The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-13
FRANCE CALM, FACING CRISIS.
FIRST MOVES AGAINST CLERGY
TO BE MADE TO-DAY.
bishop strnkes First RIow in Defence OF
woman Adhereut-Sad Services OF
Mourning in All the Churches Trouble
l. Feared From RAd1czl Dlstmbers-

SpeCtdt (oOtt DtSp3lCt w oNN'
PARIS. Dec. 12.-To-night is really the
eve OF what may be a battle OF violence
which will shake France to its foundations,
but In spite Of whatever may have been sepr
indicating that there was xcite-
ment either in Paris or the provinces it
is a fact that up to the time OF sending
this despatch there has been nothing my
where in the nature OF agitation except
in the newspapers. That the Government
and Church autho rites are highly exercised
is only a matter OF course. seeing that both
are fighting for their lives. but b con-
troversy this week. since the Pope's Satur-
day instructions changed the aspect OF the
situation, has been purely polemic. .
Tomorrow war in fact may begin. or IL 4.
may turn out that the purely constructive
war may continue. Although the letter Of
the Separation law fixed December II a.
the date of its operation, it in the custom
in France to delay the execution Of any
law a full day, and sometimes longer. The
postponement in this case has been REFEREED
to by some writers as an armistice pro-
claimed by Prime Minister Clemencesu.
This is a mistake; tomorrow, according In
the Governments orders, police agents will
I've in all the churches where and whom mass
is said, to take names and make out verbal
processes. No force is contemplated by The
civil authorities, but should any number Of
Catholics resent the presence OF the Gov
ernnent's agents or should enemies Of the
Church attend and provoke disturbances;
then violence might crop out anywhere, OF
which nobody can foresee the end.
1t is held in some quarters lat the po-
lice instructions, which technically provide
that anybody Is free to enter the churches
and act therein under the law. tacitly open
the way for free thinking disturbers IN
upset worship unmolested by the police.
Many papers say that the instructions to
the police include a notification that II free
thinkers or disorderly persons enter a
church the police must only interfere when
a scandal is likely to arise. This is being
interpreted "a a direct encouragement
by the Government to its supporters to
attend churches and cause trouble.
This is categorically denied by the pre-
lecture. IL has been limited that il this
! could be done under the connivance Of the
Government a clear way would be opened
for the Government to step in with repres-
sive measures under the guise Of preserving
the public peace. The authorities 10
pudiate these asperSions.
On the a., 4 .h,.hd the representatives "
the Church announce that masses will
begin at $50 O'Clock Thursday morning,
and that they expect that prosecutions and
persecution will begin simultaneously.
Able Gardey, the venerable cure Of Sainte
Clotilde, one of the leading churches OF
Paris, who il highly regarded. said this
evening:
Tomorrow | will say high mass at the
altar. If the act Of praying to God in
church constitutes a crime ] will be prose-
cuted. That is all"
And afterward?" he was asked.
"Afterward | will begin again, he re-
Piled
Should the parishioners Of such a cure
turn out in "A bellicose mood, the battle
will he on, whose first cannon shot Prime
Minister Clemenceau said yesterday had
been fired. Otherwise the battle may still
prove controversial only.
Another cure, Able Bodin of NOtrs
Dame de Travail, brings out the facile word
"gogo" to apply to those ready TO blame
/ lHt NtlllINh y wal ~ a N''"'ts -
takes the view that the police arrangements
purposely open the way for trouble. The
Government, he says. will permit services
if there are no disturbances. The police
instructions permit freethinkers to mako
demonstrations Then the Government will
forcibly close the churches. He adds:
at is easy tactics, and there are gogoS
who will benevolently believe that tho
/ rla...l ,r,,,1aI tha epaoAal -
The Libert6 tonight heads an article
"Impasse," and says that the Govern
ment's whole course is followed only a.
keep the Clemenceau Ministry in power.
To this. il adds, has a grand country been
reduced. For this will he the crisis, and
the religious war will be prolonged.
The Temps under the heading OF This
True Remedy" says that the law of 1881
should not be invoked by the Govern
ment, which ought to apply the law Of
1905. 1t should see to it that meetings
which might be held under that law were
not manipulated politically in antagonism
10 the State,
A despatch from Rome to the PoI Pa
risiep says that Mgr. Montagnini's inter
ference is proved in the case Of Bishop
E~yssautier. Mgr. Montagnini authorized
' INuih IN w PtAlclh AE7 ~
ton without producing the papal bull and
simply on his mandate as representing
the Pope.
A. Bismarck found the Vatican alway'
replaced a represent alive he drove from
Germany, so Mgr. Montagnini's successor
has already been appointed. He is
Frenchman Of the name Of Grafin. a pro
lessor in the Catholic Institute OF Paris.
Up to a late hour tonight only one / n
cident resembling a conflict has been re-
ported. Three priests against whom actor
has been taken were summonsed to appeal
before a Magistrate tomorrow. Thei
churches are among the most importan
in Paris. One OF them, the AbbS Jouin
held services this morning at the ChurcI
OF st. Augustin as a token of mourning
and reparation for the souls OF those abou
to lose the benefit of endowments an
masses. The church was crowded. Abb
Jouin protested strongly against the ride
ulous annoyances, useless spoliations an,
~scandalous p~artisanship OF which the clerg
were going to be the victims. He said:
I'VE remain to the last patriots and tn
best Frenchmen in an epoch in which a
- ILL., 49,