The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1896-07-18
BE- Y cur AMT, .,,l
che Curious Order OF tho New French
KIM NfInts Il ar ~ vVn,..

The Curious Order OF the New French
sfInistsr Of War.
a decree has just been issued at Paris
By the new minister Of war forbiddings
officers to address the soldiers under.
their orders by the familiar pronoun Of
s'sth thou, s. says the New York Tribune.
sHenceforth, the more formal you is
alone to be employed. u It is needless to
explain that the minister Of war is a
civilian, for soldier would never have!
made the mistake OF magining for one
moment that the feelings Of self-respect
of a private or non com missioned Off
Ter would be affected by the use Of the
familiar pronoun tu.' - u" and s.du''
and thou are terms not Of contempt
but Of familiarity and intimacy, and
/ their use implies no lack Of considera-
ton for the person to whom they are
applied, but, on the contrary, a feeling
sof affectionate 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 "'chil-
fdren, to even grizzled and battle
SCARED veterans twice their age. The
men ms like to be addressed thus and feel
/ q sort OF sympathy for those whom they
regard as displaying in this way affec-
ton and interest in their welfare BY
I forbidding the use of the word s'tu''
the new French minister of war has
done far more harm than good, since
l he has rendered the relation between
French officers and men more distant
and formal, and has, in fact, raised a
new barrier between those who hold
commissions in the army and those who
do not Of course, this new departure
has been prompted by the spirit of re-
publicanism, the minister's idea being
that soldier is just as much a French
citizen and entitled to as much respect
as an officer. = 6--
In the German, Austrian, Italian and
Russian armies, the officers not only
use the word thou to their men, but
among themselves as we'll, and the
youngest lieutenant may use it to his
colonel, or even to his general when of
duty, the idea being they are brothers
and comrades in arms. Officers meeting
for the first time use chou even
though one be a prince and the Other
the son of. a petty shopkeeper, one the
colonel Of some crack cavalry regiment
and the other subaltern in a mere line
Of regiment. In the aristocracy, that
is to say, among the old nobility,
whence the parvenue of the nouveau
richie element is severely excluded,
every one calls the other thou even
young girls styling old dowagers thus.
Monarchs and royal personages in their
invariably use the pronoun chou"
The prince of Wales addresses the en-
speror Of Austria as @sdu,'' and the en-
peror Of Germany makes use of the
same pron0un when writing or speak
ing to King Oscar or any other mon
arch. Tu' ( and "du" and thou imply
social equality among the persons who
use them to one another and if the
French minister of war had been less
hasty, and had taken the trouble OF
studying the history of his country, he
would have found that during the early
years Of the great revolution at the enc
OF the last century, when the doctrines
OF equality were really enforced, every
body made use of the word "citoyen'
and Of thou in addressing one an.
other, no matter what might be the diff
ference of age or official rank. ~.