The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1898-03-03
PARIS AN 1MPREcNABLE CRY.
Its Fortif,caiions Have Been, Consider
ably Improved Since German War.
/ II n

Its Fortif,caiions Have Been Consider
ably Improved Since German War.
(From the Boston Herald.)
The action of the French parliament
IN deciding to tear down some Of the
Notifications near Paris and sell for
ORDINARY uses the land now occupied
Dy unese defensive works must not bel
taken as an Indication that, in the
opinion OF the French people, we are
soon 10 enter upon an era of peace.
The notifications the, demolition Of
Wnlch is contemplated by the order
passed are those which are quite close
to Paris and which played a prominent
part IN the defense of the city at the
time it was besieged by the German
army tWenty-seven years ago. But the
french have been taught wisdom by
past experience and as a result have
planned and a few years ago finished
a system of Notifications around Paris
winch are probably unequaled for the
purposes for which they are intended
oy any similar Notifications in the
"orlo. A we'll informed military writ
er, member of the general staff of the
German army, has given it as his opin-.
ION that a successful siege of Paris
would be, under present conditions, an
impossible undertaking. The new for
tlncat1ons that surround the French
capital are some fifteen or twenty miles
from the city and are connected with
Paris and with each other by a rail-
way system which would enable the
french commander to quickly mass at
one point a very large body of men,
while the general of the besieging
army, II ne wished to prevent the city
from obtaining supplies and thus shut
III Inc people and the army that was
oetend1ng it, would have to occupy
line extending over 100 miles and
hence could not by any possibility COL
lect large number of his force at any
one point to resist an attack of the
enemy. 1t required German army of,
approximately, 100000 men to lay siege
TO Paris from Sept. 10, 1870 to Jan.
80 1871 but the authority we refer to
IS OF the opinion that to repeat the
same operation a German besieging
army would have to number more than
z,OOo'OOO men, and the work of main
tanning such force and properly hand
ling Its parts would be something
which few governments would care to
undertake, and few military command
ers would be able to efficiently per-
form. Besides, these great outlying
notifications would give to the people
OF Paris, if their city was again be-
sleged, an opportunity to obtain many
OF the smaller supplies of life from the
SUBURBAN district, since as the system
OF Notification has been built it would
be as though the line of defense for
Boston took a circuit which extended
from Marshfield through Brockton.
Walpole, birmingham, Concord, An
dover and reached the water again at
Gloucester. If the tide of war was
Kept thus far back from our city it is
easy to see that we should not suffer
as intensely as if it we're carried on
almost within our municipal area. The
French have spent upon these new for
tlhcatlons an amount variously esti-
mated at from $4,000, 900 to $50 900 900
and hence can we'll afford to sell the
land occupied by some of the now OBJ
solete Notifications Of a generation ago.