Amazing Plot To Seize France

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 280, 26 November 1938, Page 8

Amazing Plot To Seize France

ALL railway lines running to and from Paris are dynamited! Subways are blown up! Time bombs have destroyed the leading department stores, newspaper plants, and the Stock Exchange! Mobs plunge toward the Hotel de Ville. The Mobile Cuard has been called out, but the troops do not oppose the revolutionrlrunk mobs. On the contrary, their officers order them to join the revolution.

The President. Premier, Cabinet Ministers, Police Commissioner and many other prominent men have been arrested. Sonio resisted; they wore shot. Only Iho chiefs of (his revolt to establish it dictatorship know that, identical scenes are taking place simultaneously from coast to coast, for all tneane of communication have boon cut..

Can ynn imagine eitcli a demoniacal overthrow of a government? Well, the I.>[lll blip of France barely escaped the like a« the year 19117 approached its end. This hit hp wns act null v plained in I'nris. An ;i cplli'iitp civil war plan imirked railwav stations, depart incut store* and newspaper plants for <|cstmet ion by I ■ 1111 >i ii '_r. I>n I lie map of tin l city red linen indicaicil I lip boulevards and street# along which underworld mobs were to have been led.

Am A i ■ i i i _\ order with the f 11 r "joil nijniaI hip i>r I In 1 .\l iiii»tit of VViir rniiirunndo<! I !n> r» i i I i th i" y Mini (ianle Kepulilicaine to I'11m t hi- rciifl". Tliero wim a black list II f leading |>< ■ I ll ii ill ll* wlllme Hrri'Ht. » n< I ; iii 1111•«I i.i I c c<111(11■ 111 mi t inn 11>i«I broil < i ■. I - ■ i • 11 Leon 1:111 u i was designated fur i ■ \ i -ii' i ■ n. I In l 'j, i ii 'j j 11' I'm of I lie diet at or - -11:1 ■ ■ 11 • • i i w.i*. In 11. i \ < • been erected in 1- rum «im-ii m.t tiini<l. ... ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ \ beautiful young woman trembles w 1111 iinenntrollablo agitation. "f won't stand for it! It must not happen!" she riv. "i shall never wear a bloody itu"a n ! " ' i nlm yourself, darling," say* a good|MM]<inj? young gentleman. Even his r~ll'll-Ir>r aristocrati« finger* are uneasy as they smooth iiis (lurk Gable mou«tji,'lip. ' [n tones of gentlfl entreaty he lii« much loved wife: "'What will our friend hero think?" Thn best-loved wifo i« Mme. la Comtesse de Pari*. Her hue band j* the Coint« da Paria, tha bob of that Duke

of Guise whom the Royalists look upon aa tho legitimate Pretender to the Crown. Since the duke i« an old gentleman, his son is the real Pretender. And the friend—that'* I.

We are sitting in the lounge of the Hotel Beau Rivage in Geneva, on Hwiss soil, hut near the French border. Under penalty of death, the crossing of this border is forbidden to the Bourbon heir and his wife.

Xo matter how cordially the Comtc de Paris devotes himself to me, his guest, his feverish tenseness is apparent. Throughout our conversation he awaits the news that the border of France is once again open to the descendants of the ruling house and that Paris is waiting to make obeisance to the Anointed of the Lord. Also waiting are aristo-

By "Envoy"

erats, landowners, ehatelains. dukes and inarrjui«eH gathered from all parts of France around their Crown Prince.

Says the IVnnto: "My father, the exalted Duke de (iuiiae, is the successor to those 40 killers who through a thousand yours created France. Franco must again become a monarchy. It will be a paternal, popular monarchy; it will be especially concerned with the fate of underprivileged citizens and it will be a monarchy which protects liberty and keeps the jieaec."

Perhaps these words are only to gain time, since any second now thfe great moment must come.

Even as he speaks, it is clear to me that he recoils with horror from the crimes which would make possible the return of his familv to the throne.

While he endeavours to mask this inner conflict, the Countess carries her desperate perplexity quite openly. She w beautiful, natural, warmhearted. Should she one day enter Paris as the Crown Princess, her first visit would bo to tho Cathedral of Notre Dame—lint must the road be strewn with corpses? In her eyes, staring fervently towards the entrance of the lounge, there lies the unmistakable prayer: "Dear God, let this temptation pas*> us by!"

