Morning journal and courier., 1891-09-04

France is struck down by inertia on ac- count of an organic mslady which makes its death question of time. All practical yachtsmen are speculating upon its near and hbersting departure, and the heritage of the invalid is already bequeathed to a new society organized and called the '.Un- ion of French Yachts, which society, in dependent and active as it is, will do all that has been done by the dying thing which is about to be buried so pleas antly.
 The history of the yacht club of France is worth recording. Two years after its creation in 1868 the members of the club, whose aim was to give more expansion to the society and to augment their limited resources, thought that it would be advan- tageous to join with club most honorable, no doubt, but at the same time the most worthless from nautical point of view the circle of the Pavilion de Hanovre. The members of this club did not undertake to direct yachting or to take part in the decis- ions without appeal that the yacht club rendered in regard to the claims of the racers in our regattas. That task belonged to the Maritime council, which as a whole represented the old society for the encour- agement of yachting in the new organiza- ton of the yacht club. But those gentle men reserved to themselves the power of electing this council in @ general assembly composed of permanent members only. That is to say, the numerous yacht owners who had acquired the right to sail under the flag of the yacht club were vigorously excluded. Now, as the yachtsmen and old navy officers, who were the permanent members, only constituted small minor ity in the assembly, the destinies of our pleasure craft were in the hands of minor ity absolutely strangers to seafaring mat ters, and necessarily to the delicate Ques- tions of nautical races. This abnormal situation, the cause of incessant conflicts, lasted for twenty-one years. With us, formidable anomalies die hard. Neverthe- less, what was bearable at 8 time when French yachtsmen were only composed of small societies of amateurs became intoler- able as soon as the thing began to be ex- tended, and, as the pleasure fleet became large, the number of practical yachtsmen, the permanent members of the club, be- came reduced. At the end of last year the number of pleasure craft of all tonnage, sailboats and steam yachts, was ,352, and twelve yacht owners, representing the central club, were the arbiters of their in- terest
 On the second of December, @ fatal date, the decisive coun d etat in the yacht club took place. Through the intermediary of the Maritime council the powerful battal- ion of subscribing members claimed admis- sion to the general elective assembly of the club. What was the resultl The members of the Pavilion de Hanovre told the yachts men to get aboard their craft and get cured of their impertinent fit of logic. But to calm the anger of these enfants terrible, the members of the pavilion permitted them to come and salute them under the shade of their vast solons. As 8 reply to so much benevolence, NJ. le Contre- Admiral Baron Alquier, president of the Maritime council, and nine yachtsmen, members of the same council, handed in their resignations, which reduced the num- Der of yacht owners belonging to the yacht club to three. Moreover, the immense majority of amateur yachtsmen, including Baron Arthur de Rothschild, whom the old regime had just elected president of the council to replace the resigned Ad miral, addressed petition to the minister of the marine, asking him to give them back their primitive autonomy and liberty of action. The minister refused to have anything to do with what he considered the internal affairs of club, but he gave it to be understood that he would transmit to new society the privileges which were enjoyed by the yacht club.
 A few weeks afterward the "Union of PIoucu dcuCS were 1OrIn6u, Wltn AQ1nlTdl Lage for president and M. M. le Comte A. de Guebriant, Henri Menier, E. Perignon, and Baron A. de Rothschild vice-presidents of the council, and the journal, Yacht, as the official monitor. It is to this valiant little sheet that we owe the triumphant shout "The Yacht Club is dead! Long live the Union of French Yachts!"
 It is new born, officially, at least, that we salute here with confidence along with the two hundred yachtsmen that from the beginning have come under its banner By the decision of the 22d of July last the minister of the interior approved the stat utes of the "Union," to which on the 10th of the some month the minister of the in terior granted, with guidon included in the signal code, all the privileges accorded to the old yacht club from the time of its formation.
 | Consequently, now we have our yacht ing freed from it's encumbrances, able to go ahead, and sustained by it's new society and the Comite du Yacht Francais, which have now no further reason to keep apart. The impulsion is already given. The yacht ing world is animated by an ambitious ar dor, and when the regatta season is over | there will be serious work in the ship yards | for the first international race for the | French cup, bold creation of the Comite | du Yacht Francais. Very well, the move
 ment is attractive; enthusiasm is taking,
 and we are convinced that many recruits
 will come under the tri-color flag, with a
 blue star of the union.
 At the present time our yachting num-
 bers, out of 132 steam vessels, one steam
 yacht of 800 tons, the Eros, three between | 800 and 600 tons, four from 300 to 400 tons, and four others from 200 and 300. l That makes twelve vessels with a dis
 placement corresponding to that of our
 war ships of the first, second, and thiId
 classes.