New-York tribune., 1907-11-08
DEFENCES OF FRANCE.
Safety of the Country IN Competent
and Patriotic Hands.
Paris, October 90.

| the Chamber of Deputies. the explicit and de-
tailed answers made by General Picquart, Min
lister of War. and by NJ. Messimy, reporter Of
the war budget and ex-offlcer Of the general
! staff; conversations with General Langlois, Sem
ator and former member of the Counsel Su-
pereur de la Guerre," and information from for
| eign and impartial technical observers enable
! the writer TO supply general but trustworthy
! view of the situation. The successive resgna-
tions of two generals-in-chief, General Brugere
and General Hagron, after having inspected the
triple lines Of forts and defensive works on the
frontier from Maubeuge to Belfort; the revela-
tions made by NJ. Charles Humbert former
aide-de-camp to the late Minister of War, Cen
eral Andre. in his book, "Sommes-nous De-
fendu?"; the charges of lack of discipline and
OF morale in the rank and file of the army made
! by Generals Bonnal and Langlois and by Lieu
tenant Colonel Roussel: the recent acts of in
subordination and anti-militarsm, sensationally
described in the daily newspapers. and the So
cialist doctrines Of NJ. Herve, urging French
youths to refuse military duty and calling upon
soldiers to plant the flag in a dunghill and shoot
their officers had combined to produce some
thing like national panic.
Parliamentary opponents of the Clemenceau
Cabinet seized upon the occasion of the reas-
! semhling of the chamber to make a violent at
tack upon the War Minister. General Picquart.
in the hope of making him a scapegoat and
holding him responsible for the defects that
came into existence in the administrations Of
his predecessors. The patriotism of the country
had been aroused. NJ. Lase, the 'Plebiscitary
Anti-Semite'' Deputy and NJ. Gauthier de
CLANCY, Nationalist Deputy and ex-Boulangist.
predicted that General Picquart would be forced
to plead guilty to the accusations in regard 10
the national defences or else would follow the
example Of Marechal lie Boeuf, Minister of War
q Of Tho ,bO cd
wool over the eyes of the public by the state
ment that nothing wanting, not even
button to a gaiter," The onslaught upon the
Cabinet met by General Picquarts frank
] and explicit statement of facts, which, without
divulg!ng any secrets detrin entail to the system
of military defence armament, convinced
Parliament that the safety OF the country was
in competent and patriotic hands that General
Picquart, in this first really serious effort in the
Chamber of Deputies. obtained a majority Of
$50 against SO votes.
The true situation is this: In the last twenty
eight years France has spent over $1OO.O0O0O0
on the three lines of forts the German frontier
reaching from Belgium 10 Switzerland. But
from 1896 until 1904 scarcely anything had been
done The appropriations, which from 1892
until 1896 had been $12OOOOOO al ,.,Ily for
this purpose had dwindled to S5,OOO6OO. In
the spring Of 1905 the country was rudely awak-
I attitude
Fifty millions dollars was forthwith expended
upon the defence Of the eastern frontier The
works of Toul Verdun. EpinaI and Belfort were
systematically overhaueds renovated and resup-
piled with armament All the frontier forts
We're connected by wireless teegraphic com
munication with Paris. Some OF the work had
been hastily done and certain mistakes had been
made which being corrected. Tho ac-
cusations made by Captain Humbert Deputy
from Verduu that the rapid firing guns were de-
fective. were refuted by producing reports OF
artillery officers in France and Morocco proving
the efficiency OF the mitrailleusos and showing
| that they had successfully withstcod the test of
! firing continuously 300 cartridges without re-
! placing a single component part. In reply to
Captain Humbert's assertion In regard 10 the
superiority of German machine guns General
Picquart stated that by the end Of the year the
French troops would be supplied with a larger
number than the Germans had and of a superior
! quality.
a grave accusation had been made by Cen
eral Langlos concerning the great numerical in
feriority Of the French troops Of "couverture'-
that is, of the force maintained on the frontier
on fun war footing and whose mission in event
Of hostilites is to prevent sudden irruption
into French territory of divisions OF German
cavalry with the object of paralyzing French
mobilization in the eastern departments. On
this point General Picquart gave complete ald
satisfactory assurances. and stated that the
only inferiortty was in the number of guns. and
that was being speedily remedied. General Pic
quart produced reports showing that the French
rapid firing guns Of the calibres of 75 mn-
metres and of 100 mmetres gave results su-
perior to those obtained with experiments made
with any other guns of similar classes. General
Picquart stated that the army undergoing
a period Of transition owing to the effect of the
law Of 1908, which established two years
vice and which is ''reConciling the require
ments OF democrati people with the necessi-
ties Of national defence" The discipline and
morale Of the army were satisfactory. and the
Minister Of War during the recent maneuvres
noticed "the breath of enthusiasm that inspired
the troops and said that it unjust and mis-
/ leading to jump at general conclusions from
| some half dozen acts of INSTRUMENTATION which.
| moreover, had been severely punished. The line
officers felt a sOlicitude for the under their
orders. whom they treated as fellow citizens.
! but at the same time remained absolutely in
! flexible In regard to discipline.
When questioned on the subject General Lang
lois. whose criticisms Of the French military ma
| tiona defences were set forth in article in
! the last number of the Revue des Deux
/ Mondes," stated that he felt satisfied that the
reassuring statements of General Picquart We're
! well founded. and that. especially in regard to
! materie, the condition OF national defence flI-
! filled present requirements. In fact, the severe
criticisms made by General Langois and by
! Captain Humbert, Deputy of Verdun. dealt with
matters as they stood in the early months of
/ 1905-that is to say, before the great scare
/ that arose from the German attitude in Morocco
/ ard l,afora drastic measures had been under