters of doubt and contention that large
armies had to be maintained. The expenses of the state went on,
but the impoverished nation cried out against the heavy taxation laid
to meet them; the revenues continually fell short of the
expenditures, and the measures proposed by the ministers to
remedy this evil excited vehement criticisms. The unpopularity of the
government, arising from inefficient action, reacted upon and
increased the weakness which was inherent in its cumbrous, many-
headed form. Hence there resulted, from the debility of the head, an
impotence which permeated all the links of the executive
administration down to the lowest members.
In France itself the disorder and anarchy prevailing in the interior
touched the verge of social dissolution. [7] Throughout the country,
but especially in the south and west, prevailed brigandage on a large
scale—partly political, partly of the ordinary highway type. There
were constant reports of diligences and mail-wagons stopped, [8] of
public treasure plundered, of republican magistrates assassinated.
Disorganization and robbery spread throughout the army, a natural
result of small pay, irregularly received, and of the system of
contributions, administered with little responsibility by the
commanders of armies in the field. The attempt of the government
to check and control this abuse was violently resented by generals,
both of the better and the worse class; by the one as reflecting upon
their character and injuring their position, by the other as depriving
them of accustomed though unlawful gains. Two men of
unblemished repute, Joubert and Championnet, came to a direct
issue with the Directory upon this point. Joubert resigned the
command of the army of Italy, in which Bernadotte from the same
motive refused to replace him; while Championnet, in Naples,
compelled the commissioner of the Directory to leave the kingdom.
For this act, however, he was deprived and brought to a court-
martial.
From the weakness pervading the administration and from the
inadequate returns of the revenue, the government was driven to
extraordinary measures and to the anticipation of its income. Greater
and more onerous taxes were laid; and, as the product of these was
not immediate, purchases had to be made at long and uncertain
credit, and consequently were exorbitant in price while deficient in
quantity and quality. From this arose much suffering among all
government employés, but especially among the soldiers, who
needed the first attention, and whose distress led them easily to side
with their officers against the administration. Contracts so made only
staved off the evil day, at the price of increasing indebtedness for
the state and of growing corruption among the contractor class and
the officials dealing with them. Embarrassment and disorder
consequently increased apace without any proportionate vigor in the
external action of the government, and the effects were distributed
among and keenly felt by all individuals, except the small number
whose ability or whose corruptness enables them to grow rich when,
and as, society becomes most distressed. The creditors of the
nation, and especially the holders of bonds, could with difficulty
obtain even partial payment. In the general distrust and perplexity
individuals and communities took to hoarding both money and food,
moved by the dangers of transit and by fear of the scarcity which
they saw to be impending. This stagnation of internal circulation was
accompanied by the entire destruction of maritime commerce, due
to the pressure of the British navy and to the insane decree of
Nivôse 29 (January 19, 1798). [9] Both concurred to paralyze the
energies of the people, to foster indolence and penury, and by sheer
want to induce a state of violence with which the executive was
unable to cope.
When to this internal distress were added the military disasters just
related, the outcry became loud and universal. All parties united
against the Directors, who did not dare in 1799 to repeat the
methods by which in the two previous years a majority had been
obtained in the legislature. On the 18th of June the new Councils
were able to force a change in the composition of the Directory,
further enfeebling it through the personal weakness of the new
members. These hastened to reverse many of the measures of their
predecessors, but no change of policy could restore the lost prestige.
The effect of these steps was only further to depress that branch of
the government which, in so critical a moment and in so disordered
a society, should overbear all others and save the state—not by
discussion, but by action.
Such was the condition of affairs found by Bonaparte when he
returned from Egypt. The revolution of Brumaire 18 (November 9,
1799) threw into his hands uncontrolled power. This he proceeded at
once to use with the sagacity and vigor that rarely failed him in his
early prime. The administration of the country was reconstituted on
lines which sacrificed local independence, but invigorated the grasp
of the central executive, and made its will felt in every corner of the
land. Vexatious measures of the preceding government were
repealed, and for them was substituted a policy of liberal
conciliation, intended to rally all classes of Frenchmen to the support
of the new rule. In the West and North, in La Vendée, Brittany, and
Normandy, the insurrection once suppressed by Hoche had again
raised its head against the Directory. To the insurgents Bonaparte
offered reasonable inducements to submission, while asserting his
firm determination to restore authority at any cost; and the rapid
gathering of sixty thousand troops in the rebellious districts proved
his resolution to use for that purpose a force so overwhelming, that
the completion of its task would release it by the return of spring, to
take the field against external foes. Before the end of February the
risings were suppressed, and this time forever. Immediate steps
were taken to put the finances on a sounder basis, and to repair the
military disasters of the last twelvemonth. To the two principal
armies, of the Rhine and of Italy, were sent respectively Moreau and
Masséna, the two greatest generals of the republic after Bonaparte
himself; and money advanced by Parisian bankers was forwarded to
relieve the more pressing wants of the destitute soldiery.
At the same time that these means were used to recover France
herself from the condition of debility into which she had fallen, the
first consul made a move calculated either to gain for her the time
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