The evening times., 1899-02-24
4 Great Day for France.

Hopes of the preservation OF the French
Republic were revived by the prompt,
vigorous. and unexpected action CT the gov
ernment yesterday There seemed little rea-
son to suppose President Loubet would,
even in the face of a conspiracy against
the state. assume such an aggressive
attitude. Sensible IS he was known to
be, an attempt TO conciiiate the trai ors
appeared to be more in line with his m
per than their arrest and Imprisonment
Ii he persists in this course there can be
little doubt that the great body o. the
people viii come to his support He has
shown himself to be stronger taan any #
The nspirators-stronger than any man
on whom the traitors could build her
hopes for eadership-lrovided h does no.
retreat. If the arrest of Deroulede and
his companions is followed by t.
BeaurepaiTe, panic is almost certain TO
strike the enemies Of the republic
For months the loud-mouthed dema-
gogues of the Deroulede stripe have been
permitted to abuse and intimidate every
public friend Of justice and good order and
TO head a league that almost avowed its
phi loSt ~ bhtl AA4Oh 4tpuDllGdu lEStltu-
tions. The circulars known to have been
sent out by officers and members of the
league were reasonable in every line.
Exemption from arrest the apparent COW
ardice of the government. encouraged them
10 make definite plans for a coup that
would bring the army to the support of
a revolution. Ii is affirmed that the au-
thorities have the most exact information
Of the plot and that it was a choice be-
tween the arrest of the leading conspira-
tors and a successful revolution. 1t must
reflect on the administration of the late
President, in spite of the limited authority
of the Office, that so despicable a traitor
as Beaurepaire should have been allowed
10 conduct a systematic campaign in order
10 bring the Court of Cessation into disre-
pute. The ultimate object of this was to
make its verdict in the Dreyfus case of
such questionable sincerity as TO prevent
popular opposition TO a revolution. That
Beaurepaire is a traitor and that he re-
signed from the court TO make dramatic
arraignment of its members hardly needs
better evidence than his own utterances.
II happens, however. that the man lacked
hlotltAlOA anu AiSpAaNtA AlAt SlldllO lltSS Vi
his mind and the weakness of his case to a
degree that impaired his influence.
The action of the government yesterday
was precipitated by the rumor that the
Duke of Orleans had entered Paris, and
was waiting for an expected uprising
Finding this TO be mistake, it was stated
in this mornings dispatches that the i'm
prsoned traitors would probably be re-
leased as an act of clemency. This would
be grieyous mistake that would imperil
the success of the administration. The
people, except those who belong TO revolu-
tionary societies. are with the government
and would applaud the severest prosecu-
tion OF all who are Suspected of treason.
This would bring TO France the peace that
fed when Zola called for justice TO Drey-
fus, the return OF which would make the
government secure and impregnable. De-
roulede and Beaurepaire and the disturb
ers represented by them have been tolerat-
ed too long. and their release would be