The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-03-26

for the time TO be in power Any
thing seems to suit them politically so
long rs IL allows them 60 20 on quietly
with their ordinary pursuits. When Ma
poieon asks for their support they think
OF nothing beyond saying. Yes" and
when Paris and other centers. having over
thrown the empire. ask them 10 Indorse
republic. the response naturally IL the
same This, at least. 10 how IL has been In
the past, though one cannot help thinking
that twenty years of prosperous republican
rule must have awakened In many OF these
rustic frenchmen a pronounced liking Tor
TINS simpler form of government. and that
the increased enliantenment these years
have brought will lead them hereafter to
increased political activity.
FLEEING To THE CITIES.
In France. as in other nations, the COM
plant is common that rural districts are
undergoing a slow process of depopulation.
In two respects. however. France differs in
this matter from both Germany and Eng
land. We have not heard that in either of
these countries there is any scarcity of
births amongst the rural population; rsth-
er the contrary, whereas In France the
birth rate Ia as low III many Of the
rural districts as in any of tie
centers of urban life, and the average
OF children per family no higher in some
parts than in the exceptional town of
ROubaiX. where the last census puts it at
one Not only so. but we are assured by
writer III the Nation that in many cases the
ascertained cause of this Is the desire of
parents 10 better their own condition; in
other words. French thrift. Another point
to be noted Is that, while the country dis
tricts of England and Germany. especially
tue latter. are being largely drawn upon
by foreign emigration, France IL suffering
from this cause scarcely at ALA fact, by
the way, which speaks suggestively of the
superior cOntentment of the French.
The great drain In France is. not from
that country TO some other. but from the
rural districts towards the great cities. es-
pecinlly towards Paris. With increasing
education there has sprung up in the rural
breast n feverish craving for enlarged op-
portunities. 1t is discovered. too that cit
les offer an increased wage. and. without
thinking how much that is beyond price
they must give up In the exchange OF farm
life for factory life. great numbers OF the
younger peasantry infatuated with this
prospect of higher pay. are Rravitatlng
yearly to the actual. and too often, the sad
realization of what 1t means. Unfortunate
IL. too. the universal CONSUMPTION for mill
tary service has depicting effect upon
country life; that too not only in the fact
that 1t takes young men off for three years
just at the time they would naturally be
settling down TO family life. but In the fur
Their fact that it weans them from country
attachments, and makes them ct home
afterw ards only In such scenes OF hustle
and pleasure as the big city oilers. This Is
the complaint in France. and the facts TO
which 1t has reference are decidedly sug-
gestive. showing as they do that In our
present-day civilization city life Is more
than q match tor country life In its power
to dazzle and draw, even when farm life
can offer as special attraction she possible
ownership of O small strip of land.
But az TO the latter point. there are many
peasants who are not land owners. To say
that one half of the soil Is cultivated by
those who are proprietors OF 1t 10 to say
n l. otI Awh hale has
yet to be accounted for. This we find is
occupied by two clasSes-three-fOurths of
1t by those paying regular rental and the
remaining one-fourth by what are called
metayers: that is. those who. for the privi-
lege of farming IT. halve the products
they realize with It's owners. TO IN
dictate still further how farming
operations are carried on 1t should be
metayers take q holding together. bringing
their combined capital to bear In the effort
to make it profitable. 1t should also be
noted that In districts whore the holdings
of land are generally small il is not un-
usual for neighb0rs TO own horse and q
COW in jointuTe. and that associations are
common in such districts for the purchase
and hiring out of improved agricultural
machinery, and for tho granting on rare
occasions OF such small loans as may be
needed while the impecunious peasant
waits for his crops to ripen.
In social life the French peaeantry are
pre-eminent for the sobriety they exhibit;
that. too. spite of the fact that In some
parts their staple beverage is homemade
wine In morals they are far superior as
a rule. to city folk: so much so that an in
telligent and sympathetic writer. referring
to their modern tendency to initiate city
folk, says that if she peasantry only knew
how superior they arc to the rest of France.
this craze would receive an etfectual
ouietus. In religion the French peasants
are. of course, predominantly Roman
Catholic. with. however, q fair informing
ling of Protestants, and it is pleasant to
know that in most parts the rural repre-
sontatives of these two scots are on friendly
terms with each other.
HENRY TUCKLEY.