FRENCH STRIKERS ARRESTED.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 948, 15 October 1910, Page 5

FRENCH STRIKERS ARRESTED.

THE GOVERNMENT FIRM. TRAIN SERVICES PARTIALLY RESTORED. , ' A REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. ' Paris, October 13. Five leadors of the railway strike, including M. Tallin, ' prosident o£ the Drivors and Fir omen's Association, havo been quietly: arrested." I Twenty further arrests .are expected. AN ACT OF REBELLION. PRIME MINISTER'S VIEWS.. . i Paris, October 13. • M. Briand, the French Primo Minister, • addressing agathering of journalists,' said tho ringleaders of the railway strike' :had committed': an act of rebellion. : Wherever the rank and file oi the strikers were there was no oontrol exercised, and .acts of criminal violence bad occurred. ;. ■y. These/.things,., said ' the -Premier, had been done at a moment when the demands made \by the 1 men - were being, favourably considered, . including) tho making of pensions. retrospective. Tho preconcerted scheme, of the . ringleaders ■ was criminal. ■; :. "■ ■■■■ . "■■■'.■ . '■■■ The Railway Men's Strike Committee ha-s • offered to meet the Premier (M. Briand) and' the: companies, to discuss the situation. . /;;;' ANARCHIST EDITORS ARRESTED. /•?H ■' PARTIAL DARKNESS IN PARIS. GABRISON REINFORCED. ' (Rec. October 14, 10.25 p.m.) ;; Paris, October 14. ■MM. iMerle, Almey, and Reida, editors of the Anarchistjournal , "La Guerre Sociale," have been' arrested. vyihe'iStrikfl.iConiinittMls to .:M V Briahd'.emanaW^ secretary before his arrest;-. ' . M; Briand, .. interviewed. ; by "Le Temps," said' the • Government was always open to receive from.any railway i "meiwnciliaWry'.'prbp.osalsifendm amicable settlement.' . . ■. Subsequently -the directors, of tho Northern. Railway Company intimated that they, were .willing, to discuss, the ;ciaims'of-th'e;staffv through'M.:Bridnd. : The Sseryicei on .^e. ; lines: of the' East-;. 1 ,em Company, the Orleans,. Company,: and the Paris,' Lyons, -and Mediterranean .Company: are. almost:-normal. One-third of; the Northern. Company's service has- been restored. . ■■ ; - • The' electricians'; strike is: only - partial. The Elysee, ■ Quartier Latin, Saint Lazare; and several ;'pther, quarters are without .electric light, and .the ■ restaurants, aid 'shops' ; fire'ruang : anS^gas^Vff;; ' Tho Engineer ; Corps : havo' ? occupied' tho electric. and hydraulic-power ■ sta-. tions. •.The; garrisons ■ have been- : ably reinforced; both with infantry and cavalry. (.The tramway men' in Eastern Paris havo struck.' , *.j- v.;'. forced .the police m, the : . Elysee'; quarter,' •inSwliiclivjs • terminus of the Western Railway Company;... .' ':7''-'V\'•'.

An infernal machine exploded in the Rue;Berrij which is off tho Cliamps Elysee, and a house was badly damaged;

• The' improvement'. in - the northern , is.diie: ; to';tlie'mqtt mobilised ;;men.^wear : .'a-white' oljarid on' .thoTarm,^ indicating;-that:;tliey aro :ro-. servists. -.v ■■■}:' v ?One hundred'and fifty, thousand railway men have been ordered to mobilise within forty-eight' hours.; They,.can. be punished; for disobedience after a fort-. nighti-5.'V - WHERE THE LEADERS WERE FOUND. SANCTUARY IN SOCIALIST OFFICE. ' A VIGIL ON CHAMPAGNE. (Reo. October, 14,.9,10 p.m.) l Paris, October 14. " ■ The ringleaders; in;the strike were arrested; at the'.'',office of -* the .'.Socialist organ ''L'Humauite,". where they had, foregathered,, amidst; reyoiutionaiy.; surroundings; in tho -presence of M.'Jean Jaures,;;thevSocialist"leader, ; and ■' 'M:' Vaillant,; and' of 1 the Anarchist journal, "La .Gucrro Sooialo.'I 1 - The circiimstances of the arrest are regarded as fully confirming M.-Briand's view.of tho strike... -.- , .;' .• -■ "The Times' Paris ' correspondent states that up to tho last "the professional. agitatorsappeared to have imagined t-bat'the authorities-would not .dare to invade ,the v sacred precincts of a Socialist journal, and, the Union leaders defied arrest by; pretending 'to' invito it.' - The men passed the night at the "L'Humanito" oiSco. Some talked, other's • played.' cardd,'' and others,' again,: slept. Those keeping .vigil 1 fortified themselves with champagne. - ' The Strike . - .Committee's /' manifesto' stated' that the . order issued;; by tHe> Government was illegal, since in time of' , 'peace i ; a;' mah ; .,was cn-titled-'to' a fortnight's grace (before responding' to the order to join tho. colours. v.;'' The men were enjoined not to obey, and it was stated that tho Government could, if necessary, . summon to the colours tho time-expired two-years' servico men discharged last month. A workman at Versailles baa been sentenced ,to six months' imprisonment for endeavouring to induce a soldier to desert his post. \ ANOTHER WARRANT ISSUED. THE ELECTRICIANS' STRIKE. (Rec. Oct. 15, 0.55 a.m.) , . Paris, October 14. ■ A warrant has, been issued for M, .Pataud's, arrest for engineering the electricians to strike. I ', .. THE AUSTRALIAN MAILS. DIVERTED'VIA OSTEND. London, October 13. The Australian mails are being sent by way of Ostend and Brindisi, and tho homeward mails will take a similar route. : Tlio general secretary of the men in Paris and two others have been arrested. Voluminous correspondence was seized. IyiOTOR AND BOAT SERVICES. MEETING THE EMERGENCY. ' ' Paris, October 13'. , Motor firms are organising a cheap

