The morning news., 1899-03-13

until the hghting-man became mere iron
case mummy. He had not sufficient
strength TO move beneath his detenses.
In France we see the same phenomenon
ia the moral field. Her moral vitality Is
no longer sufficient to move under the SUI
perincumbent mass of her ornaments The
old ideas. SO distinctively French, of chiv-
airy, liberty justice. avail Of the su
blime ideals which made France for cen
tUries the knight-errant of humanity-ap-
pear TO have perished beneath the weight
OF her immense military system. The
armour propre of the army, the prestige
OF a staff, have superseded the noDier
ideals OF national life. Matters are much
worse now than in the middle ages. For
the iron and steel cuirrasses of the over
loaded knights were at least inert mat
ter. But the armature beneath which the
nation is perishing to-day has horrible
vitality of its own. 1t is, as il were,
alive. and believes that the body exists
for it, and that brain, heart, conscience
and the ideal, which are collectively the
soul of the nation, is a minus quantity
compared with the prestige, the authority
and the convenience of the army. They.
if not the ultimate, must at least be very
near the ultimate, stage in the self-de-
stTuctive evolution of modern militarism
Nowhere in Europe could the Tsar find
so terrible an object lesson of the results
OF the baneful system upon which he is
making war. France is a puissant ally
indeed, in the great argument for disarm-
ament.
Alsace-LOrraine n Danger Spot.
The danger spot In Europe is, no doubt
Alsace-LOrraine. The people of Alsace see
with amazement and Indignation the denial
of justice to Alsatians. Albert Dreyfus IN
the lie du DiabFe is an Alsatian. So is
Col Picquart. 1t is enough TO bear an Aisa-
tian name to be bounded as a German. To
be a Protestant is almost as heinous a
crime as to be a Jew. The honest Alsa-
tians do not understand all this. Their pa
trie, 10 whose fortunes they have chung
with a touching fidelity, was a different
France from this. So they are ruthlessly
being driven from their allegiance, and
every day they are more and more strong
ly tempted TO become more reconciled to
the German.
Possibility of Sudden Outbreak.
There is. of course, a possibility that the
very madness of the hour may lead to some
sudden outbreak. AS Count Arnim wrote in
1871: THE French can not be judged by
the same standard as other nations. They
have no sense of proportion, and attach inn
portance to matters that in reality have no
significance. In a madhouse the merest trl-
hes may fead TO a revolt, and even If it be
suppressed, IL may first cost the lives of
many honest people" There is a danger
here, no doubt. But, as Bismarck wrote
about the same time: 1.-TWO peoples dwell
in France-the French and the Parisians
The former love peace. The latter writes
the newspapers, and seeks to pick quar-
rel which the other then has to fight it out
Both, however. should clearly remember
how near the German army is at Chateau
Thierry." The German army is no longer at
Chateau Thierry. But the solid argument
of force is quite as irresistible to-day as
it was in 1871, perhaps even more so. And
now there is added to that ultimate ratio
regim the fact that the Tsar, the ally and
the friend of France, has summoned all
nations to a parliament of peace.