The New York herald., 1871-01-08
The Occupation Of France by the Ger
mans-H0w Longe

The London Times Of Friday printed G
despatch from its special correspondent at
| Berlin to the effect that arrangements had
been made for prolonged occupation of
France after the fall Of Paris This announce
ment is so much in harmony with the views
which we have again and again expressed in
the HERALD that we cannot refuse to take
advantage of the fresh opportunity thus
afforded to repeat them.
1t is no longer permitted us to doubt that
Paris must fall, and that with the fall Of Paris
France will submit to the yoke of tho con-
queror. There are not few enthusiastic
French sympathizers who persist in refusing
to believe that Paris can be taken OF that the
Germans will not be ignominiously driven
from French soil. On the part of all such the
wish is 50 much father to the thought that we
can afford to pardon them for wilful blindness.
That the French have been fighting well since
the commencement of the siege of Paris no
sensible man can refuse to admit The armies
of the republic have saved France from the
dishonor which must have clang to her if
| peace had been concluded after the fall of
Sedan In making this admission we give
France all the glory to which she is justly
entitled. But in spite of this admission, facts
are facts; and the facts prove that since
Sedan the French people, or, rather, the men
| who arrogate to themselves the right to repre-
seat the French people, have been prolonging
q bloody, destructive and hopeless struggle.
What are the facts Of to-day? All the East
and all the North of France, from Strasbourg
to the sea, is overrun. Throughout that wide
range of territory, which for generations
every French government has been endeavor-
ing to make impregnable, not a single fortress
worthy Of the name but has fallen before the
foe. Strasbourg and Metz and Thionvlle and
Sedan and Phalsbourg and Laon and Mezi-
eres and the rest are to-day garrisoned by
| German soldiers. Alsace and Lorraine are as
| much German, so far as government goes as
| Bavaria or Baden or Hesse. This, however,
| is not ALL Some five hundred thousand
| men with keen, eager eyes and hearts that
know no relenting-not to speak of the gilt
tering lines of pointed steel which, flashing
in the sunbeams, almost make ruin lovely,
and the ready and effective needle gun and
the ponderous cannon charg d with their
countless tons Of death-shut Paris, SO re-
Gently SO lovely, away from hope and mercy
| and give her no choice but to embrace despair.
| So long as this huge army of FIVE hundred
| Thousand men remains in this attitude France
can, Of course, make some little show Of life.
! With the fall Of Paris, however, the situation
will be completely changed. All the soldiers
now under Trochu will be prisoners of war;
! small body Of German soldiers will suffice
| to preserve order in the fallen capital The
| great body of the investing army will be let
| loose on the provinces; and resistance from
the Vosgcs to the Atlantic and from the Bel
| gian frontiers to the Pyrenees and the MeSi-
| terransan will die in week. 1t may not be
long-as we think it viii not be long-until all
this has passed away from the region of specu-
| lation into the region of fact. Paris will be
| reduced; France will be submissive King
| William will reign in the Tuileries Bismarck
| viii issue his instructions from the Hotel de
| Vile, and in another and larger Warsaw
peace will reign.
! What then? The new facts will be that
years has been trod by the foot of the inva der,
| and that her glorious capital, the eye of the
| civilized world, as Corinth once was the eye
Of Greece, has been occupied by foreign troops
and controlled by council of foreign princes.
Now that there IS no longer any question about
| the fall of Paris or about the occupation Of
France another and a more important ques-
l ~ <,
being put. How lsng will the occupation last?
To answer this question we do not pretend to be
able. But our inability to give to the ques-
| ton definite answer does not dimi nish its
| importance or lessen its claims on our atten-
ton. 1t is fair, we think, to take it fer
granted that the new German Emperor will,
with much coolness and with not little deter
mination temporarily, at least, establish him
self in the Tuileres. After her hard struggle
France will be allowed little time
to breathe-an opportunity to reflect on
the struggle through which she has
| passed, to measure the depth of her
disgrace, and to learn once more the folly and
sin of war. The Germans who have fought
so well and who have 50 deservedly won will
be allowed little liberty; nor is it impossible
that while they will remember the disasters
which followed the battle of Jena, they will
| indulge in some Of the license of 1914 and
1915. 1t may also, we think, be taken for
granted that King William and his council of
advisers will take proper steps to restore
France to herself by giving her government
more or less according to her choice. This
government, no matter how chosen, win have
to submit to the conqueror's terms. Germany
will insist on a cession of territory, and the
pecuniary iDdemnifcation of Fatherland for
losses sustained by the war will not be for