NOTES FROM FRANCE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 271, 15 November 1910, Page 2

NOTES FROM FRANCE.

/(From Our Paris Correspondent.)' PARIS, September 12. • ITOW ROCHETTE WAS RUDfED. The J'axliainientary Commission appointed to examine into the circum.stancps "which preceded, accompanied, £md followed the arrest of M: Koehette, i.bo Kinker, held a sitting yesterday. The first witness heard was M. Quantii). teikpr, who acted as M. Rochet (.«■■■« buyer ajid seller on tlic BcraxseOn thn day of M. Roelxebfce's arrest (March 2.'!) the "Bears" threw 3,000,000 fraiK-s' worth of Roehette shares on the nuvrteet. This,- M. Nuantin declared, could hare only been due to the fact that the news of the impending arrest of that financier had already transpired in certain circles. M. Quantin's mission ■was to resist the "bear" movement. As security for his operations, there was a deposit at the Banque de France. On March 23, the day of M. Rochette's arrest, M. Tierr. the examining magis■iraU , entrusted with the investigation of the charges against the linaneier, sent to the Banquo de I'Va-nre, ordering the c-hipf cashier to close the ae<ounf. M, QiEEn±in was therrfoTe Jielp-](-ss to prevent the collapse of the Ro*:hpfcks sharps. If this order .had. Jiot been sent by M. Berr, the -who 3iad been giveu the. hint that M. Rochptte was to he arrested wotdd have fallen into their awn trap. This order of ]VL Borr, M. Quimtin declared, woe cmnplntely exceptional. M. Quantin further stated that one of the principal firms '■bearing" the Rochette stocks was Messrs. Rivaud, Kinkelin and Co., who, Jie -said, were known to hare relations •with. the Prefecture of Police. When that firm in 1907 asked to he allowed to H>c admitted to the Chamber of "Outside Brokers, ,, the name of M. Yves Thirand. chef of thp cabinet of M. Ik>j>ine (Prefect of Police}, was quoted ac ■one of the sleeping partners of the firnu INL Quantin and his son-in-law put for•ward certain, objections to their admission, hut the president, M. Gaston Dreyfus, declared: "Don't oppose their admission.; -they bring us their relations ■with the Prefecture of Police." In the course of the sitting, the Commission confronted MM. Pichereaii, Gaiidrion, and Yves Thvra-nVI ) and took their evidence, mostly contradictory, regarding the first charge against M. Eochette, \ -AEMX OFFICERS MAKE AERIAL.

kj' RAIDS. (* "While xisSioDi svriators, encouraged by I tte cheers oi hundreds of thousands of ipeople, where marking a new era in the history of aviation, half-a-dozen officers oi the French Army, -whose names ihftro been practically hitherto tmiknown, accomplished feais which may foe Ijustry styled the greatest stnee a iheavieir-than-air machine first left the earth at. the will of man. The plans . -were made with, as little noise as usual- . !ly surrounds military affairs. As a consequence, the magnitude of the feat is tlie more difficult to appreciate. 2so fewer than three aeroplanes, carrying fire officers, flew by order to Kaney, all arriving there without any mishap. The pilots -were lieutenant Cammermann, rwith lieutenant Vfllerme as observer; Xaentenaart de Quart, with. Captain "Blary and third Lieutenant Caumont. iA.ll the officers made maps, and took other military observations on the route.. In speaking of too flight, Colonel i tEstienne, who eommaiids the aeronaniie «orps, said: "We did not order the officars to. follow the competitors in the great aerial race. They -were scatiared' from Mcruimclon to Villacoublay and Ca-en. We told theni to fly from their ■different stations Ao Nancy, making ■ proper observations on. the route. They have obeyed their orders." rnrrc a-prR.-vr.A-xr NaTy 4s AST xlly. In the technicqj paper "La Vie Mariitime," a very serious, well-informed and Teeognjsed_j.cuzrnal. in maritime mat iers, a high French naval officer discusses ihe question if England Tvonld not do ■better to look for her maritime ally in (Germany than in the French navy. The officer comes to the following interesting , conclusion: An alliance of England Tvvith France certainly lias the advantage ■ tto form a, balancing- •weight against the (Jerrnan army, and as a protecting factor for English interests in. the 'Mediterranean. This is the popular soihiiion of the question, haTmonising with traditional English politics. Btrt leading circles of £he Liberals stro of the opinion that prudence demands an alliance iwith tho powerful, and not -with the •weak; therefore, these circles see in Germany, and not in France, the most suitable ally. As a matter of fact, Eng-lish-German relations are the best at present; and they Trill still become bettor, the stronger the G-erniau navy fprows. A growing Power creates envy; a. fully-developed one, friendship. This :way of viewing the situation is even .finding gradually adherents among English Conservatives, who till nowhad been [Prance's best friends, but "who ore beginning to feel now that the rigat moment has (been massed to destroy the igreat rival in the North Sea. These fmno Conservative politicians >begin to •consider that there can .be no reliance on a Power which is so- Ibadly governed Tby intriguing Parliamentary and tfgtristic official administrations, who

only look after their own. personal ad'wuntages, but not after the public good ,JBS is unhappily the case in France.

