A FRENCH OFFICER ON THE MANNERS OF HIS COUNTRYMEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 8888, 26 May 1892, Page 6

A FRENCH OFFICER ON THE MANNERS OF HIS COUNTRYMEN.

Mr. W. J. Napier has received a lengthy communication on the state of French politics from Lieutenant Parize, who was in Auckland a couple of years ago in the French gunboat Volta. The writer makes the following interesting remarks with reference to the Anarchists :—" You have doubtless heard ere this of the bomb explosions which those dear simpletons, Messieurs Anarchists, have caused, .lust now everyone is talking about Ravachol and of the cafe waiter Jules Leraut, who procured his arrest. To see the enthusiasm of the Parisians (who always go to extreme?) on the subject ! The cafe where Ravachol was dining when he was arrested has since made the fortune of its proprietor. Jules Leraut receives colossal ' tips,' and he daily receives shoals of letters enclosing bank notes. I must also say that the Anarchists —Ravachol's companions—often send letters to Leraut conceived in such sweet

terms as these : ' Vile spy ! take care, your business will bo soon settled by an avenger of Ravachol.' The whole thing, however, notwithstanding its serious side, is now being turned into ridicule. This is characteristic of my countrymen. The momentary idols of the French populace' are soon immolated on the altar of oblivion. Just at present Ravachol and Jules Leraut are represented on the stage, songs are made about them, their portraits and statuettes are sold in the streets, but in a little while the Parisians will forget their new toys and amuse themselves with something fresh. And this French esprit is often more effective than rigorous measures in suppressing stupidities. It was thus that Boulanger was politically destroyed, viz., by ridicule and Parisian esprit. It was that which cut short his extraordinary career, and prevented him from committing further absurdities. It was fortunate he was not imprisoned, for that would have made a martyr of him, and the masses dearly love a martyr. It is this same ridicule which will probably kill Anarchy, or at least retard its progress. I suppose the Anarchists have not made it necessary to guard the residences of the Judges in New Zealand. . . . Since my return I have been besieged with persons enquiring about New Zealand. Most Frenchmen think your country a savage and barborous island. When I told them you had towns of .50,000 inhabitants, railways, tramways, and telephones in greater abundance than France, in proportion to population, there were numerous expressions of astonishment."