The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-12-04
PARIS rs IT IS TODAY
ITS CURIOUS CHARMS, MYSTERIES
AND POSSIBILITIES.
Newspapers That Scarcely Mention
Talking Of-Dreyfus Affair.
G. w. Stevens. in London Mail.

you realize the I2cl.t IN these critical times
the first thing to do is to see what has hap
pened since you went to bed. The papers.
There are scores of them in Paris, and un-
til you have wandered up and down them
for day or two it is impossible to find the
| news. In most of them, indeed, there is no
news. What they have is tucked away in
half a column or so of small type some
where towards the columns of advertise
ments in the rear.
First Fashoda. You look at the first lead
er. No; that appears to be about the Drey-
fus affair. The next-no; that is also about
Dreyfus. The next-no; a branch of the af-
| fair Dreyfus. All, La Crise." but that is
about the Ministerial crisis. Turn over. A
| series of short biographies of the new Cab
inet-here it is, though-"Our kilograms"
But only three of them-five lines from
Vienna, eight from Crete, one from Japan.
What can have happened? Have l been
asleep even longer than 1 thought and is
the war over or the question settled? Mis-
/ cellaneous OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES intelli-
gence-and here it is at last. About twenty
lines of it, chronicling the movements of
Marchand and Baratier.
This is absurd. This paper must be utter
ly worthless, utterly uninfuential Then
you take up another and another and an
other-and always the same thing. One or
two enlarge on the news from Cairo by re-
marking that the government does not
know why Marchand left Fashoda and the
English papers don't, and they're sure they
don't-and there they leave the matter, as
though Marchand were an irresponsible
tourist who had gone to Cairo to post let
ter. A few of the graver organs print brief
kilograms from London with particulars of
bn t.
commissioned. They point out the interest
ing parallel of the particular service squad
ron at the time of the Jameson raid, but for
anything that France appears to have to
do with it, the ships might be going out for
target practice
One or two quote extracts from the Lon
don papers, including the whole of the
Daily Mails latest leader. For the most
part, after the labors of translation, the
weary publicist is content to add the COM
ment, Afternoons" I'VE shall see." They
add this impressive note apparently to any
news they do not understand. 1t gives the
effect that everybody concerned is very
blind and foolish except the man who writes
'AttendonS.'
ALL VERY SILLY.
One paper contains a dialogue. Place, the
gallery of the Chamber of Deputies; time,
the day of M. Brissons fall, wherein one,
almost mute, person is an Englishman.
When the president gets up he says, "Paa-
don, is he speaking on Fashoda?" When
NM. Basly and Paulin Merry begin to fight
he asks. Are these cokneys boxing for
Fashoda?" When General Chanoine goes
into the tribune he asks again, us this
general going to speak on FaShoda?' And
when he resigns and trots back to his place
inquiries, Has the general declared WARP"
In English it all sounds irritatingly silly:
IN french IL Is amuS1ngly silly. All the
same, 1t conveys the general view of Paris
that anybody who talks about FaShoda
when he might be talking about Du Patty de
Clam is a poor creature quite outside the
The only trace of a point of view is the
remark that England appears bent on hu-
INITIATING France by practically ordering
Marchand out. From the panied dignity
with which one or two leaders of opinion
explain this you would infer that Marchand
had accidentally dropped from the sky at
Fashoda and that Britain had seized the
occasion TO insult him. One Open-minded
writer admits that he was injudicious to go
to FashOda at ALL If you were to say the
French government ordered him to go there,
and that with no other object than to spite
and humiliate Britain who more surprised
and hurt than the French?
That is all about Fashoda-little enough
ana hidden in parts of the paper that no.
body reads. The Paris correspondents of
London papers, trained to scent such
and send them over to London. 1t is their
duty to do so. And when we see them
our newspapers. we, say. French feeling
is little better to-day
You have only to see them in their ma
tive newspaper to be sure that there is no
French feeling on Fashoda at ALL The
French newspapers may not represent
very serious public opinion. but 1 fancy
they do represent very fairly what public
opinion there is. The man on the bouIe-
yard knows nothing about Fashoda or the
general idea that Albion is grasping and
pehdlous, cares less Whether anybody at
all in Paris either, knows or cares, can
but then, until to-day, there has been no
Ministry. Perhaps the Foreign Office clerks
DO but then they must not say.
THE GREAT AFFAIR"
Put in the meantime, what is in the
newspapers? OF course the affair. the re-
vision, the Jews, what Dreyfus did or did
not say to Captain Lebrun- Renaud; moth
ing but the affair and the affair, and then
the affair again. The details of the
affair are of no particular interest to
me or to you but the manner in which it
is dealt with abounds in charm. The head
ings suggest the style of argument at once.
'Reptiles!' is the title of one article; "a
Criminal or Infamous Men" are COM
paratively mild. These titles apply gem
orally to anybody who is not on the side
of the writer Dreyfus and Esterhazy are
of course, fair game; the one is traitor
and a dirty Jew, the other the Uhlan and
a projected DdnQll. But everybody is equal
ly under fire. Judges. Cabinet Ministers
generals, the very President-one can imag-
inc the glow with which they open their
morning papers to see what new insult
has been found for them to-day
And what a magnificent command of Ian
guage the Partisan polemist enjoys NJ
Deroulede-only, of course they omit the
MIS- "a surrenderer before the enemy,
professional sWallower of Frenchmen5 an
exhireing of Rothschild. either a forger or
a traitor. NJ. Rochefort is IAN incredible
accumulation of disgraces, a prodigy of cor
ruption both In his public and in his private
life, with thirty years of lies, debauches
pots of wine, diffamations calumnies2 be-
hind him. NJ Cavaignac-think of it; the
pious Cavaignac!-is 1.-The heir of two gen
erations of assassins;" he dreams aloud
of massacre, accumulates lies and for
half cleansed of the murder of Carnot ac-
the Madagascar butchery, accomplice with
Hanotaux IN the determination of the Ar
menianS.
There is much more OF it. Towards the
end the gentleman becomes almost epileptic
with enthusiasm, and quite unquot ably IN
our chaster tongue and underneath the COM
pleted work assigns his honored name. But
it would be unfair to go on and not give
the other side chance
One turns. naturally. to the works of NJ
Drumont. To-day appears to be all souls
day-the day of the dead-and NJ. Drumont
improves the occasion. At the beginning
hitting reflection Life is short" by the
end he has established that this melancholy
fact is mainly due TO the jew THE Jew
with his crooked fingers. the unclea0 lew