Waterbury Democrat., 1902-09-16
FRENCH MINISTER'S SPEECH
France Cured of the Dreams of
 One of It's Great Men.

Part of the Mediterranean, He Says,
 Is French and Will Remain So
 France Can Hold the Open Door l Between the Two Halves of the Mediterranean in Spite of Malta and Gibra1ter-He Does Not Desire a Conflict of Peoples Against Eng land Any More Than Against Italy. Bizerta, Tunis, Sept 16.-M. Pelletan, the French minister of marine, made remarkable speech at an entertain ment of the municipality yesterday evening which, it is expected, will cause the French foreign minister, M. Delcasse, some trouble to explain. Af- ter pointing out the importance of Bi- zerta as a bulwark of France, M. Pel- letan proceeded: We do not say we want 10 make the Mediterranean a French lake. We have been cured of the dreams of the great man who wished us to dominate the world. But part of the Mediterranean is French and will remain French With this powerful rampant so well situated for defence and also for attack, and with | Corsica and Toulon We can hold the open door between the two halves of the Mediterranean, in spite of Malta and Gibraltar. Certainly I do not desire a conflict of peoples against England any more than against Italy, but as we do no know what others are doing it is part of our duty to pre- pare for the holy war for the French fatherland against it's enemies, who ever they may be. I am convinced, thanks to the fellow workers with whom 1 am surrounded, that we can face every eventuality. Security hardly exists any more for the civil ized world. At the end of the nine teenth century, after the defeat of France by the barbarism of old Ger many, we saw an offensive return of the law of brute force. The whole world seemed to be dominated by the maxim, might before right We must then, devote all our efforts to keeping intact that focus of justice and light French genius
 NJ. Pelletan concluded with remark ing that he would not say more at present. He had not yet become ac- customed to being a minister and feared he might be carried away into expressing his opinion of matters which exclusively concerned the for eign minister.
 france. after years of most effect i've work, completed in about tse mid- oIe of 1895 a great military and na- val stronghold at Bizorta, the most northern town of Africa. situated at the mouth of a lagoon some 3S miles northwest of Tunis. This war port. l t has been asserted, has considerably l diminished the importance of G;bral- tar and Malta in maintaining tie bal ance of power in the Mediterranean. 1t has one of the finest roadsteaGs in the world, capable of accommodating a fleet of the largest warships. the en- trance being protected by two iln- p1ense jetties. Inside the port are ar- senals, dockyards, foundries, powder magazines, storehouses barracks etc, and all around Bfzerta, on heights surrounding it and elsewhere about the shore are powerful forts and bat teries, enabling the French Metiiter- ranean fleet, it is claimed. to ride irl as much safety in the harbor and re- fit as leisurely as if in artificial basin in the center of France. With iFou1on on the north side of the Mediterranean land Bizerta on the south, French miI- itary and naval men assert that
 Frances naval power in the west of
 the Mediterranean is unassaflable, and
 all that is required to consolidate the
 position of France is the construction
 of the so-called Canal of Two Seas
 which is to unite the Mediterranean
 with the Bay of Biscay and thus ren
 der her independent of the Straits of
 Gibraltar.