Politics as a Profession, 1878–1889

Abstract

During the 1878 campaign Foissey repeatedly reminded Ribot that he was a stranger to voters in the north. Conversely, Ribot knew little about his native department, and, as deputy, he had to familiarize himself with the intricate economic and political balances of the region. Ribot quickly learned that Calais with its textiles and coastal traffic complemented rather than rivalled Boulogne-sur-mer down the peninsular coastline to the west where the fishing industry dominated. Below these two important port cities that marked the limits of Ribot’s electoral district opened the broad agricultural lowland where peasants with their traditional grain crops shared the ground with relative newcomers, cultivators of sugar beets. Sugar beets, by attracting refineries and alcohol distilleries, had become a vital element in the economic life of the region. In the 1880’s this complex industry would profit from the Midi’s misfortune when the phylloxera blight ravaged French vineyards.