CUT-THROAT CLEMENCEAU.

NZ Truth, Issue 166, 22 August 1908, Page 1

CUT-THROAT CLEMENCEAU.

Ffahcte's Fuiriipte iM^k^^^j^^

. ■frhe' daily . newspapers 0! Australasia baye been making much fuss recently, ,ar s)oui what theyjltiave had the. hardihood to call "'an putbreik of Anarchy.", m France. They have told us that the. men employed m the building trades m Paris struck for : a day, and^.that they got^into; ; contact ■with 'tne , military ,' fthat barricades: "we're erected, %nd that men were Jelled. This is represented to , be the outcome ,..oi .an Ariarchisjbic conspiracy on. the part of the ■ CJeberal donfederatjon of Labor ; and miiph 'praise is bestowed' on thfi French; - Prenvr ier| Clemenceau, 'Who has, m his alleged of law and order," not hesitateihto take life. -The truiJi is, however, that, there is' no outbreak;. ot; ; Anajchy m • France, is practically, dead m tKat cbuntr^ ; but the capitalistic 'G6v T errimeht of , France has yielded; to its blpad-lust. To, ihe astonishment of Clem•nceau; wlib' o bfecame notable as Tan: Anti; clerical and a .Liberal," the working classas /of Ffajn'ce • aVe . not satisfied with „ his. fitter. "ss'.. aes^uoiive attacks on the Frwiatf \dathdlie clergy ; they , see ; quite t&mxlj that; eve : h ifthe clergy were, desand their present ipeje^me; passed;, fa* «h* pockets oir the capitalist, the ; w«r*t4s ; pl|ssejs Tsrauld not bevph^ penny Mie iiitUr^'; »nd they, theret6tiij;;c.ask : ;ifo,r: ; b^iiflthiiig bf real value to ■tne...,w.btker^ ; . ffher a»k -for- brea^i : Clemenceaii gives' kern bullets, '■.-

This fellow, ! Clemenceau, Iras -. ever ;been a rptten ,reed to/^an.i.uiwn where. the;int^rests oPtbS v *teb]^cing' clashes were conterned^ He belongs to a school that bcliires that the pibst admirable * condition Si things . -is "one/ where ' there is Tneither Itiig nor clergy-7- wne re there is no conjtroiier but thevjeovetous capitalist.' He is i Liberal Freethinker ; arid has succeeded m hunibngg/ng certain sections of the working classes into believing that , the destruction of the clergy means the event*i\. enrichme/it 'of the workers. It of bourse* can mean nothing of the sort ; the less that i^ given to the clergy the more jfchere; is given to the capitalist. The wafies bf labor are,, fixed by competition for imploy^ient among the workers themtfelves^and the eßect of this competition Is tfiat,> m every country, ttie working cl^,Ss receives just -sufficient- to maintain, and to reproduce, itself. JiWh&t French workers might save by withlioldrng from the clergy the incomes ,to" yfhich the lat%ei have b^een accustomedj^would simply by, the iron law of wages, hy the'. ef- ; feet pi. cpmpetition*;fbr emplpyment, handr fed bwr io y the; capitalist. The- plunder. '*>f the clergy jmeans increased profits- tor the capitalists^ and attempts .to reduce the ; wages bi*the .workers. These - reduce tions can only he ' prevented . by means ,of the 1 'most j&6lxxia.ine& -^'stance on the part of We trade unions. ! ,'

Clemeneeau has always been a . man Vfipin 'itvwould beiiisky lor ,the working; Mesa to trust ; but]' like the late .pharles Br^dlaugh, tie was? fond ol appealing to. Working men, and he succeeded •m hoodr-, winking ',^!me : or a certain superficial sort. .. Moreover^ he set up; a Iqnd ' .ok v alliance. With th^workiiig class soon as he^got into power, .into power with him -^two Socialists;/; Briand and Viviaini. These rtefiP^are^oftKe type of the English . 1 ; Bijrns ; Bnd there is reason to' -^liev^liat 'their own adyancemfint, rat&r v|bha'nw|he ;trlr urnph of Socialism, is/teßfr%deitl^ Since they took'^fflce,' they-^eaj^ciallf '©riand-r-: haye mottth>d much abpul; the alleged neies'sity ofsrushing clorjca'l^tt'j "ss%;. they have praVeij. traitors tof^tn^^q^ing men jthat 1 put^sidhmen as Bristn"#/^nas*Viyianl to thefroiii?; and gave^ith^n*'! as heading liabor politicians, that^markeV^luc thaU Hkey have now realised *^ :^t)^;:capVtalistiC: Camp ol Clemenceau. The| I leadin|'nicn m■: the trades unions of Frflnce^^ivef^howevfer, never been deceived by Cfemenceau,, no how many traitors to Labor 1 ; be ,might take to his bosom. When iite ■ *ror.King men -.of Paris were ' desperately fighting, In 1871; to make of Paris asotfial democratic commune, Clemenceau was' to be found among those who, at the ffitical moment, haisely 4esert»d the worters ,- and the leading men m the ranks ol organised pabor havej not forgotten this tatty ■ ■ . ' ■;;■;■ =*««:- "'- ..■■ : : x • * '•■'•>.*• .-'■'. ■■• - ;

Tbe pjresent /troubles lnvjPrance have Arisen from tbe shooting' -cßrt^ ? o! some etrikirf? workmen m the sandpits of Vignetbr;. Vras a monstrous/thing ; and jthert can be little dowtft; 'that Clemenceau was largely responsible for the killiig( ot these strikers; He had managed |6 dopvey the impression that he faVored jhe master* as against the men ; aWcon- <•) ' v «.?. ,. ; : ' . ■ •.- .

