The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1871-05-10
Sad Scenes in Paris.

The Paris correspondent of the
London Times, writing on the l1th,
says:
yesterday I met four funeral pro
cessions, to-day l have already met
two. They we're accompanied by mil,
itary music, by drums and bayonets,
and decorated with red flags and
wreaths of ~immorteNea. The hearses
bore the bodies of soldiers of the Com
mune killed on the ramparts during
The last few days, killed by "the enc
N.Y." as the official documents say
They were followed by. a crowd, in
which were women in mourning,
mothers, wives and orphaned children.
1t vas q very sad spectacle, and one
calculated to inspire reflection in the
men who have led so many victims to
death, to satisfy their W ambition
Ga tho road tnamorteAes wero offered to
the passcrs-by. who were invited to
wear them Gin honor Of our brethren
who have died for the cause OF liber
ty." When l heard these words pro-
nounced, "died for the cause of liber-
ty," 1 asked my self if it we're really
for liberty that those men had died
if it were not, on the contrary, for
dcspotism and tyranny. OF what
liberty has the growth been assisted
by the blood split since the 18th of
March? Is it liberty of the press p
Most of the newspapers are suppressed;
several have disappeared under threats,
the rest dare not speak. Is it liberty
of meetings? 1t is only tolerated in
those who recognize the sovereign pow
er of the Commune all meetings at
which p~acifcaticn might be spoken of
are interdicted. Is it individual lib
erty? Every day homes are violated,
men, and even women, thrown into
prison. You can not pass through
the streets without running the risk
of being arrested, nor look at a barri-
cade without being seized as q spy
If you wish to escape from these per-
secutions you re stopped on the way
and made a soldier for the civil war,
obliged to defend e III which is not
your own, and to fire upon your con
patriots, your friends, perhaps your
relations What, then. is this alb
stract, ideal, impalpable liberty for
which these men have been killed ?
liberty? No; for if the
streets are no longer safe, if the do
nestle hearth is no longer inviolable, if
the citizen can ne longer go and come
as lie pleases, neither a he take part
in the government of the city. He is
repealed from the ballot by its being
opened to him contrary to law and his.
conscience his share of the suffrage
is taken from him by forcing him to
use it against the national rights
Even liberty of conscience, that Utmost
liberty, which modern times boosted
of having conquered and put out of
reach of all inquisition, no longer ex-
lists but in name Churches are closed,
ministers of religion imprisoned
What will be done tomorrow I? From
time to time sinister reports are eircu-
and each morning a fresh men
ace warns the citizens that the Com
mune still exists and is in power
This very morning the frightened in
habitants arc informed that courts-mar-
tial are being held, and that every
officer who has allowed all individual
to pass the gates without being provi-
ded with a pass, either from the Place
Vendome or from the police, will be
brought before them. Thus, it was
in order to fireplace them by courts mar
tial that the Commune lately suppress
cd councils of war"