The Labor enquirer., 1888-04-28
E|MlLE | ! |llLA,
In " Heart | An i! 1 Soclal-
ist." Says ihe Great
French Writer.
REVOLUTION APPROACHES
"a Great sssial Movement 4 = Prsp
aration'- Remarkable Uttssaasss
by 1 Renarksble Han.

The Theater Lbre has an
nounced for its fe6entsti6n to-
morrow, selections from the works
Of Zola's FIVE renegade aposte
Of these ex-followers. the leader
is Paul Bonnetain. sub-editor of
Figaro Litz<1aiyy. and his compan-
ions are Lucien Descavcs. Gustaves
| Clutches and Paul Marguerite.
Zola says: Il shall go to the Thea
ter Libre tomorrow hoping to find
an indication of this new literature
in the work of these young men.
who solmnly declared to me that
'naturalism' is not eternal. Liter.
ature of the seventeenth century
belonged to the school Of Descar-
ties; that Of the eighteenth ito
Rousseau, Diderot and voltaire,
and naturalism is the product Of
positive and material philosophy.
With a new philosophy will spring
up new literature, and then nat
uralism will take rank with the
old MOON" .
heard Zola talk for an hour on
LA Terre" (the soil) only a few
days ago. Il have no doctrine"
Isaid he, Il do not care for doc
|trines. In my heart | am a social
ist, for l believe that the next
century will hardly have begun
nay, that this century will not
finish, before society shall have
been overturned. A great social
movement is in preparation; let .s
hope that all will be acc onplshe1
without violence. But YOU ash
me from whence this Revolution
will Gomez Not from> France. !
thirk, at least it will not originate
in France. Germany possesses
the most resolute socialists in all
Europe, and nihilism belongs snly
to Russia. But the Germans will
make tremendous effort to free
themselves from their yoke. and
socialism is contagious"
I'm La Terre' l have given So
cialism a place. A writer COM
poses unconsciously; he does not
sit down at his desk and say, now
am going to make something
realistic rsocialistic, but he does
whathe can-unconsciously follow
his temperament. No. in La
Terre' | examine the peasant in
four different lights-customs,
religion, politics and economy.
That of customs (habits) is the
most difficult, for when the peasant
thinks himself observed he hides.
| do not speak of violence, but of
slow crime, for the peasant is bru-
tai, ferocious. There are some
peasants who believe in religion,
others who do not. Those who
believe have for the foundation Of
their doctrine fear of eternal pun
ishment. The possibility Of tor
ture inspires them with faith. but
the goodness Of God is never
taken into account. In politics
the peasant is always with the
strongest party. The great ques-
tions OF the day have no place in
his life. The peasant knows but
: one government that whicn ex-
, lists; but one respect-that for
the most powerful. AS to econ
omy, / see whole country impov-
erished; ! picture it., l see the
effects of crisis; / felate them.
/ see ruin all about me; | tell the
unvarnished truth. | have great,
very great sympathy with the
wor king class. Icommenced my
own struggle with life at a very
early age. wrote while was
working for pittance in a great
publishing house in this city;
wrote at time when if wanted
meat ! was obliged to killsparrows
out of my garret window, and
what insults ! received, what in
juries ! have suffered! Now I am
: comparatively tranquil, but have
f come through great tribulation. =
The author Of LA Terre" has q
large head; strong mouth; fine
chin; dreamy. sad eyes, always
half-concealed by an eye-glass
: and a very high forehead. Emile
Zola, when induced to receixe /
stranger gives a most friendly
: welcome and a grasp Of the ~
Il that can hardly Be initiated
Franeisce Cal, PANS (1yxsS1 u1 j(s