Albuquerque evening citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1905-1907, 1907-06-24
HALF. MILLION JOIN IN
E GREAT MASS
:. MEETING
Ruined and Angered by Gov
ernment'S Failure to Act
Quickly. They Form
MObS.
MUCH VIOLENCE IS
CHARGED TO THEM
The Chamber of Deputies Finally
Adopted Measure to Give Them
Some Relief---PreSident Fall
Heres is Member of Class
Involved in Riots.

Paris, June 24.-The towns of
southern France are crowded with
the ruined and impoverished wine
growers who have flocked in from
the country districts to take part in
the meetings and marching demon
strations, and therein, because of the
great numbers gathered together
with a common grievance, lies the
danger to peace.
Every freight and passenger train
going downward is crowded with the
vineyard workers. They break open
car doors and crowd in, carrying
their country-made banners. On pas
senger trains some pay fare but more
refuse and they ride, too. Arriving
at cities they are met at depots by
committees and escorted to halls,
court yards and parks, where they
establish headquarters. At these
places they sleep at night on bare
floors and bare ground.
Big District Involved.
The whole south of France, from
the Atlantic and the Spanish frontier
to the River Rhone, is in a state of
half anarchy and rebellion, through
the strike of al civil officials, depart
mental, city, town and commune, as
a paralyzing emphasis of the demand
for government aid.
The tocsin, the dread French sig
nal for civil war, has sounded from
steeple to steeple in one long peal
from city to town to village. The
revolt in all this wide territory is
unanimous.
Thousands of French regulars-an
army-are beginning to penetrate the
beautiful country of Rhone to pre-
vent or put down the formidable up
rising that is momentarily expected.
The Leader.
Narbonne is the center of the dis
turbance. A hahmillion grapegrow-
ers gathered there in one day and
with uplifted hands swore to refuse
to pay taxes until parliament fur
nished relief. Scores of mayors have
resigned and closed up the municipal
buildings.
Marcelin Albert, the leader of the
movement, was until a couple of
months ago an obscure winegrower
of Argeliers. Now he is acclaimed
as a "redeemer" and seems to hold
the south of France in the hollow of
his hand. His orders are implicitly
and unquestionably obeyed, and by
the powers of organization with
which he is endowed he has proved
himself TO be a born leader Of men.
1t is realized among the hotblooded
people of the south that such a man
might fire a formidable revolution.
Adulteration the Cause.
The trouble is all laid to the adul-
teration of wine. France is a wine
drinking nation, consuming large
quantities and for centuries support
ing millions of people in south
France whose sole occupation is and
has been the culture of grapes and
the making of wine therefrom.
OF recent years adulteration of the
fermented juice of the wine has be-
come a great feature of the trade.
Ten years ago it was a menace to
the grapegrOwing people. Today this
adulteration is ten Times worse than
then.
The barrels of wine go from the
producer to the big wholesaler in
Paris, perhaps. The adulterants are
added, and what was a barrel OF
rich, pure wine becomes two or three
and even more, when the retailer has
had his hand in the work. The re-
suit is a greatly decreased demand
at the vineyards and winepresses, and
consequently a heavy reduction in
the value Of the grape and the
juice.
People Impoverished.
Years of good crops have seen the
grapes rOtting on the vines or sold
at ruinous prices. The people as q
body have become impoverished and
last winter there was much distress
Parliament has been asked for law!
against adulteration time and again
but the great interests" which pro-
hted nightly from the practice lob
bied down every bill for relief
This spring the people, exasperat-
ed. suddenly thought of the civic
strike ,tax-refusal plan. The agita.
tl0n spread like wild-hre and agita.
tipn grew into uear-rebellion.
The government, while sending
troops by the thousand into the ter
ritOry. is I'm an embarrassing posi-
ton because il finds at its very head
q winegrOwer-no other than tht
president of the republic
Governments Work.
The duty of NJ. Fallieres is TO sup
press the laWlessness of the southern
departments. The sympathies of NJ
Fauieres are with the winegrOwers
who have adopted such radica