The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 2, No. 5, February 3, 1898: A Weekly Magazine for Boys and GirlsVarious
History
The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 2, No. 5, February 3, 1898: A Weekly Magazine for Boys and Girls
Various
History, Modern -- 19th century -- Juvenile literature -- Periodicals
But the French people of a hundred years ago were very badly governed
and had terrible grievances.
At present, the French are well governed by rulers of their own
choosing.
It is very likely that those who cried out for the Emperor were either
jokers, or people eager to add to the excitement, or else paid agents of
the Imperial party, which still hopes to restore the descendants of the
first Napoleon to the throne of France.
So far, the mob has accomplished nothing, and the Government has stood
firm.
In the Chamber of Deputies, however, the discussion of the Dreyfus case
has led to very serious complications.
One of the members, ex-Minister Cavaignac, declared that a report
existed, written by Captain Lebrun-Renaud, of the French army, which
gave an account of a confession of guilt made by Captain Dreyfus.
Monsieur Cavaignac blamed the Government for keeping silent about this
confession, on the ground that by its silence it had practically led to
a reopening of the case. If the Government would declare, he said, that
the publication of the confession would involve some foreign Power, this
would end further discussion of the matter. Otherwise, the whole case
ought to be made public.
Premier Meline replied that such a confession existed, but the
Government had decided not to publish it, as it would change the
character of a case that had already been settled by competent judges.
There was, besides, he acknowledged, another cause for keeping silence,
the very cause that had made the trial secret. This was not "excessively
great," but it was customary to conduct all such trials in secrecy, and
the custom was not to be violated in this instance.
The Premier then criticised the newspapers that had taken sides with
Dreyfus, and added that the Government had done right in calling Zola to
account for insulting the army.
The President of the Chamber, Monsieur Brisson, then leaped to his feet
and implored the legislators not to make a sensation while the streets
outside were in a turmoil.
Premier Meline replied that the Government would quell the turmoil in
the streets, and that those men should be blamed for the scandal who had
started it. Then he condemned the socialistic newspapers for their
attacks on the Government.
The socialistic newspapers are those papers that advocate the doctrine
of Socialism, which may be said to have grown out of the French
Revolution.
Socialism is founded on the theory that all rights and privileges and
benefits should be shared equally by all the members of the community,
and that the wealth of the world should be in the hands of the
Government, which should have the power of distributing it. The
citizens, instead of competing with one another, as they do now, should
work together for the general good and be paid alike.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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