The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1896-06-30
"Youu AND THOU
The Curious order Of the New Frsaeh
Minister 81 War


Minister 81 War
A decree has Just been Issued at Paris
by the new minister OF war forbiddlng
officers to address the soldiers under
their orders by the familiar pronoun OF
thou" says the New York Tribune
Henceforth. the more formal you" Is
alone TO be employed. Il Is needless 10
explain that the minister Of war "a
civilian. for a soldier would never have
made the mistake Of imagining for one
moment that the feelings OF seli-respect
Of private or nOn-c0mmlssloned OFF,
Ger would be affected by the use Of the
familiar pronoun "tu" "Tu" and "du'
and thou" ara terms not Of contempt
but OF familiarity and Intimacy. and
their use implies no lack Of consldera-
lion for the person To whom they are
applied. but. on the contrary. a feeling
Of aiiectionate regard. In monarchical
countries the sOvereigns have always
made a point OF addressing their troops
with the pronoun thou" In the same
way that they apply the word chill
dren" to even grizzled aud battle
Scared veterans twice their age. The
men like TO be addressed thus and feel
q sort OF aympithy Tor those whom they
regard as displaying Ia this way afec-
ton and interest In their welfare. by
iorhlddlng the use Of the word "tu"
tao new French minister OF war has
done FAR more harm than good, since
he has rendered the relation between
French officers and men more distant
aud formal. and has. In fact, raised
new barrier between those who hold
commissions In the army and those who
/ do not on course. this new departure
has been prompted by the spirit Of re-
publlcanism. the ministers idea being
that a soldier Is just as much French
citizen and entitled TO as much respect
as an officer.
In the German. Austrian. Italian and
Russian armies. the officers not only
use the word thou" to their men. but
among themselves AZ we'll. and the
youngest lieutenant may use u TO his
colonel. or even 20 his general when on
duty. the idea being they are brothers
and comrades in arms OnicerS meeting
for the first time use thou even
though one be a prince and the other
the son OF petty ahopkeeper, one the
colonel OF SOME crack cavalry regiment
and the other suballen Ia a merelins
OF regiment ~ the arisiocracy, that
b 90 say. among the Oh nobility
whence the paryonue of.the nouveau
richie element d. severely excluded
every one calls the other thou even
young girls styling old dowag,rs thus
Moaarchs and royal percentages Ia thell
intimate intercourse with one another
invariably uge the pron0un thou.
The prince OF Wales addresses the em
pcror OF Austria as "du." and the EN-
pcr1r OF Germany makes use Of TN
same pronoun when writing or speak
Ing to King Oscar or any other mon
arch "Tu" and "du" and thou" impl!
social equality among the persons VIII
use them 20 one another. and II IA
French minister OF war had been lea
hasiy. and had taken the trouble o
studying the history OF his country. h
= would have found that during the earl
years Of the great revolution az the en-
OF the last century, when the doctrine
OF equality were really enforced. every
y body made use OF the word "ci,oyen
and o. thou" Ia addressing one aa
p, other. no matter what might be the al
ference OF age or official rank.