Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1888-12-07
THE CITY OF METZ.
How the Germans and French Get Along
Together In Lorraine.

,
Together In Lorraine.
| had not been in Metz twenty-four
hours when | was informed that the
, chief commissary of the police of the
third section wished to see me-
found this parsonage sitting in uniform
before desk in a little room With
out being cordial he was perfectly
polite. 1t appeared that | had not
given sufficient Information concerning
myself in the printed police form
which ! had been requested to fill up
on the previous night. The police not
only wished to know my name, nation
ality and profession, but also the date
of my birth and my religion. | was
also asked how long intended to stop in
Metz, and how proposed to spend my
time here. The account gave of my
self seemed to be satisfactory; for the
inquisitorial expression had left the
commissary's face at the close of the
interview, and he was almost bland.
The police keep as firm grip upon
Metz in civil sense as the garrison
does in military one. The town is
divided into six police sections, the
chief cOmmissaries of which receive
their instructions from and make their
reports to a central authority. Any
stranger who enters this place soon
becomes aware that he is watched with
an interest that may or may not be dis
turbing according to his degree of
sensibility to such surveillance.
My first impression on coming here
was that the attachment of the native
population to France was by no means
so strong as the French would have us
believe. Nothing could be calmer
than the life of the people, judged
from the surface. The old French or
Messin stock seemed to have grown
thoroughly accustomed to the presence
If the Germans in their midst, and
have become blended with them.
Closer observation has forced me to
very different conclusion. Metz has
been greatly Germanized by continuous
immigration from beyond the Rhine;
but the Messins are more French in
sympathy than they were before the
war They mix freely with the Ger
mans in the ordinary business
of life, but the two elements
do not mix socially. There
are many cafes where only
French is spoken, and others where
one hears nothing but German. Even
those Lorrainers of the lower classes
who habitually speak in German patois
- IN,
French whenever they can
do so with discretion. Young
Messins who were BOYS when
this city belonged to France, and who
have served their time in the German
army, return to their old associations
as soon as they are free; and they have
the credit of being more hostile to the
Germans than the older generation.
ct Indirect taxation falls less heavily
upon the workman here than it does in
France. Bread and tobacco-only to
name two articles-are much cheaper
here than they are on the French side
of the frontier. On the other hand.
trade is languishing and work of all
kinds is hard to obtain. The Germans
have spent vast sums upon the con-
struction of forts, but they have been
careful to employ only German and
Italian laborers. The Lorrainers and
Alsatians are evidently regarded as u
conquered people ready for rebellion.
All attempt at Cancellation appears to
have been abandoned; and it looks as
II the provinces were to be German
lied by the forced emigration of those
who are bound to France by family ties
as we'll as by political sympathies. As
the Inhabitants leave, their places are
taken by Germans. Thus the trade of
Metz, which few years ago was almost
exclusively in the hands of the native
population, is now to Il large extent in
the hands of the Germans.
All who have capital invested here.
whatever then political differences on
other points may be. are deeply dis
contented with the new passport repu-
lations on account of the injury to
trade. a movement for petitioninp
the government to do away with re-
strictions so injurious to the interests
of its own subjects is on foot. And
the passport grievance has been sue
ceeded by another unimportant bv
| comparison, but one which the Gallo
phil part of the population regard as
an extra drop to their trimming cup
of evaporation.
Until recently French money was al
lowed to pass currently here; then an
order was issued forbidding shop
keepers to accept it. The Messins
have kept up the practice until the
present day of reckoning in all their
commercial transactions by francs and
sous. They continue to do so in spite
OF the official order If you enter a
ShOn IN bIV apv thinr ,-o,, 49,, 4.1l a.