15 octobre 1791
26 octobre 1795
Comité de Division
Comité de Division du royaume et de circonscription
France. Comité de Division du territoire (1791-1795)
- décret du 22 décembre 1789 sur la constitution des assemblées primaires et des assemblées administratives.
- décret général du 26 février 1790 sur la division de la France en 83 départements.
- décret du 26 février 1790, qui ordonne de présenter à la sanction et à l’acceptation du roi la rédaction générale des décrets sur la division de la France en 83 départements.
- décret du 26 février 1790 chargeant le comité de Constitution de donner des dénominations aux 83 départements.
- décret du 15 octobre 1791 portant établissement de plusieurs comités et inspecteurs, dont un « comité de Division du royaume ».
- décret du 15 octobre 1791 sur l’organisation des comités de l’Assemblée.
- décret du 1er octobre 1792 concernant la nomination de comités et commissions, dont le « comité de Division ».
- décret du 7 fructidor an II sur l’organisation des comités de la Convention nationale.
Le premier comité de Division est composé de 24 membres élus par l’Assemblée nationale législative. Le résultat du scrutin est annoncé au cours de la séance du 27 octobre 1791 ( Arch. parl., t. 34, p. 450). Sont élus : Allain-Launay, Barris, Bassal, Benoid, Cazes, Chirat, Curée, Daloz, Descamps, Dochier, Gaston, Golzard, Henry, Juglard, Lagrevol, de Launay-Mailly, Léopold, Marin, Mayerne, Pillaut, Poitevin, Rassin, Thévenet, Thévenin.
Dans sa première séance, le 29 octobre 1791, le comité « arrête que Messieurs Dochier et Rassin sont chargés de demander à MM. les inspecteurs de la Salle l’ancien local qui était occupé par le comité de Division de l’Assemblée nationale constituante » (registre des délibérations du comité de Division, D/IVbis/*/21). Enfin, L’Huillier, ancien commis du comité de Division, obtient la majorité des suffrages pour occuper les mêmes fonctions au sein du nouveau comité. Au 9 février 1792, le comité dispose de quatre commis ( Arch. parl., t. 38, p. 297).
Conformément au décret du 1er octobre 1792, le comité de Division de la Convention nationale est conservé et composé de 24 membres. Les élections ont lieu le 13 octobre et témoignent de l’attrait des députés pour ce comité : 200 candidats se présentent. Le scrutin donne la préférence aux 24 suivants ( Arch. parl., t. 52, p. 480) : Audouin, Azéma, Bassal, Chambon, Chaudron-Rousseau Couppé, Couturier, Jean Debry, Descamps, Deydier, Dubois-Dubais, Duquesnoy, Fauchet, Gaston, Gay-Vernon, Goupilleau, Élie Lacoste, Lecointe-Puyraveau, Lesage, Mallarmé, Osselin, Saladin, Sieyès. Par sa dénomination et sa composition, ce comité s’inscrit dans la continuité du précédent, jusqu’à l’institution du Gouvernement révolutionnaire. Le renouvellement de tous les comités (décret du 18 juillet 1793) inaugure une période de durcissement de la composition politique du comité et de la réduction de moitié du nombre de membres du comité « épuré ».
En revanche, le comité dispose, outre les 12 membres et les commis, de deux géographes, dont Pierre de Belleyme, chargé depuis 1766 de la direction de la Carte topographique de la Guyenne. Au comité, il fut chargé du dénombrement de la population de la France, des dossiers de changements de noms des communes et du Dictionnaire des municipalités.
Le programme de réorganisation administrative et de division territoriale de l’Assemblée constituante suscite des pressions considérables. En conséquence, l’Assemblée décide d’adjoindre quatre de ses membres au comité de Constitution, au titre de commissaires pour les questions relatives à la division du royaume. Dupont de Nemours, Bureaux de Puzy, Aubry-Dubochet et Gossin, élus le 1er décembre 1789, forment cette nouvelle section du comité. Si le statut de section – en regard de celui de véritable comité – peut laisser présumer d’une subordination et d’une valorisation moindre, d’aucuns y voient un rempart du très légitime comité de Constitution contre les pressions, demandes et critiques adressées à l’Assemblée. La section de Division du royaume est donc chargée de préparer le travail législatif relatif à la division du royaume, en particulier la création des départements et le découpage territorial en districts et communes, puis l’établissement des tableaux de population d’après les critères établis par les Constituants pour fixer le nombre de représentants de la future Assemblée législative (superficie, population, impositions directes). L’intrication étroite des questions de division territoriale et de représentation politique apparaît d’emblée.