and effective motor service for passengers between London and Paris. A. plan elaborated. some time ago to revictual Paris by" water is now being adopted, with every prospect of success. Owing to tho strike, seventeen trains are at a standstill-at Poissy, lifteon miles west-north-west of Paris. FRANCE'S SOCIALISTIC PREMIER. HOW HE COOLED DOWN IN EIGHT ■ ; V ■ : ; YEARS. ' Only three years aeo, Aristido' Briand, tie Frenoli Prime Minister, although one of the notable figures in a Socialistic Parliamentary group, was quite unknown to the'outside world; Hi's renown was won in the long debate on the general policy of the Clenienceau Ministry, a debate concluded over. two years since. The inflammable' sentiments' expressed by Briand in his hot youth, when he bade the .'working classes rise and rebel, were brought, together lately by his keenest critic, Jean Jaures. Briand confessed that he has changed. "Who ,that is not bereft of reason, does not change?" He spoke, he said, out of deep sympathy for the working classes of France, "which did not by any means enjoy a 6udden benefit .through the great revolution nor byany subsequent. revolution." Briand believesi or : the London ."Spectator" misunderstands the man altogether, that the ;Frenoh people to-day are for- republicanism and "advanced social measures," but'-they '. are also, for; "orderliness and! peace." .. They do not want a tyranny in any form, and • "have no. intention o£ ridding: themselves in succession -of the central power and the nobil 7 ; ity.and clericalism in .order; to live under'another and more violeht tyranny in the shape of 'a trade; union'monopoly." ; Violence Urged. ■ .; Of all ,the Socialist "pasts," tho past of .Aristido Briand, in the language of, the: r London : "Times," ; has been most "characteristio.- and ; complicated." : .Comparatively few years, have como and gone since at Nantes,"the- town;in. which .he was born a little over, forty-fivo summers'back'/.'.'ho was, ' haranguing .' disaffected wage-earners . on,-hehalf of tho general strike- movement. -.. A little, tempering of his views, .will -not do them much harm, in tho opinion of . the London . "News," .which- judges, from; a speech-delivered by Briand at one of the general congrosses 6f ;the . Socialist'J: party. . "A - general strike lis: a conception to "whioh I have devotedly concentrated my efforts," thus the present Premier of ■ the French ; Republic. 'Again: "I firmly believe, that a general, strike is practical—it' l will be the: social revolution. Yet again: "Go forward . with swords) , .'pistols, and rifles I. Far- 'from .disapproving, I shall regard it as;a duty, to take. my . place in .the-ranks', ifnecessary." ' , This speech was ■' made some eight years. ago—long before there was:. the ...least .that, the, speaker; in: tho capacity of a responsible Cabinet Minister, . was ; fated ' to ; i forbid combina.tioiis'of State, employees. VNo sooner had'-! Briand been given the .portfolio of, In-: struction. and ; Public: Worship, in; the; .brief'Sarrien Ministry jreceding; tha.t_ of Clemenceajz than tho Socialist: orgaflisation' excommunicated, hiin. - This , anathema ;wakf pronbnnced? at -a-, meeting of the ! ! Nationalil Council v of . the. -party J in: Paris,) attended' ,hy - the,' delegates of , all. the Socialist/ federations in the provinces and hy the members .of. tho permanent-. managing: committee. ;:: ,•. ... -' In\his policyspeech'.'delivered ■in June: last..;'.M; Briand ' said-'-.- - heralded measures for - givin| : ; corporate rights .'to! trade:, j. unions,- includihg the right ■ to : hold and administer property;: "Collective" la-", bpur ' contracts -must ,bevaiithorised, a ; systerA' of or«dit ; ihthe interest; of/labour' instituted, :.'ahd.,.;mcaris' adopted for - en-; abiihg lcapital ;and labour' to ycombine ;in enterprises l from which;labour should'en- : joy;a share- of-the profits.The political, emancipation-;'of./'the • people', had been aohieved; theso new, measures- wnro dc-. sighed -tb sriiobth 'tha-path .to its "edoSi-', oiliic( emancipation.".; : In the belief' of. ithV-Government'.the':.success ofthis, policy would induce tile ;wbrking: olasses to. .identify;■ their..interests -with' tliose 'of.'the nation; and ;.td','Tealis : e' that. the mainten,anoe'; of-/jrder.; was oondition ji of,'national-prosperity,;"arid; thai the duty '.of; ' the Government' was. .to protect order; against, all violent enterprises... :