Evening star., 1899-03-04

beloved National Guard dispersed just after
the commune, so they no longer have a
militia The capital is full of soldiers but
they are under the control of one man,
whose post is the most envied in the whole
army hierarchy of France. The position
OF the military governor of Paris is an
extraordinary one.
Around the Invalides, where General Eur
linden has his seat, the air is altogether
warlike and aristocratic The tomb of Ma
poieon underneath the dome is now open
daily to the thousands who flock to it. The
Ecole Milftaire is just around the corner;
military hospital stands near il, and in the
immediate neighborhoOd rise three great
Darracks-infantry, cavalry and artillery.
Here General Zurlinden reigns. The tele-
phone connects him with thirty great ca
sernes that-scattered from Vincennes to
SAINT Cloud, from Montrouge to Montmar-
tre-contain the 10000 troops d'elite actu-
ally domiciled in the city Nor does his
command end here. One of the generals
under him enjoys the title of Commanding
1he Irs, troops OF the Department of the Seine,''
Wnlcn means Paris. Another commands
the troops of the Department of the Seine
et-OlSe, which means the enyirons for some
thlrty miles 1T one direction. Versailles is
us capital ant Its garrison is an important
one Besides all these the military gov
ernor of Paris has under him twelve line
regiments that do not belong to Paris but
are oraWn IN rotation from the other de-
pArtments, an extra cavalry division of
three brigades. three engineer brigades and
batteries of foot cnasseurs and foot artiI-
Iery, ana the Whole legion of the Republic Il
mob. ~ '-o al 10
Plenary Powers.
nave never yet met a Partisan with
anything but the most hazy notions of the
powers and duties of the military governor
In ordinary times he is in no way governor
OF Paris Indeed, the prefect of the Seine
can requisitfon him for troops when the no.
lice are not able to cope with a difficulty
n lraIRa.r
governor of Paris becomes what his name
nnpnes only in certain critical eyentuali-
tes one of them is when the minister of
,",a,, eaiIS us on MIN TO preserve the public
pedCe- Inc present minister of war is a
ciVlllan- Suppose the military governor
should refuse to move at his commandi
II General Zurlinden should simply fold
ms arms, 1t would already be a revoIution
To be fair to him, he has not vet sbnWn :,
sign OF folding mis- arms Indeed. the very
thlnS he is reproached with at the nresent
iloiiient mo- IS exercising the young soldiers in
the repression of disturbances Nevertba-
less, THIS matter of passivity has hean
much discussed in the wild rumors of the
day- II Paris mob should break into the
% unaLnoer OF deputies and disperse the
members as it did after Sedan to Nano-
Ieons parliament, the present government
would be as defenseless as was the E,m
press Eugenie At that time General
Irocnu at once swung all his regiments
INTO line with the new government which
the people had given themselves. Napoleon
III came into power through the activity
OF the army. He fell by the passiyity of
the army. -| u
Nothing to Hinder Him.
II General Zurlinden should prefer 70
take an active part there is no power in the
french state to hinder him. Louis Napo-
leon has just been dining with the car in
ST. Petersburg. From Brussels the Duke
or Orleans, Philip VII" has been MAX
ing 1attering speeches to the military over
the heads of deputation of French art
lsans L know. he says, 1.-The tenacity
ana Valor OF your patriotic efforts against
the paracidal acts of an occult and cos
mopolitan power whose aim is the destr11c-
ton OF the French fatherland You who
are royalists and patriots have, like me
ieIt painfully the insults cast on the army
by nameless coalition" The chances are
OF course. enormously in favor of the Ma
poleons but the sentiment is the same II
IS an open secret that the army is TO have
its way.
The tendency to thus look on the army as
something apart from the republic is a
common weakness among French officers.
An artillery lieutenant, who has spent five
years al Mont Valerein-the fortress that
protects and dominates the capital-has
given me the following illustration of il
IL was when Boulanger was minister of
war Rumors of a coup detat were cir
cdlating, and open illusions We're made to
he possibility of the dispersion of the