The tendency of this article may be influenced by the wish to start a propaganda for an increase of the French jiavy, but this will not alter the fact jthat the conclusions drawn by the above- <) noted thesis are -well-founded ami deserving of the interest they Utave-created fin the Continent-

iEDUCATION IN THE FRENCH ARMY. Nobody will deny that New Zealand -and the Commonwealth of Australia are two of the most democratic governed countries of the civilised world. Yet, as

jfar as education of the broad masses is concerned, these young countries certainly take their rank among the first nations of the entire world. Now, Low is it that IKrance, which boasts so much about her democratic government, cuts up so badly 5f one examines the number of her people Who have received little or no education [Whatever? llow is it that French analphal)ets, people who cannot write or read, are annually found in such large numbers? Considering the great attention which IKew Zealand's public men and leaders of the people bestow on the education of the broad masses of the yovmg colony and the high standard achieved in this respect, of which New Zealanders can just■Jy be proud, it will be interesting to note ithsfc in France, one of the oldest civilised eaantries of the old world, this standard j»f the people's education is sadly behind that of the young colony of the Antipodes. f Statistics are a useful science, only Shey have the disadvantage that experienced and conscientious statists are required, and that these are not always in *ecord. One should think that the exact

number of arialphabets in the French army could surely and minutely be ascertained by the annual investigations. This, however, is not the case, for the statistic reports of the French Ministry of the Interior and those of the Ministry of War, both quite official documents, quote in this respect vastly different figures for" the year 1909. While the Ministry of the Interior counted 9529 anatphabets among the recruits serving their term of conscription last year, thus indicating a percentage of 3.02 and a decrease of 0.07 as compared with the preceding year, the statistics of the Ministry of War'admit of 14,225 analphabets for -the same period, a percentage of. six, and, therefore, a small increase against. 1908. One can choose now who to believe. The Paris papers, as far as they are not blind supporters of the Radical-Socialist regime, declare unhesitatingly for the figures of the Ministry of War, although these are far more ashaming for France than those of the Ministry of the Interior. The Ministry of Education, the most competent body to give correct information, declines to make any statement.

How is this great difference between these official figures possible? The answer is simple • It is the way the investigations are carried on. The prefects, these "girls for everything" of the Ministry of the Interior, who are. also charged to ascertain the standard of education attained by the male population liable to conscription, naturally apply to the subprefects for information, and those in turn address themselves to the mayors. These latter officials depend, especially in rural districts, on the school teachers, tax collectors, and other subaltern officials. By these the young men who have attained their 20th year are asked what they have learned, whereupon the men can answer what they like. Sometimes, but not very often, they are made to write their name?, and those who are capable of doing this, even if with great difficulty, are counted as ''educated.''

Quite different is the method adopted by the military authorities. At most regiments it is the custom to examine carefully the newly-entered recruite in regard to their knowledge of writing, reading, and simple arithmetic. Writing of a name does not suffice; a few lines must be ■written after dictation, and a few lines read. Whoever cannot do that is classed as an analphabet, and put into the regimental school for further education. Frenchmen, who are honest, good patriots, demand now that the regimental examination be made obligatory, and be strictly enforced. Nothing is more justified than these demands: for, according to the open confession of many leading French papers, the steadily increasing negligence in the education of the broad masses is a clear proof of the decadence of the French nation. The social-demo-cratic Government, which so often points to its progressive tendencies, to the results achieved in moral and educational matters, has, if a minute and critical examination is made, to show nothing but reverses. AH over the country the Government has suppressed the clerical schools without replacing them by secular equivalents; its humanitarian tendencies have undermined the discipline in the an incredibly lax interpretation of the criminal code has resulted in Paris being infested with countless numbers of criminals; the army of "apaches" is growing by leaps and boundsc—stabbing, robbing, murders are daily occurrences. The spirit of obstruction, of defiance against .the laws of the country, has entered the broad masses, the number of deserters from the colours and of those liable to conscription is increasing annually (the number of "insoumis," viz., those -who evaded their, term of conscription, amounted to 17,000 in 1909).

What I say in the above lines are not my own critical comments as correspondent of a British journal, bat are the echo of the clamours and complaints of the far-seeing French Press and of all well-meaning French patriots.