The Portland daily press., 1899-04-15

| to consent to measures Of which he thor
oughly disapproved, he preferred to resign.
There are several incidents in the career
of President Faure, notably during the
| closing months of his life, that can only
be explained by the fact that his minis
| tiers were in possession of some knowl-
edge which they were using in order to
terrorize him into compliance with their
demands, while II NJ. Constans, now
French Ambassador at Constantinople,
has never been impeaohed In connection
with the numerous charges brought
against him. 1t Is solely because the lead
ing politicians and statesmen in France
are afraid to tackle him. well aware that
when be was Minister Of the Interior he
took advantage to secure copies of the
dossiers of most of the prominent men in
France, who are today more or less In
his power.
Probably the most notable case of this
kind was that of Daniel Wilson. the SON.
| in-law of President Grevy. As every one
knows, he made his home at the Ely see
after marrying the presidents daughter,
and took advantage of the fact to secure
| in the name of his father-in law from the
Minister Of the Interior and from the
Project of Police, official and duly au
thentioated copies of the dossisrs of all
the principal public men In France. He
prided himself on having in this way
secured possession Of the complete dossiers
of no less than 20 900 men and women of
power and of influence.
The consequence of this was that when
the indiscretions of some of his confeder-
ates resulted in the exposure of the
shameful traffic.w he had been carry
ing on for several years in connection
with the sale of the order Of the Legion
of Honor, he escaped punishment True,
his futher-in-law was forced to resign
the Presidency of the republic. General
and Senator, the Marquis d Andlau, was
sentenced to five years penal servitude, to
avoid which he fled the country. while
number of other men and women, in
GLIDING the infamous Nine. Limouzin,
were condemned to various terms OF i'm
prisonment. Daniel Wilson alone. the
chief culprit, the leader OF the entire
gang, in spite of his Indictment. escaped
any kind OF punishment, and Ia today q
member OF the National Legislature, the
mayor of an important provincial town,
a counselor general, and surrounded with
all that adulation and regard which the
world is accustomed in these days to &C.
cord to those who are possessed of great
wealth and much power.
REWARD FOR SPIES.
There has been no secret whatsoever
about tho CASE of the extraordinary I'M
munity enjoye by Daniel Wilson. In
fact, 1t was openly acknowledged to be
due TO his possession of the ~, 600 dos
siers, and his exemption from the legal
consequences of the crime for which he
was indicted was admitted To- have been
purchased by his surrender of these do Gu
| ments to the government.
No h1tf In I., ii
than this of the important role which
dossiers play on the continent of Europe,
where by far the larger number of promi-
nent men, from crowned heads down.
wards, live in u perpetual state of ter
rorism. at the mercy of this or of that
politician or public servant. This. too,
will serve to explain how it is that near
| ly every Project of Partisan police who
resigns Is able to force the government of
the day to confide 10 him the highest and
| most lucrative otfices-M. Loze having
| received the post of Ambassador to the
| court of Vienna, as condition for his
surrender of the craftsmanship of Partisan
police, while III. Andrieux, on rssigning
the chieftainship on the Partisan po-
lice, was appointed Ambassador at
Madrid. One of his successors at the
prefecture received nomination to the
lucrative Governor Generalship of Al
geria. Another one has become Senator.
In fact, there is not one of them who has
not been treated by the government with
most distinguished consideration, by rsa-
son OF the knowledge which he had OBJ
tainei in compiling and perusing dos
siers.
The United States, unlike Francs, has
no regular diplomatic service. Yet it is
diihcul. to conceive the idea of President
Mckinley appointing chief of the New
York police, or even the superintendent
of the police of the District Of Columbia,
to the post of Ambassador either to
France or to Great Britain.