selmentty. the gendarmes thought that they iwould he; do|ing a thing pleasing to. the :G<oyernment if "they slaughtered .some.; of the Strikers. When the representatives of. the denounced .him 1 for •thi.s,' m the French •Pa!rliaraeri|i' \.Clemencea^' tried to evade ;the-. responsibility. He declared that he jvoyl d give, to every one of the gendarmes 'that : had refrained from firing ',;■'. inrfc when: he tbund that \ -he , cpul d not huriibug .the Labor fe^ ■pre^ent^tijVes with \: this s,ort;of stuff, .he exclaimed, m a' fury, thaV the'Goy^nijnent ebuld not giveiite approval 'to ' Anarchy. $6" this, the leader, ot the^ Socialist Labor P^arty 1: retorted; "Vous,,etes Taharchie .cbUro^ee 1 ' (You are Anarchy— crooned). Cjlein ; eh(»au, 'however, turned, to \ the cap■jt^iis^^ Liberal, anil .reaet^My;elemen|s ; m the House, . declared' fiimself an uphoilder.of ■;.. law and oorder;r r ; mh >s^asv promptly ; iiwirdp^ ~yai viote: of 'coifi|gn^. Cons^guenir fyj he;i.yas quite satisfied,' ;an'd has :Sin<!e perpetrated some more blficisl murders.

■ ',*■ ;«.'> ••-.■'. .':,. : - ' ••?.'•.•.■"':•:"'■ r :?-■ '- ; '■■'. Following upon the slaughter "at Yigkeuic, othere wai| : aiifembnstration; held .ftiris..;: for ' th^ .;• purpose, of> pfotesting: Against th« ... yigneux enmes..; :■ • Tlie armed; fo'tc.ei? ; of; the'. Xjbvernment. : were;vat tbie meeting, and although the. demonstration wasv'bf v the i , most peaceful characiiier, the dempnil^ators .were ' attacked, and Scored ■■ 6t ithjem ■ were 'sabred, it. is -not 'surprisirig,;,th^t the brave French worknaen' re : fuse to be subjected to this sort of treatmeHt. without' resistance;? and f per-' haps, retaliation. Consequently, upon the. occasion of another attack' being ■made upon workmen by the .military, we find that the workers erected barricades and compelled the soldiers to do some sighting. It appears that the" men m the building trades of Paris struck for one day as a protest against the slaughter of the men m Jhe Vigneux' sandpits; They then marched to Vigneux, apparently for no other reason' than to demonstrate their indignation' at the' cbnduct of the authorities m killing the Vigneux workmen. The Premier, however, having spilt some bipod, thought that he would spill some more. Htfj therefore, ordered two cavalry diyisioris to go to Vigneux to assist the gendarmerie there. Here ' they came m con,r tact with the demonstrators ; and, apparently, they attacked them and took some more lives.

■V[hat is quite' cleat is '.that the strikers could not have been^: prepared for any conflict' with -the •military. /Although they erected barricades, and •defendedthemselves behind these- '.barricades, -they appear to have done little damage to the troops. r ; In the town of Villeneuye ,St. Georges', which' is about .nine -miles .'■ and a half from Paris; the strikers^halted m their flight from- the j troops ; ; and v- con-, silrucfed a barridiEide ( by., stretching chains and' timtief across 'the street. Haying b^ this means halted the ..■.-••troops,,; .the strikers ' p'elted>> them v with bottles and gtdhes, and vt some bt< them: j >iired some •shots, it is '. reported, .'from. pistols... It | is- 'remarkable,' however, 'that not one of the •soldiers appears to' have • been lcilled, ,^lthdugh twenty of 'them are^said to have tfieh wounded. ' Tw6,;til the strikers were killed "off -'the 'ipot.^anda thicd was fatally wdundedw ' lt'is^a suspicious, fact ' that the numbeC'-of ' strikers reported .to have been • injured by -the /soldiers with their sabres is the same as the number of workmen*; said -1^), have ,b|en injured; twenty. * 'It is quite likely; the I number | Wks larger, but the'nfiws .may hive been censored, m order Jhat the affair may i look-, less: like: a -massacre, :

■:-i's}\- ■'?•■: my :x ■:.-■. •■ „ ','• < :•■•. ■ . - T Tne stuff at to. an official of the GenefJaCi; Confederatroa 1 otXabor having .'described the affair as - u a" skirmish -in 'the coming war between -the* worker -and. the parasite" is evidently a grofes- misrepre-;; sentation. " TKt phrase is tafsn to mean;that thef c was a conspiracy to 'bring ;• about / an Anarchistic" overturn of • society; > but/it merely r shows that the officiar iii question has 'not been so m clioosmg his words as he. might .have been. He' hag used a • picturesque phrase descriptive of the class struggle, and m no way intended to itiean that ;the workers are prepared to make war upon the "parasite" (the capitalist). -An official of the General- Cpnfederatipn of Labor' must know quite well that the organised, workers of France are not even numerically strong enough for anything of the sort. To tbose reading between the lines ol the cablegrams published byjtfte capf italist press, "it is clear thai -an'iittempt has been made, bjr *h« uae of ' ar?oea

Jorce, to strike terror into the breasts of tie" French trade Unionists. This is done as the /result' 7o! the intrigues of financiers ani' other capitalists. Clemenceau fishes ;to|show; that he; is determined Ho c ".inee.t the wishes of his capitalist sup? porters ; aad', therefore, he is quite pre-. pared to cut as many throats as may he 'necessary lor ike purpose. L-iKe all pth : 6r he/.looks, upon, a society controlled bjr : capitalists as :. the .best of :-'iH ;possible"societies. For this reason he brandishes a bloody sabre at Labor Whenever it, shows' that it is anything •more than a dumb drudge. Clemenceau is the cut-throat employed by Capital, the hangman employed' by Finance.