, 1881-05-01
I then withdrew
RncI1EEn az TIE VAR

o4ucc- Ml0HlpHL Is tllIllOsl tAG ull'9 tiuAS t'e
which he is fndable. AS en-
tered 4 llungty-looking Individual Ill
a blouse, probably Communist
who had been waiting 4 long while i'll the
vain hope Of seeing tile great Eanlphlcteer,
passed by me OH his way out. Directly lie
wa; well down the stairs, was
ushercd into tho editorial sanctum, where
II. Rochefort was all alone, geefully iIait~
iny all cpistolary attack on the Gar.
"Sit down. said lie, with restless, juvenile
vivacity, 81 a,n just finishing another most
abominab]e article" / took the liberty Of
instantly directing II. Rochefort's attention
to the matter which had brought ME to see
him, and asked him for his views OH the war.
As might have been expected, they were
highly romantic anu sensational, and are re-
produced with reserve:
*'1 KNOW ALI. ABOUT IT,
said he ''llcre is the whole story: Some
time back Il number Of persons Of great
political influence, connected with the
Credit Foncier Algericn, among them
~ Ga1nbetta, tried to get a concession from
the Bey of Tunis for i railway to forn 4
continuation of the Bone Guelma Llue. To
attain their object they had recourse to
lady,-the mistress OF N. Constans,-"ho
did her best TO help them. Signor Maccio,
the Italian Consul at Tunis, upset their plans,
and tile war was decided Oil i'll consequence.
l shall shortly publish most remarkable
collection Of documents bearing OIL the af-
fair" continued ". Rochefort with evident
delight. They will be very damaging to
Nm. Gambetta, Collstans, anil several other
gentlemen"
..IIow do you think the struggle will
cnd:''
II do not know. The French Generals out
there are so stupid that it would not b. at all
surprising If they got good thrashing l
suppose, though, as they want to tllIlsh the
business quickly, they will march to Tunls
and proclaim the protectorate OF France
NJ. FRANCIS MAGSAEp,
Director of the Figaro, was found at his
office, overwhelmed with work. III answer
to all inquiry whether he approved of the cx-
pedition, lie replied: - l entirely approve Of
it. am glad t1at France has 1T list had IN
opportunity Of proving that she Is still il
great Power
Would it not have been preferable to
send a fleet to Galetta ut once, and to have
made the Bey personally responsible for the
Kroumiro''
'sTiat is most certainly my opinion. III
that way the extraordinary and incompre-
he,lsiblc delay which has occurred would
have been avoided"
"Do you not think such measures woEld
have led to a complication with the other
Powers??'
'.The fleet should have been sent in def
ance Of any or Of all the Powers. hope it
will yet be sellt,-wllatever may be thought
OF 1t BY England. Italy, or, for that matter,
by Germany n. Maynard, in short, while
disapproying much in the matter, was at
bottom thoroughly Cl!auvinist.
u. AIGUsTE yACQrEElE,
the witty and anliable editor If the R0ppc|,
was in the middle of an article when called
on him, but withouta q moments aehlur, lie
stopped writing, and gave lie his attention.
=" You wish to have my views on the Ques-
tion r. said u. EacQuerie. ION what particu
lar points,"
First. do you consider that the war was
| necessary"
IL must begin my reply by few generali-
| ties. In principle I All absolutely opposed
to all wars. should even be against the
idea OF going to war with Germany, it ever
we were strong enough
TO AyENGE OCR HUMILIATION
in 1870. OF frontier wars, or wars for the
ratification of frontiers. have an especial
horror. lhaye, therefore, st"adily opposed
the idea of encouraging Greece to engage
in Il struggle with Turkey. humanity is not
so large and broad that we can afford to
| make it narrower. But in this special case I
| believe that war was ineyitable.''
"Why?"
"Decausc We had been insuted. The
| Kroumirs were esget OIL, doubtless, by some
t powerful hacker. otherwise they wolllt not
| have dared to be SO arrogant. After the
| border tribes lad invaded our territory, it
would have been proclailEing our national
| deeadence to allow the thing to continue.
"Do you not think the war will be fol
| lowed By grave trouble in A1geria"'
| mo. do not think that the insurrection-
| ary movements which are reported are very
serious. 1t would have been much more dam
gerous to allow the Krounirs to insult US
| with impunity.''
| WE PKOF-ASE FOREIGNERS
/ find it hard to understand why, if the punish
| ment OF the kroun,irs is the only object of
| the expedition, 10000 men were necessary,
and we find it specially hard to see why
they were ordered to march into districts far
removed from the stronghold Of the nominal
| eneny.'
II confess it does look strange. But the
WIZ &1iIA pECu4iti tl4tt4 ACtEl " L3C COu1lLl4
and Of the KrouMirs must be remembered.
| 1t is necessary to surround the Kroulnirs and
| prevent thcln from spreading. AS to what
| you say about the number of troops sent out.
| it seems exaggerated, but it WAS probably.
| thought advisable to have large force to
cheek any attempted rising in Algeria"
*You do not believe that the war was ar-
| ranged to allow an opportunity Of testing the
| young French ar1uy?'
''1 CANNOT TELL,
| but do not think it probable"
| have heard that the Government las
| thought it necessary to request the Unras
! 4Igcncy to moderate the tone Of its dis
| patches, which have hitherto been rather
| brllicose.'
1.-The 1igcncc Hauus often blunt.ers, hut
! more from wait Of tact thai from 4 wa11ton
| wish to do mischief
''Do you think that great interest i S felt in
| the war here's"
"Very little, indeed. But we Frenchmcn,
| are. after all. great Clauyinsts. Even l,
who profess to be 4 humanitarian, cannot
| help my blood boiling when the French nag
| Is iNSnlted.''
1t was impossible to interview, as had
hoped, the greatest of all French journal