Le 13 octobre 1791, l’Assemblée législative supprime le comité de Constitution, qui était « nécessaire pour ce qui concerne la division du royaume seulement, pour connaître des demandes qui étaient faites à cet égard ; pour clore les contestations relatives à la fixation des chefs-lieux de département et pour s’occuper des mémoires relatifs à la réduction du nombre des districts » ( Arch. parl., t. 34, p. 212). Le 15 octobre, l’Assemblée décrète, en conséquence, l’établissement d’un « comité de Division du royaume et de circonscription », chargé particulièrement de toutes les affaires contentieuses nées de la refonte de l’organisation administrative et territoriale (municipalités, cantons, districts ; élection des haut-jurés, installation des tribunaux et des juges de paix, placement des notaires publics), mais aussi des problèmes de circonscription des paroisses et de la fixation des sièges épiscopaux.
François de Neufchâteau ayant proposé, en mars 1792, d’introduire des listes de candidatures pour les élections législatives, le comité de Division voit ses attributions augmentées de cette question épineuse.
Après l’insurrection d’août 1792, la Convention nationale décide de fonder la représentation nationale sur le seul critère de la population et de revoir la division territoriale du pays. Le comité de Division, prorogé par un décret du 1er octobre 1792, s’inscrit dans la continuité des travaux menés précédemment. Jusqu’au printemps 1793, il regroupe progressivement toutes les fonctions de ses prédécesseurs de la Constituante et de la Législative. D’après l’ Almanach de 1793, les fonctions du comité de Division « embrassent :
1° Tous les objets relatifs à la division du royaume, comme changements de communes & de districts, suppressions & changements de cantons et de municipalités ;
2° Les établissements des juges de paix, des tribunaux de commerce, des commissaires de police ;
3° Les rectifications de toutes les erreurs commises ou glissées dans les élections & nominations d’administrateurs.
4° Le nombre & la distribution des notaires publics dans les 84 départements.
5° La circonscription de toutes les paroisses de la République française, & généralement tout ce qui concerne les matières ecclésiastiques. »
Un décret du 27 juin 1793 ayant annoncé l’élection prochaine d’une nouvelle assemblée, le comité de Division prépare, dans l’urgence, l’organisation des élections législatives. Au cours du mois de juillet, il envoie plusieurs circulaires destinées à organiser les futures circonscriptions.
Pendant le Gouvernement révolutionnaire, le comité de Division doit composer avec le comité de Salut public et la prédilection de ce dernier pour le maintien de l’autorité des districts, qui fonde toute l’activité du Gouvernement ; le cadre départemental lui apparaît alors dépassé et le nombre de communes bien trop élevé.
Par ailleurs, le comité de Division collabore étroitement avec celui d’Instruction publique, chargé notamment de l’élaboration des tableaux de population ; ils travaillent ensemble au Dictionnaire des communes. La révision de la nomenclature des localités pose à nouveaux frais la question de l’intrication entre division géométrique de la population et contrôle politique du territoire, autrement dit, entre division et représentation, entre Gouvernement révolutionnaire et cadre constitutionnel.
Nulle surprise donc à ce que la question de la refonte de la division du territoire fasse régulièrement débat à l’Assemblée jusqu’à Thermidor. Elle reparaît avec le décret du 7 fructidor an II réorganisant les comités de la Convention thermidorienne. Le comité de Division, chargé de préparer un rapport sur la réduction du nombre de communes, lance alors une vaste enquête auprès des municipalités. La question relevant du comité des Onze, nouvellement formé pour s’occuper de la rationalisation des articles constitutionnels, le comité de Division en est déchargé. D’après l’article XVIII du décret du 7 fructidor, « le comité de division est chargé de recueillir les tableaux de population, du travail préparatoire des réunions de communes, de l’indication des emplacements des autorités constituées & de la distribution du territoire. Il propose les lois relatives à ces divers objets, & prend, en se conformant à celles qui sont rendues, les mesures d’exécution qui leur sont propres ».
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