The concierge of the hotel is already there. He announces: "Two gentlemen wish to speak with the Count!"

The Count of Taris rises to receive the appointed messengers: The Duke of and the Vicomte d' .

There appear instead Detectives Schnoudi and Mullcr of the politieal police of tlie Swiss Federal Government in Berne.

"I regret to inform you that I ain instructed to roqiuvt that all you gentlemen leave the territory of tlie Confederation within two hours," says Mr. Schnoudi politely. "The sanctuary of Swiss hospitality may not be used for conspiracies against tlie Government of a friend I v State."

Thereupon the aristocratic Royalist conspirators know that they are* discovered and defeated. Vulgarly they crowd out of the hotel lobby. Each wants to get back as quickly and discreetly as possible to his own castle. The Count of Paris does not bat an eyelash. With a steady hand he pours himself another liquer. But the Countess doe« not display the same self-mastery. The dream of the restoration is dreamed out. Dream? Nightmare! The Countess laughs. Yes—she laughs! ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Months have now passed; and yet the world still does not know the secret story of the Cagoulards, the Ku Klux Klan of France. Most likely the final mysteries of this hooded order will never be revealed. I have been able to verify only three facts. First, that this was the most dangerous and most foolhardy, the most irresponsible and yet the cleverest design to which ever a great Power has been exposed. Secondly, with the recall of the House of Bourbon, the real wirepullers wanted only to erect a false front, behind which unrepealed powers would practise terrorism and dictatorship. Thirdly, these Cagoulards—the hooded ones—were paid and directed by Berlin a nd Rome. The tragic comedy in Paris has unmasked the designs of world Fascism against world democracy. Thus it is lucky for democracy that M. Henri Deloncle made the first mistake of his life. That M. Deloncle generally is an accurate calculator can be certified by a great number of American travellers. From his jewellery store in Nice, those who were lucky at Monte Carlo took a nice little souvenir home; but many more who were unlucky got money for their rings, pins and bracelets. For M. Deloncle, as k so often the ease in France, -mm not only jeweller, but

moneylender «s well to his aristocratic clientele from whom he obtained his information. Suddenly some of these young gentlemen were able to repay old, old debts and were no longer shocked by the 76 per cent yearly interest charged by their stout-hearted creditor. These debts were paid with moneys from the treasury of a secret monarchists conspiracy. He definitely miscalculated when he took Mme. Berthelot, a streamlined, redhaired widow, into his confidence and told her of that secret conspiracy. She in turn confided it to Another friend, who was extraordinarily interested. . Unknown to her, this other friend was a high functionary of the Surete Generate. It conducted its investigation with relentless tenacity, and then the Government struck the annihilating counterblow. I ~ At the moment when the 27 hidden caches 6f the Cagoulards were simultaneously being secretly raided, a high Government official told me what dang'er the Republic had avoided. "The Cagoulards," explained the Minister, "had a complete underground army, with its own general staff. Their records showed accurately the party allegiance and political philosophy of every high officer of the French Army, which leads us to conclude that military experts of the first rank were at the disposal of the | underground conspirators." The most important of these military experts, together with hundreds of others, was to find himself in custody. He was Aviation-General Duseigneur. He pleaded that he had only organised a defence force against a possible Communist uprising. This familiar line of defence unmistakably pointed to Nazi and Fascist terrorists as being the hidden conspirators and instigators. The connection with the enemies of France was even more clearly proved when the secret caches of the Cagoulards disgorged German rifles and munitions. Besides, they took some tips from General Franco. They had organised an "Algerian Brigade" to storm Paris. Of all the centres of the conspiracy, the cellars of the castle of Louveciennes were most luxuriously furnished. This castle originally belonged to the glamorous Madame Du Barry, mistress of Louis XV. The bed of Du Barry is one of the sights of Paris, but tourists were never told it hid a secret door. The Surete Generale discovered beyond this door a stairway leading to cellar r°"ms where 100 men could have lived luxuriously for six weeks. The gentlemen who wanted to drench France in blood and grief provided for themselves a comfortable nest. In prison their quarters are less comfortable.