PARIS IN WAR TIME

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 67, 18 March 1916, Page 13

PARIS IN WAR TIME

CALLING UP YOUNG SOLDIERS.

(Special to "Star.")

PARIS, January 10.

VjHlfcK ONLY OF WAR AND

; • VICTORY." General Gallieni made a stirring speech before the Senate when lie called up the i>l7 class to arms. "He who utters the word peace should be considered an unworthy citizen. -, This was the keynote of his utterances. "V\ c are calling ' up the 1917 claae," said the General, iii a measure of prudence. This class of eighteea-year olds should be trained : and rcauy for service by May. 1 hope voa will give this class to mc by January 15th, but it fornw only one part of our available resources. We all wish to realise these resources as far as is possible. The problem is a difficult one. To Bolve it, we must abandon tlie administrative meanderings of peace times. We niust not be afraid of initiative aud reBponsibility. Eighteen months ago France desired peace; to-day she wants war. She wants war vrith all her energies, and ehe is concentrating all her resources to its successful prosecution. Mothers no longer mourn their sous; tier wont them to be avenged. The 1017 class is about to join the colours. The nation's good wishes accompany it. The country demands that all those 1 whose duty it is to receive and instruct

these young men should do their utmost ' to prepare then for the great struggle ■which will end only when France can 'say. in union with her Allies, "I can now lay down my sword, for I have gained what I fought for, and I can resume the works of peace!" .General Joffre has also made an addrees to the soldiers of France, and it proves to be a document that should be read more than once. General Joffre has not attempted, by a flamboyant display' of rhetoric, to stir the pulses of the army of the Republic, but his expressions thri.ll, because they are written • with clarity and in a spirit of soldierly frankness, combined with breadth of judgment. It may be said that, if he had included in his address only the two

following phrases, he would have concentrated in it the whole story of the . future of the war and its danger-spots: "Undisputed masters of the high seas, the AUie.=i can obtain food without difficulty, while the Central Empires, financially and economically exhausted, can now build their hopes on nothing but our discord and lassitude. . . While our enemies talk of peace, let us think only cf wax and victory." What more is there to be added? Those two brief sentences have summed up the material and moral aspects of the war. An army marches on its stomach, but it fights with its spirit.

A PATRIOTIC OBIMINAI,. Though a prison sentence of twenty years hung over his head, Andre Villette, a patriotic Frenchman of 32, has returned to fight for his country. Since 1911 he has been a fugitive from justice in South America, but his desire to return and fight became stronger than nis fear of being put into gaol. He bought a ticket for France, became incorporated in another regiment under an assumed name, and then was arrested. \iUette had never been convicted of crime, but it is the French custom to impose a severe sentence on thoee who escape from the .law. Flight is taken to ables mdudfrg shares, * ere Btol £ ™J e fe|' arS Wre never io ™*- but a voun* Wer was arrested while tryfa" +o ISI Iβ Z* « P fl e ° ame t0 arrest VMette l«ture they JeVeT^ 7 ; After a trenches if that ■ f\ baok to the Piece of'i^. 13 to be a

*C lf\^ ht ° f "Mon the s to"ry PH but ms almost apoeg. Fra n?e to-day JL "? t ? vel tl *™gh spirit am V "* b °rt r "hsing that ifer wh °le TT *", anima «ng the Wdi n r virtuous nations - to™ by sL Ce ' broken n ™ and g h y t o7earn O Th men , tat ,r inteili ° ent "onen to the M truth > <""* brave ■Wine? IndF - n , *"* ° f in3ular 'admitted tl f pi 7 Jud,ce - It must be »ueh toVJt' v ° has done Ctle T'T th if bad re P"tation, 60 fflent f J a + l regarded as a fittin S P"isn- uthe ar , • . call to arms awakened JlTf s P irit OS Da-triotism, and the ™? ashes of her martyrdom.

*EASANTS AJTD PRISONERS. *ari7ti! h o peasants of Fran <* feel to»e Quart j™ P risoners °* war wi)O *orkin!i er t \ d m vaTiOU3 towns, or are CkSl t c fiel(ls ' is ex Plained by M. Peasdnte Sat iD the The iattoii r Says ' have allowed their tt* B. . ngS ° f alrabi «ty to overcome Priso Patnot2sni . an d have welcomed tlie serve m ?° re wartn 'y than they Ue- • Lessat tells of some of the Ppemngs i n a little town jn the Ue^e tto' ? Ot far from Paris. It appears «. when it first became kno\vn that !t :ari ners Were goin R to employ the fe°fv S ' no one wunto< i t'" , o« tliem - ut things changed on the mutt day, en came marching in under tow, T? d llalted in tlie middle of the u le townspeople thronged about Jγ "nvoy, gazing curiously at the Planers, and one old man, pushing Ins wl?,. tlle crowd, allied' out, ~«'J, i.ell! where are brave to ' l it was worse a little further *• i woiuau spoke to one of the pri-

sners °- "»» you underataad Frendir she asked. "Surely" .was the smiling pT" 38 * - I 1 ""* t0 ,be employed H Potins." And they chatted' together. The prisoners are given 800 grammes of bread, meat, and wine; France takes good care of them. M. de Lessat regrete the too eympathetio attitude of the population. He spoke with some French officers who witnessed the above scene. "These people have not heard enough of the way the Germans entered our towns in the beginning of the war," said a young lieutenant, who had lost an arm. "And the worst of it is, the prisoners in return don't appreciate it. Look at that big blond fellow there"—pointing to one who was looking on at the scene with ferocious eyes. "When the interpreter 6poke to him he showed no respect. He sneers at orders, and when <!ie pawed the French flag, he shrugged hie shoulders. Surely this is wrong. He should have been told 'In Germany a prisoner as arrogant as you would have ' bean shot.' France hae proved that she ia generous. Do not abuse this generosity." INCOME TAX. Only a couple of years ago France was torn by the bitterest dissensions arising out of the proposal to tax personal revenues. On Wednesday the project was voted in the Senate, almost as a matter of course. That the Income Tax Bill should have passed is perhaps the most convincing evidence possible of the sweeping changes that the war has wrought in the attitude of the nation. It is realised that the new tax is unsound in principle, and will produce little additional revenue for the State. But. beside the war, every other consideration is dwarfed, and the most uncompromising adversaries of the income tax principle have voted for it resignedly in the Senate as ia the Chamber. The new law shows great leniency towards heads of tamiliea, but bachelors and spinsters -will have to pay on revenues from any source that exceeds 5000 france per annum. AX ENGLISH MXBACLE. "A niiraele of organisation" ia the term justly applicable to a feat of which the ".English alone seem to possess W secret." These complimentary epithete apply to the ereotion of a Red Cross building in the picturesque town of EtaplcE within the space of six weeks. In that lapee of time there sprang up, as if by enchantment, four fully equipped hospitals—now tenanted by some fifteen thousand wounded British. Every detail of modern surgical installation is to be seen there in all ite curative splendour. Kothing ia wanting; the massage bath and pedicure rooms, together with rifle range, gymnasium and football field, stamping this elysium as the last word in comfort. To avoid the often painful process of transportation from railway station to hospital, a line has been laid down to the very door of this wonderful institution. Fifty doctors are in attendance, with an imposing retinue of sweet-faced nurses; and all this wae achieved in less than two months. "Marvellous" is the only word to qualify euch a performance.